Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa

15. The Clash at the Courthouse: January–April 23, 1964

chapter 15 The Clash at the Courthouse January–April 23, 1964 They did not believe that the whites of Tuscaloosa would take such a stand, that they would actually beat Negroes in the streets. Bythewinterof1964,localAfricanAmeri­cansalreadyhadahunchthatT.Y. Rogers wasn’t like Tuscaloosa’s other reverends; not only did he leave his pulpit , he left it to march in the streets. He dedicated much of his first winter in Tuscaloosa to amassing his force. Civil rights activist Olivia Maniece remembered well Rogers’s door-­to-­door-­ salesman approach. “I became involved because T. Y. was my pastor, and he talked very closely with all of his members individually about his plans,” Maniece explained. She recounted how she and a friend were chatting one Saturday evening when Rogers arrived at her home, engaged them in conversation, and announced, “You know, there are so many inequalities here in Tuscaloosa. You know, I’m thinking of getting an or­ ga­ ni­ za­ tion together, talking with the ministers, and maybe we can do something about it.” The prospect was eye opening to Maniece. “At that time, I don’t think anybody in Tuscaloosa had thought to do anything,” she explained. “And it really caught both of us by surprise. . . . All we said was, ‘That’s a good idea.’” The Clash at the Courthouse 123 % Rogers’s first test came in April of 1964. Inthedayspriortothededicationof Tuscaloosa’snewlyconstructedcounty courthouse—in which a time capsule had been inserted into the cornerstone nearlyayearprior—abiracialcommitteemettodiscussamatterthatweighed heavily on the minds of Reverend Rogers and other Tuscaloosa Citizens for Action Committee (TCAC) members. They believed the “Colored” signs— which had long been a staple in the Jim Crow South—had no place in the state-­funded courthouse. According to local businessman George LeMaistre, present at the meeting, the biracial committee agreed that there should be no discriminatory signage, promising to forward the recommendation to the local board of revenue for approval. Dayslater,ontheafternoonofSunday,April12—asrainthunderedacross Tuscaloosa’sdarkskies—GovernorGeorgeWallacestoodfirmlyinJudgeW.C. Warren’ssec­ondfloorcourtroomtocommemoratethenewcourthouse.Hundreds filed in for the dedication, though as one paper noted, “It looked like a large part of the crowd was more interested in the governor than in the facilities being dedicated.” Following the previous summer’s stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace’s star had continued to rise. In No­ vem­ ber of 1963 the governor announced his intentions to challenge President Kennedy in the Democratic primary, though Kennedy’s assassination just days later shifted Wallace’s gaze to the newly sworn-­ in President Johnson instead. The following April, fresh from receiving a surprising one-­ third of the vote in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary , Wallace returned to Tuscaloosa to give the town a glimpse of the man many believed could take the White House in the next election. In his remarks , Wallace called the courthouse a “temple of justice which personifies and typifies the spirit of the people who live in Tuscaloosa County.” Appealing to the crowd, he added also that Tuscaloosa was his “sec­ ond home,” and that his wife, future governor Lurleen Wallace—a Tuscaloosa County native herself—“would like to move the state capitol back here.” The hometown crowdcheered,andaftertoutinghisaccomplishmentsforafewminutesmore, Wallace shifted gears to take aim at the proposed civil rights bill, which had already passed through the House and was now locked in a filibuster in the Senate. “If this bill passes in its present form there will be no need for new court- 124 The Movement houses or even a capitol building in Alabama,” he predicted. “The people here will have no power or authority.” The troops had been rallied, while across town, Rogers was rallying his own. % The following Thursday, TCAC made it known that Wallace’s so-­ called ­ tem­ ple of justice did not apply to black people. Feeling they’d been duped by the biracial committee (which Rogers referred to as a “salt-­ and-­ pepper” committee ), TCAC members called for the removal of “all discriminatory signs and practices” within the courthouse by April 23. The letter was received by Probate Judge David Cochrane, along with a promise that if TCAC’s demands werenotmet,thegroupwould“resorttoothermethodstosecurethisend”— a thinly veiled threat of direct action thatRogers later clarified to mean “some form of demonstration.” Rogersrevealedhismediasavvy,noting,“Unlesstheyareremoved,wehave no alternative but to protest in a fashion that will demonstrate to the people ofTuscaloosaCountyandtheworldthatweareprotestingtheconditions.”In truth, Rogers had plenty of alternatives, though in his search for a fight worth waging, the...