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| WALKING WITH THE WIND
John Lewis provides a personal history of the civil rights movement. July 21, 1998 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
How have attitudes towards race changed in Washington? Doesn't affirmative action contradict the spirit of the civil rights movement? Is a national civil rights leader important? Would violence have accomplished more? What teachings of Gandhi have you adopted and still practice?
NewsHour Backgrounders
July 7, 1998:
Gergen engages John Lewis in a discussion of his new book.
March 2, 1998:
Have things improved or worsened since the Kerner Commission was released?
December 19, 1997:
President Clinton meets with conservative leaders to discuss his race initiative.
December 3, 1997:
President Clinton holds a town hall meeting to discuss his One America initiative.
September 25, 1997:
A look back at school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas 40 years ago.
July 4, 1997:
Online Forum:
The Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook and Angela Oh respond to your questions on race relations.
Jan. 15, 1996:
Benjamin DeMott discusses his book "The Trouble with Friendship: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Race."
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Race Relations.
OUTSIDE LINKS
Visit the White House's
One America homepage.
Rep. John Lewis's Congressional Web site.
Most people study the American civil rights movement, John Lewis lived it. In his new book, "Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement," he describes his journey from the cotton fields of Alabama, through the bloody demonstrations of the 1960s, to the corridors of power in the U.S. Congress. The son of sharecroppers in the segregated South, Lewis grew up in an era of bus boycotts and sit-ins. When he was 23, Lewis was elected chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which made him one of the "Big Six" leaders of the civil rights movement. (The other Big Six leaders were Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins.)
In 1963, Lewis was a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. Lewis' speech was more radical, calling for a social and economic revolution in race relations, voting rights and equality before the law.
A believer in the nonviolent teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was not often met in kind. In 1965, he led more than 500 men women and children across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on what became known as "Bloody Sunday." With television cameras rolling, Alabama state troopers used clubs and tear gas against the marchers. Lewis suffered a fractured skull. Public outrage at the violence led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In the 70s, Lewis worked in various peace and grassroots organizations before running for the Atlanta City Council in 1981. In 1987 he was elected to the House of Representatives. And since 1991, he has served as the Chief Deputy Democratic Whip.
Now, congressman John Lewis continues his NewsHour discussion online...
Rose Walters of Part Charlotte, FL asks:
From 1963 to 1998, how would you describe the change (if any) on Capitol Hill towards African Americans?
What is the overwhelming view in the House of Representatives, and your own, regarding the president's initiative on race relations?
John Lewis responds:
Between 1963 and 1998 there were many members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, who championed the cause of Civil Rights. It took a truly bipartisan effort to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voters Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Many of us in the Civil Rights Movement saw the Congress, like most of the Federal government, as a sympathetic referee in the struggle of Civil Rights. During the late 70's and 80's, many different forces came together and created a different atmosphere, a different political climate in the country- and Congress reacted to that political climate and atmosphere. I would say that, today, this Congress is out of step and out of sync with the struggle for civil rights and social Justice that continues to this day.
Peter Handler of Ann Arbor, MI asks:
As a supporter of affirmative action, what is your response to those who contend that affirmative action contradicts the spirit of the civil rights movement and makes overcoming race and racism in this society impossible?
John Lewis responds:
Affirmative action is a necessary public policy designed to affirm the inclusion and participation of people in workplace and at our educational institutions who have been left out and left behind. We have had an affirmative action policy for many, many years that benefited white men primarily, while minorities and women were not given the same opportunities. Affirmative action only a means a tool or an instrument to compensate, amend, make up, and correct the wrongs of the past. Over the long term, we want to achieve a society where affirmative action is not necessary, but we have not reached that point yet. We are not yet a color-blind society. We are still in the process of becoming one.
James Nimmo of Oklahoma City, OK asks:
It seems to me that the movement for racial equality has no single prominent leader of the esteem of Dr. King. Do you think it important that there be a single national leader or are local leaders enough?
John Lewis responds:
As a movement, we need both. It is important to have a national leader who is the embodiment of a movement and can carry the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of a total community. There is a need for someone who is the personification of the essence of a movement. Any powerful and meaningful movement needs a national symbol. We had that in Dr, King. Nevertheless, it is very helpful to have local and indigenous leaders. However, local leaders are not enough. There are certain issues, concerns, and needs that must be expressed from a national perspective.
Robert Monroe of Tampa, FL asks:
While I respect what you and so many other courageous black and white citizens endured during the civil rights revolution, I cannot help but wonder what would have happened had black people used violence against those who attacked them. Wherever black people fought back-- Monroe, N.C. and the state of Louisiana, to name two places-- the bigots tended to leave them alone. Could lives have been spared if the racists had known that they and their families could have also been targets of violence? It is still very painful to see the films of the peaceful protesters being attacked and beaten, and to remember those who were murdered.
John Lewis responds:
If we had used violence instead of nonviolence, the movement for social justice would have failed. Many of the opposition, including law enforcement and elected officials, would have felt that they were justified to use violence against us. There was no way possible for us to win an armed conflict. Most important, we were not out to destroy anyone. We did not hate anyone. We did not hate Governor Wallace or Bull Conner in Birmingham, nor Sheriff Clark in Selma. We were out to redeem them. We were out to build a community, not a separate place for blacks by creating conflict and destruction. We wanted to win people over and that cannot be done with the use of violence. Nonviolence was a much better way.
I agree that it is very painful to see the footage of people being beaten and attacked. It is very painful to think about what happened to the three civil rights workers in Mississippi and those four little girls who were killed in Birmingham. Those images are extremely painful. However, pain and suffering was part of the price we had to pay for the freeing and liberation of all America.
James E. Burnside of Austin, TX asks:
As a beginning student of Gandhi, I have begun to practice certain daily disciplines so that when my time of testing comes, I might respond as you did on the Selma Bridge and as you continue to do so to this day. Can you share with me any of the disciplines that you have adopted in the past and that you maintain today to help you continue your nonviolent struggle?
John Lewis responds:
Many years ago, I accepted the philosophy of nonviolence, not as a tactic or technique, but as a way of life. I made up my mind that I would not become bitter, hostile, or hate anyone. And to this day, I do not hate or have malice for a single person. I believe that we all must grow to be at peace with ourselves. As an individual, I have a moral obligation to treat my fellow human beings as my brothers and sisters. I look at all human beings as belonging to one big family.
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