The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell It Like It Is

Speech on Behalf of the Alabama Delegation at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 27, 1968

84 Speech on Behalf of the Alabama Delegation at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 27, 1968 Unlike at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, the controversy plaguing the 1968 gathering stemmed less from domestic racial politics than it did from protests of the country’s foreign policy—most notably, the war in Vietnam. With commotion in the streets, the three Credentials Committee hearings, initiated by civil rights activists in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, received less national attention than had the Freedom Democrats’ 1964 challenge. There were also fewer questions about the legitimacy of the challenging groups’ claims. The activist coalition from Mississippi, for example, had carefully followed the national Democratic Party’s rules for the formation of an integrated, representative party, whereas the official delegation from Mississippi had blatantly disregarded these provisions. Their delegation did not include a single black member, not even from congressional districts where over 70 percent of the population was African American; this patent disregard for the national party’s pledge to never again seat a segregated delegation made the committee’s verdict relatively easy—eighty-five members voted to seat the integrated coalition in place of the segregated delegation and only ten voted against this provision. When she took her hard-won seat on the convention floor, Hamer—with her official credentials badge strung across her chest—received a standing ovation. Victory was not as swift for the integrated Alabama and Georgia delegations. Led by the politically embattled Julian Bond, the Georgia challengers managed to receive half of their state’s delegate seats for the convention. Alabama’s delegation , on the other hand, needed all the help they could get when their case was brought to the convention floor. On August 27, 1968, during the second evening session, Hamer delivered a short speech on their behalf. 85 August 27, 1968 Hamer’s 1968 DNC speech is not emotional in tone, nor circumlocutory in style, and it does not feature her sardonic, yet endearing, wit. Instead, much like the scripted 1965 testimony she delivered before the House Elections Subcommittee , Hamer’s DNC speech is convicting and incisive. Echoing the three simple words Hamer used to capture the national imagination four years before—“Is this America?”—she now asks: Is this the Democratic Party? More than raising a critical question, however, the strength of her political persona enables her to confront the national Democratic Party’s hypocrisy head-on. Despite her strong advocacy, the integrated Alabama delegation was not seated at the 1968 convention in Chicago. As Hamer makes manifest in her testimony before the Democratic Reform Committee—the twelfth speech in our collection—the party’s refusal to seat the Alabama delegation was just one of several disappointments Hamer faced at the 1968 DNC. * * * Mr. Chairman, Governor Hughes, I am here speaking for the national Democratic Party from Alabama. In 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer was on the outside trying to get in. We know the long pattern of discrimination, not only in Mississippi , but also in the state of Alabama. We also know that Governor Wallace is running today for president of the United States, and he is only pledged as a Democrat in the state of Alabama. It is time for us to wake up, America. We always talk about a minority, but we don’t even say minority when you carry our sons to fight in Vietnam. I support Dr. Cashin from Alabama because it’s time for us to stop pretending that we are, but act in the manner that we are, and if we are the Democratic Party of this country, we should stop tokenism—and just so many this year and four years later seat another delegation. It is time, tonight, to seat the delegation with the national Democratic Party from Alabama and that be Dr. Cashin and his delegation that represent all the people, not just a few—representing not only the whites, but the blacks as well. Thank you. ...