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143 7 Reflections on the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign You must be the change you wish to see in the world. —Gandhi The most significant outcome of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign was the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, which banned racial discrimination and secured equal voting rights for black citizens. This resulted in a dramatic increase in voter registration for African Americans . The Voting Rights Act is considered by many people to be the single most important legislation for civil rights. It restored the right to vote guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution , which stated that no individual should be denied the right to vote because of race. In addition, it eliminated the use of the unfair literacy tests, poll taxes, and other discriminatory practices to prohibit people from registering to vote. The Voting Rights Act was a direct consequence of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign. I’m proud to say that the work that was done in Dallas County and surrounding counties began a positive change throughout the southern states. By the summer following the signing of the Voting Rights Act, more than nine thousand black voters were registered, giving them back the voice that had been oppressed.1 I learned from Dr. King the importance of transforming the way people think, not just changing the laws. At the end of the march we never boasted “We won!” as if we had defeated an enemy. Even when the laws change, it is necessary to win the hearts of the opposing people to be truly effective. You can smile at your adversaries but not stick out your tongue. When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, it was critical for people ’s thinking to have changed so that the laws could actually work. Dr. 144 IN PEACE AND FREEDOM King once told me that laws could regulate people’s behavior but not necessarily their hearts. When people’s thinking changes, it affects how they view other issues of injustice. Once they have a change of heart, they may not accept other unjust conditions. It’s not the people in the movement that’s important; it’s the movement in the people that counts. I’m certain that the way the Selma community thought about themselves was revolutionized. Changing a law will make a difference only if people have changed inside. I believe that a secondary result, but nevertheless an important one, was that people saw the power of nonviolence and recognized that they had the ability to stand up for their beliefs. Their actions of protesting injustices could bring about transformation. Blacks realized that they had the capacity to change unfair and oppressive conditions. They grasped the idea that they, as ordinary individuals, had a role to play. When they combined their individual strengths with strengths of others, they multiplied many times their reservoir of resources. Going through the experience of Selma gave me a new set of skills and enriched the skills I had already acquired. I felt ready to take on Chicago , applying the principles, steps, and philosophy that I had embraced from the early days in Nashville and the Freedom Rides, and that I had continued through Selma. I also recalled some of my narrow escapes, and friends who weren’t as fortunate. That responsibility weighed heavy on me, and I vowed to make sure that those who sacrificed their lives did not give them in vain. The road that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was drenched with blood: not necessarily the blood of our resisters or our opponents, but the blood of advocates and supporters. I wanted to share these experiences not simply for them to be clarified in the minds of researchers, but to be lessons for those who want to apply these nonviolent approaches to dealing with current problems in their lives and communities on national and global levels. I’m often asked whether I ever got depressed or lost hope through the years of struggle. Honestly, I can say that I never experienced the down moments that some leaders have. Some of the aggravation for Dr. King came from a few of the people who were supposed to back him, and it wore him down. I never had that dissension around me but was always bolstered by individuals with high spirits. In Selma I never had to stand [3.21...

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