lma, where only 1% of eligible black voters were registered to vote (King 74). Theviolence, the march, the excitement all contributed to the passage of the second landmarkcivil rights act of the decade. Even though there was horrendous violence, Reverend Kingannounced that as a matter of conscience and in an attempt to arouse the deepest concern of the nation, he was compelled to lead another march from Selma toMontgomery, Alabama.The four-day, 54-mile march started on the afternoon of Sunday, March 21, 1965,with some 3500 marchers led by two Nobel prizewinner, the Rev. Martin Luther King, jr.and Ralph Bunche, then U.N. under secretary for special political affairs(Funk&Wagnalls 423). In the march, whites, Negroes, clergymen and beatniks, old andyoung, walked side by side. President Johnson made sure they had plenty of protectionthis time with 1000 military police, 1900 federalized Alabama national guardsmen, andplatoons of U.S. marshals and FBI men.When the marchers reached the capital of Alabama, they were to have presented apetition to then governor George Wallace protesting voting discrimination. However, when they arrived, the governor's aides came out and said, "the capital is closed today"(King 66)Straughn 4About this same time, the term, "black power" was coming into use. It was meantto infer long-submerged racial pride in Negroes (King 89). Martin Luther King, Jr.Specifically sought to rebut the evangelists of black power. "It is absolutely necessary forthe Negro to gain power, but the term black power is unfortunate, because it tends to givethe impression of black nationalism. we must never seek power exclusively for theNegro, but the sharing of power with white people," he said.(Ascher 72)Unfortunately, the thing that really moved the Civil Rights Movement alongsignificantly was the murder of Rev. Martin Luther King, jr. In late 1965, crueltyreplaced harmony with nightmarish suddenness. Rioting mobs in the Negro suburb ofWatt...
