Here's Where It Gets Interesting - 161. Momentum: The Ripples Made by Ordinary People, Part 16

Episode Date: July 29, 2022

On our second to last episode in our series, Momentum: Civil Rights in the 1950s, We learn about the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the commission born of it. For two years, the United States Commission on Civil Rights researched and released a 600+ page report about the state of voting rights in the US. They found, time after time, accounts of Black Americans who faced roadblocks and threats of violence or economic punishment when they tried to register to vote. Fear played a large role in preventing Black Americans from voting. But the tides are slowly changing, and there are many dedicated people working to make civil rights gains. We return to learning about Thurgood Marshall as his career–and influence–evolves over time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends. Welcome. Welcome to the 16th installment of Momentum, our special series about ordinary people and the struggle for freedom during the civil rights era of the 1950s. I'm Sharon McMahon, and welcome to the Sharon Says So podcast. In 1957, the United States passed a law called the Civil Rights Act. There have been a number of civil rights acts throughout US history, one of the most famous being passed in the 1960s. But the 1957 law made it possible to prosecute people who were denying others the right to vote. But it did another thing, and that was create the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The commission is a fact-finding federal agency, and their stated

mission is to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance the enforcement of federal civil rights laws. The commission still exists. The commission released its first report in 1959. It was 686 pages long. I read all of them. You can still download copies of it today. The report said, in 1957, the Congress of the United States was disturbed by allegations that some American citizens were being denied the right to vote, or otherwise deprived of the equal protection of the laws because of their race, color, creed, or national origin. In congressional committee hearings and later in floor debate, there were wide differences of opinion about the truth of these reports. Some people in Congress didn't think these reports were true. And from these differences arose a strong bipartisan agreement that an objective bipartisan commission be formed. Some people strongly oppose the formation of this commission,

including Senator Harry Byrd. Harry Byrd said, this commission is a vehicle for witch hunting at its worst. And he said, it is dangerous beyond the comprehension of most living Americans. That is a fantastic example about how deeply some segregationists clung to their beliefs, that they believed that this is dangerous beyond comprehension. Forming a commission was dangerous beyond comprehension, he said. Dwight Eisenhower, who was the president at the time, believed that all types of thinking should be represented on the commission, and so he decided to seek a balance between northern and southern viewpoints. In fact, he appointed a segregationist to the Civil Rights Commission. His name was John Battle. He had previously been the governor of

Virginia. John Battle was reluctant to accept a position on the commission. He knew that he was going to be criticized, but he decided to do it anyway. He said that senators insisted that I might be of service in presenting the views of those who believe in maintaining segregation. the views of those who believe in maintaining segregation. So in other words, he agreed to accept the position on the commission so that he could present the viewpoint of segregation to the Civil Rights Commission. One example of John Battle's viewpoints was when he was governor of Virginia, and the secretary of the NAACP invited him to speak about why he refused, why John Battle refused to desegregate city parks in Norfolk, Virginia. And John Battle refused, saying, I'm not going to justify my positions to the NAACP. He said that he would make every effort on a segregated basis to keep the parks separate.

It's hard for Americans to imagine now that there were separate public parks, where this was a park that you could go to if you were white, and this was not the park you could attend if you were not white. The Civil Rights Commission report opened with a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville, and it said, I confess that in America, I saw more than America. I sought there to be the image of democracy itself. And they said the first question before the United States Commission on Civil Rights is, what are civil rights in the United States? The commission said they are by definition the rights of citizens, though under the Constitution, many of them extend to all persons. And what that means is

many rights enumerated in the Constitution extend to everybody in the United States, citizen or not. In the assignment of this commission, Congress indicated that its first concern is with the right of citizens to vote and the right of all persons to equal protection of the laws. These rights are the very foundation of this republic. They do not arise suddenly in current civil rights controversies or in the so-called civil rights amendments added to the Constitution after the Civil War. They are implied in the original Constitution itself, in its very first words and in its provisions for representative government and the rule of law. So I found that to be extraordinary that this commission in 1959, it was saying that civil rights are the foundation of the republic, but they weren't granted after the Civil War.

