Masaryk University

4.5Albany Movement

In mid-July, 1962, Martin Luther King came to Albany for a trial in which he was sentenced to forty-five days⁵¹ in prison for organizing a march in February of 1962. According to Bryant, the Kennedys saw the imprisonment of Martin Luther King as very inconvenient because it was before the Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Primary and they hoped that “racial moderate” Carl Sanders would win the primary (316). King’s imprisonment always attracted media attention and it was very likely that it would encourage voters to support the segregationist candidate. King was released from the jail upon a bail payment, which was provided by a contributor whose identity was not revealed. However, it was a day after Burke Marshall called Coretta King to express her support of Kennedy administration. He told her that “the Department was trying to secure her husband’s release” (Brauer 168). Until now, it has not been clarified who secured King’s release, whether it was a result of the Department’s intervention or whether there really was an anonymous donor. Dr. King decided to stay in Albany in order to organize street protests, but on July 21, District Judge J. Robert Elliot (who had been appointed by Kennedy) issued an official order which banned demonstrations.

Despite the ban on demonstrations, protests increased and large numbers of protesters were arrested. The mass meetings and demonstrations continued for next six months. On July 24 (only four days after Judge Elliot issued his order banning demonstrations), “U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Atlanta ruled that Elliot’s ban on demonstration was illegal” (Bryant 319), and that inspired further protests and marches. King was again arrested after he went to the City Hall and demanded a meeting with Mayor Kelley.

Despite the fact that the incidents attracted the attention of national press and the events in Albany became a national issue, city officials repeatedly rejected the civil rights leaders’ requests for negotiations. President Kennedy criticized the Albany authorities’ approach at the News Conference held on August 1, 1962. He said: “…I find it wholly inexplicable why the City Council of Albany will not sit down with the citizens of Albany, who may be Negroes, and attempt to secure theme in a peaceful way…” (Kennedy, “News Conference 40” p.2). The President also pointed out that federal government is going to make every effort “to provide a satisfactory solution for the protection of the constitutional rights of the people of Albany…” (ibid.).

On August 8, 1962, the Justice Department legally intervened by issuing a statement in which they declared that “the court should not consider the injunction because the city did not have ‘clean hands,’ since it continued to enforce segregation in public facilities” (Brauer 175). As Bryant confirms, it was “a clear signal to the City Commissioners in Albany and, implicitly, to other southern segregationists that they could not longer treat blacks unlawfully” (324). A week later, on August 15, 1962, the City Commission finally agreed to meet with the civil rights leaders, but their meeting did not bring any satisfying results for the civil rights advocates. The street protests continued, however, Albany African Americans were losing interest and the attendance at mass meetings was gradually declining.

Although the Albany Movement did not bring about any changes (schools remained segregated and other public facilities were closed) and as Stern confirms, “civil rights activists suffered one of their most bitter defeats,” it provided the civil rights organizations with great experience of organizing mass meetings and demonstrations (76). In comparison with the previous civil rights crisis Kennedy’s approach changed considerably. While during the Freedom Rides he refrained from criticizing the Southern officials, during the Albany events, he criticized explicitly the city officials. Bryant suggests that Albany together with other events of that year “marked a shift” in Kennedy’s language regarding civil rights issues (328). The events “galvanized him to speak out against segregation in America in more forceful terms than he ever had before” (ibid.). During the News Conference held on September 13, 1962, when he was asked to comment on the situation he said: “The United States Constitution provides for freedom to vote, and this country must permit every man and woman to exercise their franchise” (Kennedy, “President’s News Conference, Sept.13” p.2 ). He condemned the attacks against civil rights activists as “cowardly as well as outrageous” (ibid.). At both news conferences (Sept. 13 and Aug. 1, 1962) the President spoke very directly about the issues of civil rights. He even expressed clearly his own point of view and criticized directly city officials when he said that he does not understand why city officials of Albany are so unwilling to negotiate with activist when “the U.S. Government is involved in sitting down at Geneva with the Soviet Union” (Kennedy, “News Conference 40” p.2).