History of Alabama - Civil Rights Movement and Redistricting, 1945-1975

Civil Rights Movement and Redistricting, 1945-1975

The rural white minority's hold on the legislature continued, suppressing attempts by more progressive elements to modernize the state. A study in 1960 concluded that because of rural domination, "A minority of about 25 per cent of the total state population is in majority control of the Alabama legislature." Legislators and others mounted challenges in the 1960s. It took years and Federal court intervention to achieve the redistricting necessary to establishing "one man, one vote" representation.

In 1960 on the eve of important civil rights battles, 30% of Alabama's population was African American or 980,000.

As Birmingham was the center of industry and population in Alabama, in 1963 civil rights leaders chose to mount a campaign there for desegregation. Schools, restaurants and department stores were segregated; no African Americans were hired to work in the stores where they shopped or in the city government supported in part by their taxes. There were no African-American members of the police force. Despite segregation, African Americans had been advancing economically. In response, independent groups affiliated with the KKK bombed transition residential neighborhoods to discourage blacks' moving into them.

To help with the campaign and secure national attention, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth invited members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to Birmingham to help change its leadership's policies. Non-violent action had produced good results in some other cities. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, his executive director; and other leaders came to Birmingham to help.

In the spring and summer of 1963, national attention became riveted on Birmingham. The media covered the series of peaceful marches that the Birmingham police, headed by Police Commissioner Bull Connor, attempted to divert and control. King intended to fill the jails with nonviolent protesters to make a moral argument to the United States. Dramatic images of Birmingham police using dogs and powerful streams of water against children protesters filled newspapers and television coverage, arousing national outrage. Finally Birmingham leaders King and Shuttlesworth came to agreement to end the marches with businessmen's group commitment to end segregation. Some of the progress was slow.

The Birmingham confrontations contributed to the Kennedy Administration's preparing civil rights legislation. It was finally entered into law in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson helped secure its passage and signed the Civil Rights Act. The following year passage of the Voting Rights Act helped secure suffrage for all citizens.

Court challenges related to "one man, one vote" and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally provided the groundwork for Federal court action. It required the legislature to create a statewide redistricting plan in 1972. Redistricting together with renewed voters rights, enabled hundreds of thousands of Alabama citizens to participate for the first time in the political system.