but they weren't granted after the Civil War. They were in the original Constitution itself. That was the finding of the Civil Rights Commission. And the Civil Rights Commission went state by state, county by county, throughout areas that had been segregated, areas that had been segregated, listening to the reports of sworn affiants, meaning people who were there to give their sworn affidavit testimony of something that they had endured, investigating those reports, compiling data. It took them nearly two years to put together this 686-page report. Here's one example. In Alabama in 1950, the voting age population was 1.7 million people. And of that total, 1.2 million people were white and about half a million were non-white. And thus, non-whites were 29.5% of the voting age population. And they found by the end of the 1950s, fewer than 5% of the eligible non-white voters in Alabama were actually registered to vote. The report said that

there are about 300 Negro teachers in this one county in Alabama, many of whom have expressed a desire to vote, but virtually none of whom is registered. They're unwilling to attempt to register because of the fear of losing their jobs as teachers or other economic reprisals. For example, one Negro minister, they said, was allegedly denied a $100 loan at a bank despite the fact that he had a highly solvent cosigner. That means he had somebody who was willing to help him sign for the loan, and that person had a lot of money. He had previously suggested from the pulpit that Negroes should register and vote, and he took the fact that he was being denied despite being well-qualified, he took that to mean it was because he was encouraging African Americans to vote. Another teacher in that same county was denied renewal of their teaching contract.

And the alleged reason was the teacher's liberal attitude toward voting rights and other constitutional matters discussed in a course in social studies. One elderly man who had been interviewed said that he had registered about three years before but had decided not to vote. And when the commission asked him why not, he said, I'm too old to be beaten up. One businessman refused to be interviewed by the commission because he said they would bomb my business out of existence if I even talked with you. This is 1958, United States of America. The commission said, it is significant that fears of reprisal are so widespread, even if they're groundless, whether the reprisals would be carried out or not.

if they're groundless, whether their reprisals would be carried out or not, if prospective registrants believe they would be, the fear is a real deterrent to registration. One man who was an army veteran who had been discharged as a sergeant said that when he went to the courthouse, he was asked by a female clerk, what do you want? And he said, I want to register. And she said, to register for the army? And he said, no, I want to register to vote. And she said, I don't have time. The court is in a meeting. But she said, write down your name and address on a slip of paper. And so he left. And less than a half an hour later, two white men came to his door and asked him why did he try to register? He replied that it was his duty to register. And they told him that he was just trying to stir up trouble and said, do not come back. He did go back to register a week later and was again told by the same clerk that she was busy.

And then he stopped trying because he was afraid of what might happen to him. One man tried 16 times to register twice a year for eight years. Each time the registrar just told him, no, you can't register. years. Each time the registrar just told him, no, you can't register. And the last time he asked, what is the reason you're not allowing me to register to vote? And the registrar replied, there is no reason. I'm just not going to let you. Another person who was a minister with two degrees from Columbia, who had been a registered voter in Mississippi and New York City, had twice attempted to register to vote in Alabama. And the second time, he admitted to the registrar that he was a member of the NAACP. And the clerk said,

well, that's a communist organization, and you're probably one of them. And then he said, well, that's a communist organization, and you're probably one of them. And then he said, does that mean you're not going to register me? And the clerk said, you're correct. I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We are best friends. And together we have the podcast Office Ladies, where we rewatched every single episode of The Office with insane behind-the-scenes stories, hilarious guests, and lots of laughs. Guess who's sitting next to me? Steve! It's my girl in the studio! Every Wednesday, we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from The Office and our friendship with brand new guests. And we'll be digging into our mailbag to answer your questions and comments. So join us for brand new Office Ladies 6.0 episodes every Wednesday. Plus,

on Mondays, we are taking a second drink. You can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits before every episode. Well, we can't wait to see you there. Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. In 1959, a man from Haywood County, Tennessee told the commission that he had been refused the ability to register to vote, despite the fact that he had a master's degree and taught school in that county. And when the commission began to investigate, they found that no African Americans had been permitted to vote in Haywood County for the last 50 years. And that was as long as they had records available. 50 years, zero African-Americans

had been permitted to vote. And additionally, African-Americans in Haywood County had to observe a strict curfew. They were not permitted to dance or drink beer, and they were not allowed near the courthouse unless they were on business. 1959, Tennessee, United States of America. Some men who were veterans were interviewed by the commission. They said that they had been subjected to so much intimidation that only one of the 12 of the men who were being interviewed had voted. And he said that he doubted that his ballot was counted because he had handed it to someone, and then he realized after he left, I should have dropped it in the box, and he felt like the fact that I handed it to someone probably meant that they

threw it away. Two of the other 12 went to the polls and were said to have been scared off when sheriff's deputies approached them. Another was told by his banker that something might happen to him if he tried to vote. Another owned a business and lost all of his customers, and the police threatened to arrest his employees if he voted. And according to these men, when an African American registered, the sheriff was quickly informed. And in turn, their landlord was informed and their employer was informed that they had at least attempted to register to vote. And those who were registered were often quickly fired from their jobs and ordered to move from their homes. They said that the police would arrest some of them and impose

severe fines, as much as $65, just for attempting to register to vote. $65 was a lot of money back then. And if they didn't have $65, their wages were garnished, and they were denied the right to apply for GI loans, those are loans through the United States military, and they were turned down by local banks. 1959, United States of America kicked out of your home, fired, denied the ability to take out a loan from the United States government, a loan program that you earned your way into by being a veteran. Literally afraid of what could happen to your physical safety if you filed the paperwork to try to register to vote. And racist discrimination, when it came to voting, was not happening only in the South. It was also happening in places like New York City. in places like New York City. By the late 1950s, an estimated 618,000 American citizens had moved to New York from Puerto Rico. And of those 618,000, about 190,000 had lived there

long enough to satisfy New York's requirement of residents for voting. But many of them could not vote because they could not pass the New York State literacy test, which said that nobody is allowed to vote unless you can also read and write English. And nearly 60% of the Puerto Rican residents of New York could read and write only Spanish. One man, whose name was Jose Camacho, was a resident of the Bronx, and he filed a lawsuit against the election officials in Bronx County, New York, seeking the right to vote. And he also filed a formal complaint with the Commission on Civil Rights. His contention was that people like him were being denied the right to vote because they were not

literate in English, and that constituted a denial of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. And now you might be saying to yourself, hey, this is America, we speak English here, but I'd like to remind you of an important piece of history of the United States. There was something called the Treaty of Paris, which concluded the United States' war with Spain is what gave Puerto Rico to the United States. And in this treaty, it said that the United States was to provide for the civil rights of the native inhabitants of Puerto Rico. And this treaty also left it up to the native inhabitants of Puerto Rico to choose their official language. Congress gave all of the inhabitants of Puerto Rico full American citizenship in 1917. And as they were legally entitled to do, the people of

Puerto Rico chose Spanish as their language. And the United States Supreme Court had already concluded that the protection of the Constitution extends to all, to those who speak other languages, as well as to those born with English as their native tongue. I want to tell you about a man named Asbury Howard. Asbury Howard. He was a union leader. And he saw a cartoon in an African American newspaper. And he thought that this political cartoon should be reproduced on a sign encouraging people to vote. And the point of the sign that he was trying to make was, vote today for a better tomorrow. And it showed an African-American man in handcuffs. And around the handcuffs was a tag.

And the tag said, you can't enter here. You can't ride here. You can't work here. You can't play here. You can't study here. You can't eat here. You can't drink here. You can't play here. You can't study here. You can't eat here. You can't drink here. You can't walk here.

You can't worship here. The man wearing handcuffs is clasping his hands in prayer and looking up towards the sky. And he is saying, Lord, help all Americans to see that you intended human beings everywhere to have the same rights. And the message was, vote today for a better tomorrow. So Asbury Howard hired a white sign painter to duplicate this political cartoon on a sign. And on January 29th, 1959, the police chief, whose name was George Barron, went to the sign painter's shop and the sign was still on the drawing board. It wasn't quite done. It had not been put up publicly anywhere. And police chief Barron arrested the

sign painter and charged him with a crime. And the crime that he charged him with was the publication of libelous and obscene material. And then he went to the place where Asbury Howard worked and he arrested him. And then charged him with the same crime of publishing libelous and obscene material. Libelous material is material that is a lie. And so the trial started not long after. African Americans who came to City Hall that day were searched before they were permitted to enter, but white people were not. And the sign painter, who did not have a lawyer, entered a plea of guilty. Asbury Howard had a lawyer and entered a plea of not guilty. There was one witness that was called during this trial. It was the police chief, police chief George Barron. And he testified

that he went to the sign painter's office on a tip and that he confiscated the sign. He figured out who had ordered the sign and then he arrested Asbury Howard. And on the stand, he said that Mr. Howard had not committed any offenses while he was in his presence, that he had not been guilty of any loud or boisterous conduct. that he had not been guilty of any loud or boisterous conduct. But both Asbury Howard and the sign painter were convicted and sentenced to six months in jail in order to pay $100 in fines. And so while Mr. Howard's lawyer was occupied with getting the details that he needed from the court to prepare an appeal for both of the defendants, he decided he would take on the sign painter as a client. A police detective named Lawson Grimes told Mr. Howard to leave the courtroom and go downstairs. Once he went downstairs, Mr. Howard met a group of 40 to 50

white men, and among them was a police officer. Without provocation, the 40 to 50 white men attacked Asbury Howard. His son, who was standing nearby, whose name was Asbury Howard Jr., called out a warning to his father, you know, like, watch out, they're coming. And several of the men prevented Asbury Howard Jr. from helping his father. They drew knives and other weapons from their pockets and held him back, didn't permit him to help his dad. And eventually his son was also knocked down and beaten. A police officer returned to the courtroom to inform the lawyer what had just happened. And Asbury Howard Jr. was taken to jail. He was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. And Asbury Howard Sr. was taken to the hospital with head wounds. After he recovered from his injuries and was able to travel,

civil rights organizations had press conferences and urged the FBI to investigate. He finally received his appeal. A judge affirmed his conviction and refused to give him bail, and he was ordered to serve on a chain gang. After he got out of jail in 1960, he was the president of a voting league and was attending a dinner and didn't know that he was going to receive a special honor. Somebody stood up and said that today is Asbury Howard Day. that today is Asbury Howard Day. And the statement that they read said that West Jefferson County felt that it should show just how much it appreciates this great leader who has done so much for his people. He's given unselfish service in lifting the people. He sacrificed home, lifting the people. He sacrificed home, family, job, and almost paid with his life to make things better for his people. They said people from all walks of life join hands in helping to promote

Asbury Howard Day. He has gone all out to get people registered to vote. He used everything at his command to induce his people to register and vote, and because of his stand, he was made to suffer. He was arrested, jailed, fined, sentenced, and attacked by a vicious mob, and beaten by that mob within the hall of justice, and then made to work on the streets because of a sign he was having painted saying, vote today for a better tomorrow. In spite of this, he is more determined than ever to get people registered to vote. Asbury Howard went on to become an Alabama state representative. He was reelected multiple times, and he went from being a convicted felon for having a sign made to representing members of his community in the state legislature. And it was the NAACP who was able to provide the kind of

legal assistance that men like Asbury Howard needed. Now, did it mean that 100% of the time they were successful? No. Sometimes they were seated in front of a segregationist judge, without the concerted and sustained effort of all the attorneys at the NAACP, momentum would not have been possible. And by this time, Thurgood Marshall was the head of the Legal Defense Fund, which spun off of the NAACP and became its own entity. Thurgood Marshall had spent his career traveling to small towns, sitting in dusty courtrooms. At one point, Thurgood Marshall was in charge of over 450 pending cases at one time. He had many major victories, including Brown v. The Board of Education, another that successfully challenged the whites-only primary election system in Texas. And it was his passion for ensuring the rights of all citizens, regardless of their race, that in 1961 caught the attention of a new president, John F. Kennedy, who appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals. And in 1965, Thurgood Marshall was appointed by Lyndon Johnson to be the Solicitor General of the United States. The Solicitor General is the person

who goes before the Supreme Court to argue cases on behalf of the United States. They're a little bit like the United States' lawyer. When you hear of a Supreme Court case that is United States v. Court case that is United States v. fill in the blank. It's the Solicitor General or the Deputy Solicitor General who is making those arguments. The Solicitor General is the third highest office in the United States Justice Department. And in 1967, Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to be the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991. He died in 1993, and he had really earned the nickname Mr. Civil Rights. And before his funeral, his flag-draped casket was laid in state in the Great Hall of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was only the second justice in U.S. history

to be given that honor. When President Johnson appointed him to the Supreme Court, he said, this nomination is the right thing to do. It's the right time to do it. It's the right man and the right place. It is nearly time to leave this special series behind. I hope you've enjoyed it. Come back next time when we wrap up many of the loose ends that we've untied. And I know you're very curious to hear what happened to

J. Edgar Hoover. I'll see you soon. Thank you so much for listening to the Sharon Says So podcast. I am truly grateful for you. And I'm wondering if you could do me a quick favor. Would you be willing to follow or subscribe to this podcast, or maybe leave me a rating or review? Or if you're feeling extra generous, would you share this episode on your Instagram stories or with a friend? All of those things help podcasters out so much. This podcast was written and researched by Sharon McMahon and Heather Jackson. It was produced by Heather Jackson, edited and mixed by our audio producer, Jenny Snyder, and hosted by me, Sharon McMahon.

I'll see you next time.