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Silence As a Strategy Jarvis L Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern University Honors Program Theses 2019 Silence as A Strategy Jarvis L. Steele Georgia Southern University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses Part of the African American Studies Commons, American Politics Commons, Comparative Politics Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Other Political Science Commons, and the Political Theory Commons Recommended Citation Steele, Jarvis L., "Silence as A Strategy" (2019). University Honors Program Theses. 440. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/440 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in University Honors Program Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Silence as a Strategy An Honors Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in Department Name. By Jarvis Steele Under the mentorship of Dr. Novotny ABSTRACT Understanding the struggle that is peaceful protest is a task that has two unexplored components. The first is how leaders of political movements and protest groups are able to influence the masses to not waiver in their non-violent, peaceful approach. The second is how political groups learn from the failures and successes of the previous campaigns. We are given these circumstances where governmental violence and abuse would normally lead to a retaliatory response from groups, but in order to maintain the fidelity of the movement leaders of these political protests have to protect the nonviolent approach. These are instances where protesters were met with vehement force from dogs, to water hoses, to physical violence, all in the name of maintaining the separate but equal mentality that plagued the nation at the time. These protesters would be expected to combat this through uproar and display their fervor through violence, however; they consistently choose a different path. There is another important aspect to this, where we are given the idea that these political movements share both leadership and direction and because of this we have to anticipate political groups learning from one another. If we can observe the uniformity between the methods, leadership and ideology between the movements in both Birmingham and Albany then we should be able to see similar if not the same outcomes. With that being said we see two different results in very similar situations, with reasoning why, my study will focus on understanding the disconnect between the two outcomes. Thesis Mentor :____________________________ Dr. Novotny Honors Director:__________________________ Dr. Steven Engel November 2018 University Honors Program Georgia Southern University 1 Introduction On April 4th, 1968 a champion of civil rights fell. The nation erupted into riots and outrage as James Earl Ray plunged our nation into darkness for an evening by assassinating one of its most active sons and taking a major piece off the board in the chess game that was civil rights at the time. This singular event served as one of the most devastating blows to the movement and ended up being a shot that the world felt. Why was this the case? People rarely look at the steps that were taken to establish Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the pivotal standard that civil rights needed. When we look at the civil rights era we see that Dr. King is truly embedded in what some now call the “Long Civil Rights Movement”.1 Serving the people that needed him most we see Dr. King recognizing the importance of not just civil rights, but the significance of lobbying for human rights. Crafting important documents that would later serve as the instruments to light the path for civil rights. The purpose of this thesis is to tie together some of the most influential thinkers’ thoughts and ideas as they relate to Dr. King's campaign in Albany and the lessons that campaign taught him that he would later apply in Birmingham, Alabama as well as other locations on his southern tour for equality. I argue that the experience that Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference gained in Albany was the most important lesson that they could have been taught moving forward and that those were the tools they would use later on in their protests. Lack of preparation and direction would ultimately lead to the failure in Albany.2 King would regard his time there as nothing more than that, a negative mark on his resume as he 1 Schmidt, Christopher W. “Legal History and the Problem of the Long Civil Rights Movement.” Law & Social Inquiry 41, no. 4 (Fall 2016): 1081–1107. doi:10.1111/lsi.12245. 2 Burrow Jr., Rufus. “The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: To Save the Soul of America, January 1961-August 1962.” Western Journal of Black Studies 39, no. 3 (Fall 2015): 256–61. https://libez.lib.georgiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=1 13913891. 2 battled for equality, but an important lesson that would contribute to a winning formula.3 This formula proved so potent that scholars have been able to look at the direct connection between both protests: “the CRM launched and intense campaign in Albany, Georgia, to challenge its racist order. But it ended without having won any concerte concessions; the nonviolent direct- action tactic of MLK’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was widely seen as a defeat...Unlike the Albany campaign, Birmingham was to be a planned action under SCLC direction”.4 We have to look at the idea that there was significantly more at play than just the lack of preparation on SCLC and Kings’ part.5 It would prove to be a lack of desire to get prematurely involved on the political side from the currently gaining steam Kennedy brothers;6 as well as, the cunning of Police Chief Laurie Pritchett as it stood in contrast to the malicious tactics employed be police chief Eugene “Bull” Connor. Through intense study and reflection of the teaching of Mahatma Gandhi (someone Dr. King looked to as a mentor) Pritchett anticipated the ability to neutralize the protest through peaceful tactics,7 scholars draw comparisons from this particular instance to another two, the Selma and Birmingham protests.8 This is not the case and is apparent when you look at the character of Eugene Connor and the character of him, as well as his limited 3 Burrow, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: To Save the Soul of America, January 1961-August 1962, p. 257 4 Nimtz, August H. “Violence and/or Nonviolence in the Success of the Civil Rights Movement: The Malcolm X– Martin Luther King, Jr. Nexus.” New Political Science, no. 1 (2016): 1. https://libez.lib.georgiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbl&AN =vdc.100029429197.0x000001. 5 Burrow, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: To Save the Soul of America, January 1961-August 1962, p. 260 6 Kenneth O’Reilly. “The FBI and the Civil Rights Movement during the Kennedy Years--from the Freedom Rides to Albany.” The Journal of Southern History, no. 2 (1988): 201. doi:10.2307/2209399. 7 Reston, James, Jr. “Clark and Pritchett: A Comparison of Two Notorious Southern Lawmen.” Southern Cultures, no. 4 (2016): 50. https://libez.lib.georgiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgea&A N=edsgcl.477339615. 8 Reston, Clark and Pritchett: A Comparison of Two Notorious Southern Lawmen, p. 57 3 interaction with Prichett. “the Klan meet in Bessemer, Alabama, and openling planned the Birmingham bombings. “I told Connor, ‘Look here, the Klan says they’re going to blow this man [King] up,’ ” Pritchett told me. ‘You ought to put a guard on him.” And Connor replied, according to Pritchett, “I don’t give a damn if they do blow him up. Don’t care what they do. I’m not going to protect him” 9. This particular instance would prove to be the last straw for Prichett and the last time that him and Eugene Connor collaborated. The last important factor to make notice of was the activist climate that had already taken hold in Albany. People had current started mobilizing and representing themselves within different organizations that were formed to bring the same justice that the SCLC was attempting to bring.10 In the end it would be King’s leadership that the people desired not his work and he would eventually get this confused. The quest that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would embark on would prove a lucrative one in the long run; however, Albany is certainly considered a significant stumble. The highest point and arguably one of his most significant victories is possibly Birmingham, Alabama. There is much to be learned about the process that was employed in both these locations, and I believe there was substantially more time and preparation that went into the planning and execution of Birmingham. The lessons that were learned between the two instances can be articulated in King’s iconic Letter from Birmingham Jail manuscript in which he lays out his plan and articulates his purpose.11 9 Reston, Clark and Pritchett: A Comparison of Two Notorious Southern Lawmen, p. 61 10 Ricks, J. (1988). Martin Luther King’s mistakes in Albany, Georgia, 1961-62. Proceedings & Papers Of The Georgia Association Of Historians, 9 (169-176). 11 Tremaine T. Sails-Dunbar, “A Case Study Analysis of the ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’: Conceptualizing the Conscience of King through the Lens of Paulo Freire.” Pursuit: The Journal of Undergraduate Research at the University of Tennessee 8, no.
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