Press Conference Denouncing Violence in Albany
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: July 25, 1962?
Location: Albany, Ga.
Genre: Film
Topic: Albany Movement
Nonviolence
Details
Following the outbreak of violence in downtown Albany the previous night, King denies involvement of people from the Albany Movement in the mêlée, but assumes partial responsibility since the violence stemmed from “the ranks of the Negro community.” Calling for a day of penance, King halts all demonstrations for the next twenty-four hours to refocus “our commitment to nonviolence and our determination to keep our protests peaceful.”1 While King states that he abhors the violence and does not seek to justify it, he is not “unmindful of the fact that the Negroes in Albany have confronted so much oppression” that it may be impossible for “those of us who believe in nonviolence and who give our lives to this method and philosophy to control violent outbreaks.” The following transcript is taken from a film recording of the press conference.
[King]: While we are certain that neither the peaceful demonstrators nor persons active in the Albany Movement were involved in the violence that erupted last night, we abhor violence so much that when it occurs in the ranks of the Negro community we assume part of the responsibility for it. In order to demonstrate our commitment to nonviolence and our determination to keep our protests peaceful, we declare a day of penance beginning at twelve o’clock noon today. [recording interrupted] on all members and supporters of the Albany Movement to pray for their brothers in the Negro community who have not yet found their way to the nonviolent discipline during this day of penance. [gap in film]
[recording interrupted] nonviolence to our people with every ounce of energy in our bodies we fear that these admonitions will fall on some deaf ears if Albany does not engage in good faith negotiations. We sense a great deal of satisfaction and joy on the part of some public officials when violence erupted in the ranks of the onlookers.2 This betrays the fact that a community has fallen to a new low in moral degeneracy when it uses such an unfortunate incident for their own political capital.3 [gap in film]
[Reporter 1]: [recording interrupted] members of the, or any city officials communicated to you their concern about further violence?
[King]: No, they—
[Reporter 1]: [Any incidents?]
[King]: No, they have not. I have not talked with any city officials since last night.4
[Reporter 2]: Does your statement mean that there won’t be any more demonstrations today, for the next twenty-four hours?
[King]: Yes there will be, during the day of penance, there will be no demonstrations. This afternoon, I will go along with a team of persons who are well-disciplined in nonviolence and who are well-grounded in the philosophy of nonviolence to the Harlem section of the community and talk with persons in the business establishments there, the pool rooms and the taverns, urging them to follow nonviolence and doing some teaching and we may even have some sidewalk meetings calling for absolute commitment to nonviolence. Now, we must make it very clear that while we will not use past incidents as excuses for what occurred last night, we can give them as explanations. For we are not unmindful of the fact that the Negroes in Albany have confronted so much oppression and have been the victims of so much violence. For instance, a Negro was killed a few weeks ago by a policeman, a Mr. Walter Harris.5 Mrs. Slater King was brutally beaten and knocked down by policemen in Camilla just two days ago.6 All of these things developed within the people a sense of discontent and at times a sense of bitterness. And, while we are not using these things as excuses, I don’t think the community can overlook the fact that that if they continue it would be very difficult for those of us who believe in nonviolence and who give our lives to this method and philosophy to control violent outbreaks. [gap in film]
[Reporter 3]: [recording interrupted] demonstrations as such?
[King]: Well I think we will have to reconsider night demonstrations. We did have some reluctance about having night demonstrations all along, and I think now we will think in terms of having all of our demonstrations in the day.
[Reporter 4]: Will the demonstrations will [recording interrupted]
[King]: I sense a real desire to at least accept nonviolence as a tactic. I realize that the vast majority of Negroes in the United States aren’t going to the point of accepting nonviolence as a creed and as a way of life. But even if we sense a willingness to follow it as a tactic, then we will certainly resume demonstrations. But I must confess that if I sense at all a large-scale desire for violence on the part of the Negro community, I cannot in all good conscience call for demonstrations at this time.7 My impression is that this is a very small minority and that the people, the Negro people of Albany are willing to be nonviolent just as they’ve done in most difficult moments. Night before last, after we had gotten the word that Mrs. King had been beaten, this was a difficult situation and the community was certainly aroused about this. But no violence occurred and that demonstrated, I think, the commitment on the part of the vast majority of people to nonviolence.
[Reporter 5]: Well [recording interrupted]
[King]: [recording interrupted] implement a plan and a program for a four-prong attack on the system of segregation consisting first [recording interrupted].
1. King and William G. Anderson also issued a written statement about the violence (King and Anderson, Statement on violence in Albany, Ga. and declaration of day of penance, 25 July 1962).
2. Responding to the violence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett asked a reporter: “Did you see them nonviolent rocks?” (Claude Sitton, “Dr. King Sets a Day of Penance after Violence in Albany, Ga.,” New York Times, 26 July 1962).
3. Georgia governor S. Ernest Vandiver threatened to send 12,000 National Guardsmen to Albany, warning that “agitators from within and without Georgia, and this includes Martin Luther King, that I will use all forces available to me to maintain peace” (Vic Smith, “Uneasy Calm Prevails Here As M. L. King Cries ‘Penance,’” Albany Herald, 25 July 1962).
4. King met with Chief Pritchett on the evening of 24 July 1962. Following the meeting, King and Abernathy visited jailed protesters (Laurie Pritchett, J. Ed. Friend, and Bill Manley, Statement from police officers concerning activities of the Albany Movement, 24 July 1962).
5. Walter Harris, a forty-nine-year-old restaurant owner, was killed on 15 April by an Albany police officer, who accused him of assault with a knife after being questioned about carrying illegal whiskey. The officer shot Harris three times in the chest but sustained no injuries himself (“Protest against Shooting Jails 25 Albany Negroes,” Chicago Daily Defender, 26 April 1962; “Negro with Knife Slain by Policeman,” Albany Herald, 16 April 1962).
6. On 23 July, Marion King, wife of Albany Movement leader Slater King, was beaten by two officers while delivering food and clothing to protesters jailed in Camilla, Georgia. When she did not move out of the jail yard fast enough, the officers knocked her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her while she held her three-year-old daughter. Mrs. King was five months pregnant at the time and later suffered a stillbirth (Marion King, Statement on beating at Mitchell County Jail, 23 July 1962; Slater King to John F. Kennedy, 26 December 1962).
7. After the day of penance ended peacefully, King called for demonstrations to resume. On 27 July, King and twenty-seven others, including Ralph Abernathy and William G. Anderson, were jailed for holding a series of prayer vigils in front of city hall (Claude Sitton, “Dr. King Is Jailed Again at Prayer Rally in Georgia,” New York Times, 28 July 1962; “28 Negroes Pray, Then Land in Jail,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 28 July 1962).
Source: WSB-TV-GU, WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection, Walter J. Brown Media Archive & Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga.