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DeWayne Wickham
In 1963, long before the term “global village” came into vogue, the American Civil Rights Movement made the world a smaller place. The images captured by television news crews and the stories told by courageous newspaper reporters of the brutal acts of white racists, focused much of the world’s attention on the American South.
From the defiance of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, who proclaimed “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” in his inaugural address, to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, much of the world was emotionally linked to our racial discontent in 1963.
Then, the following year, President Lyndon Johnson pushed Congress to pass a Civil Rights Act that ended a century of Jim Crow laws and practices. At the July 2 signing ceremony that was televised around the world, Johnson said: “We must not approach the observance and enforcement of this law in a vengeful
spirit. Its purpose is not to punish. Its purpose is not to divide, but to end divisions – divisions which have all lasted too long….Its purpose is to promote a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity.”
That was wishful thinking, and President Johnson knew it. After the signing, Johnson is believed to have said that Democrats “have lost the South for a generation” for supporting the law. That was two generations ago and the South is still solidly in the hands of the Republican Party.
Today, people around the world are no longer distant spectators of the racial advances - and setbacks – that occur in this country. In places like Berlin, Havana and the tribal lands of American Indians, writers in this issue of MGJR discuss their connections to the civil rights struggles of African Americans.
In the global village we inhabit, the struggle for equal rights merges with the defense of human rights and the demand for recognition. And so it is appropriate that we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Civil Rights Act by extending the discussion of the landmark legislation to people throughout the global village.
DEAN'S CORNER
Civil Rights History Links Arms with the Global Village