In 1965, there were tens of thousands of White registered voters in Selma/Dallas County. There were 327 Black registered voters. Every city and county elected official was White. There was not a single Black elected official in either Selma or Dallas County. Whites had everything. Backs had little or nothing.
In 1965, the conditions for Whites were dramatically better than that of Blacks in every economic and social category – income, ownership of property, employment, educational opportunity, business, etc. One race was on top in virtually every desirable category, and the other race was on the bottom in virtually every desirable category.
In 1965, Selma and Dallas County were segregated in virtually every way. It was not just a separation of races. One race was crushed down determinedly, and the other was lifted up mightily. One was oppressed. The other was supreme. Some in one race were abused, exploited and lynched with impunity by some in the other race.
In 1965, the City of Selma was led by Joe T. Smitherman, the Mayor of Selma. The police chief was Wilson Baker. Dallas County was led by Probate Judge Bernard Reynolds. The sheriff was the infamous Jim Clark. They all worked diligently to maintain a system of oppressive segregation. However, there was a slight difference in the degree of force used by city and county officials. However, force was ever-present, maintaining a system of oppression that was euphemistically called, “Our way of life.”
Then there was a great clash: a clash of wills; a clash of spirits; a clash of determination; a clash of ways of life. The clashes played out in the Children Marches, the Teachers' March, various other marches, arrests, beatings, Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery March, murders of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Reverend James Reed and Viola Liuzzo, and more. One side had everything: all the laws and lawmen; all the guns and gunmen; all the business and jobs; all the banks and money; all the voters and elected officials; all the power and force; virtually everything. The other side had almost nothing. But it took what it had – praying prayers, singing songs and marching feet – and wrought a great victory. The evidence of the victory was the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which changed the country and impacted the world.
Let’s fast forward to 2018. Some things have changed. Some have changed for the better and others for worse. The population of Dallas County has decreased from 56,000 to roughly 39,000. There are some 9,000 White registered voters and some 19,000 Black registered voters. It took 35 years from the clashes of 1965 and the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for Selma to vote Mayor Joe T. Smitherman out of office in a majority Black city. He continued to preside over the City of Selma from 1965 to 2000. The Dallas County Probate Judge position is still held by Whites in a county 27 percent White and 70 percent Black.
Selma has an African-American mayor and a majority black city council. However, the critical position of police chief has been consecutively held by Whites in a city that is 80 percent Black. Recently, an African American city councilman was arrested for allegedly “peeing in the street” at some time in the past. He strongly denies these allegations. Six cars of police officers came to harass him. He had recently exchanged heated words with the Black mayor and White police chief. Then my wife Faya Rose Toure – a mother, grandmother, attorney, community leader, and justice seeker – was arrested for taking a political sign of a White candidate off public property although municipal ordinances prohibit placement of candidates’ signs on public property. In my 45 years of firsthand involvement in political campaigns, not one person has been arrested for removing political signs.
I have been informed on multiple occasions that certain White leaders cut deals with the last two winning mayoral candidates to ensure that Selma will have White police chiefs. That explains having White police chiefs in a city that is 80 percent Black and with a history of White police brutality.
Whites make up 27 percent of the Dallas County population. African Americans make up 70 percent of the county’s population. There are seven county-wide elected positions. Whites hold six of these: probate judge; sheriff; district judge; tax collector; tax assessor; and coroner. Blacks hold just one of these positions: circuit clerk. The arrest and jailing of Faya Rose Toure was really about a heated runoff election for probate judge between a White and Black candidate.
The City of Selma is rife with violence. It is the seventh most violent city in the country for municipalities in its size category. The average income is much greater for Whites than for Blacks. Whites still own most of everything.
I came to Selma and Dallas County with the hope and belief that Selma, given its history of injustice, would emerge as a worldwide model of justice, equality, and brotherhood. It has not. It is far from it. But hope springs eternal. Maybe it is still not too late. Selma and Dallas County, Lord, Selma and Dallas County!
Epilogue – We want to believe that things will get better with time. Time, however, is neutral. Some things get worse over time in spite of herculean efforts. Our challenge is great because it is not enough to get better. Our challenge is to overcome history in order to achieve excellence.
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