What a fantastic record. So glad these records were found.
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"Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
Primo Levi
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A timely reminder that racism and injustice will not prevail, even if it's the law of the land, as long as there are courageous men and women willing to stand up for what's right.
Mr. Gray is an American hero and it's a blessing to learn about him. I hope that whenever this archive is finally displayed, he is honoured for his role in American history.
7
Ironic that a trove relating to a civil rights giant is revealed on the same day the Gorsuch Supreme Court declares bigotry is now okay.
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Put Rosa Parks on the 20 dollar bill, a common person who did the right thing, rather than a President.
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Won't happen as long as Mitch McConnell is alive.
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Another key finding here is the clumsy attempts at legally defining Rosa Parks’ offense by the police and guardians of Alabama self righteousness. Refusing to “take a seat assigned to her race” is as repugnant as it gets.
At least Rosa parks and Martin Luther King were fortunate to make it to court and get a hearing before a judge. Many unknown and unsung black men never made it to open court because they were snatched from jail by crazed mobs out to dispense their own brand of southern justice.
Fred Gray and later John Lewis, who was disparaged by the president, are among the many heroes of the civil rights movement. This treasure trove of history should be celebrated at the National Archives.
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I hope this piece will bring renewed attention to the crucial work of Fred Gray. He is one of the largely unrecognized heroes from the early Civil Rights Movement.
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It is critical to note that these records were duly filed and stored for decades. What that communicates is that Southern segregationists acted with no sense of guilt. In their eyes, they were upholding the letter of the law. Historians who portray Southerners as self-aware law breakers are wrong. Southern law enforcement viewed federal law requiring integration as invalid. And they defended their racism with a clear conscience.
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What a great historical discovery!! I look forward to one day being able to view them under a museum glass. They stand as a reminder that things can get better when injustice is confronted. It gives me hope that America can come to its senses again.
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Reliving these past humiliations is what Republicans call "identity politics". I call it history that should forever be held front and center of our nation.
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How supremely ironic that this treasure trove of “the back story” of the 1950’s civil rights movement, revealing the State of Alabama’s desperate attempts to keep segregation legal, should be reported on the very day that the highest court in our land—the Supreme Court—just granted the president of the United States carte blanche to discriminate against immigrants based loosely on “religious” grounds, but is ultimately a ruling based on the executive’s lawful and unbounded power to practice discrimination.
From Brown vs. Topeka (1954) have we descended in the protection of minority citizens to Trump vs. Hawaii. America had taken a long turn down a dark road where it is impossible to see the end. From legal segregation to legal protection to legal segregation again, the difference being the victims who practice a religion different from that (presumably) “practiced” by the majority is now a matter of historical record, decided by a politicized Court.
It is as if civil disobedience—on its own—itself a crime.
9
Interesting that the person who secluded these documents did not destroy them. Often employees are conflicted over their job duties and over what is right. This silent protest has finally been given a voice.
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God bless all the interns, the archivists, the historians, the savers of history who, not knowing, knew to hang on to the evidence. Thank you.
56
What a Breathtaking find!
America's youth has the tools to study American history!!!
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Jeff Sessions has none of the courage nor nor honor nor humanity nor intellect nor wisdom of a Fred Gray.
Mr. Gray and some of the surviving plaintiffs appeared at the closing program of EJI opening of the memorial and museum regarding American white supremacist terrorist lynching.
Mr. Gray is my kind of superhero.
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I have no doubt Fred Gray risked his own life to represent these icons of the Civil Rights Movement. The opposition probably didn't view too kindly the young, black attorney fighting "law and order" in the courtrooms.
9
Another person who was tremendously brave, but who gets not nearly enough notice, is Thurgood Marshall.
Mr. Marshall traveled around the country for the NAACP legal defense fund representing clients. Some of the places that he went to were particularly dangerous. I think that what he did in court rooms of state and federal courts was more important than his service on the U. S. Supreme Court.
You are right, Jeff Sessions is nobody's hero.
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