Press Conference Regarding Albany Injunction
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: July 22, 1962?
Location: Albany, Ga.
Genre: Film
Topic: Albany Movement
Details
At a press conference held in W. G. Anderson’s backyard, King and Anderson respond to the 20 July injunction banning leaders of the Albany Movement from participating in public protests, demonstrations, and marches in Albany. While vowing to obey the court order “out of our respect for the leadership of the federal judiciary,” they insist they will continue to “work vigorously in higher courts to have said order dissolved.”1 They also clarify that the order is applicable to leaders only and that nothing will be done to “discourage the community at large from seeking their self-respect and human dignity.”2 The Albany Movement issued a press release of this statement. The following transcript is taken from NBC film footage of the press conference.
[gap in film] However, in spite of the reactionary tendencies of some few federal judges, the judicial branch of our government has been the one branch of our republic that has given consistent, dynamic, and forthright leadership in this tense period of transition. Out of our respect for the leadership of the federal judiciary, the enjoined parties and organizations have agreed to obey the order issued by Judge Elliott and to work vigorously in higher courts to have said order dissolved.3
We assume that the order applies to the defendants and those who are working in direct concert with them and is not applicable to the entire Negro community. Moreover, we sense an irrepressible desire among the Negroes in the Albany community to continue their movement for freedom. We respect this community aspiration certainly at least as much as we respect the temporary order. Therefore, we cannot rightfully consider the restraining order to be applicable to the city at large. We, as defendants, do not feel any responsibility to conduct any campaigns to discourage the community at large from seeking their self-respect and human dignity.
We still feel it is tragic that the city officials of Albany, Georgia, are laboring under the illusion that the legitimate aspirations of the Negro community for freedom and human dignity can be snuffed out by a series of evasions and legal maneuvers. History has proven that a movement for freedom cannot be enjoined. Reasonable and responsible public officials would have sought a just resolution to these grievances long ago.
In such a moment as this, we believe that men of goodwill and firm moral conviction must take, make their voices heard. Surely there are many such white persons in Albany, and we call upon them to join with us in this search for a community of justice, mutual respect, and brotherhood, urging them to use every means of influence at their command.
1. In response to a petition filed by lawyers of the Albany Movement, chief judge Elbert P. Tuttle of the Fifth Circuit overturned Judge Elliott’s injunction, claiming that the “trial court had no jurisdiction to enter this order at all” (Claude Sitton, “Albany, Ga., Police Break Up Protest by 2,000 Negroes,” New York Times, 25 July 1962). In a memorandum to the attorney general, Burke Marshall casted doubt on the legality of the injunction as well (Marshall, “Memorandum for the Attorney General—Monday Report,” 24 July 1962).
2. On the evening of 21 July, 161 demonstrators defied the order and were arrested for marching to Albany City Hall (Claude Sitton, “Dr. King Denounces U.S. Judge for Ban on Georgia Protest,” New York Times, 23 July 1962).
3. According to a news report, King told reporters: “We regret to say that recent events have revealed to us that there are some federal judges in the South who are engaged in a conspiracy with state and local political leaders to maintain the evil system of segregation.” When pressed further to comment on whether Judge Elliott was part of the conspiracy, King said: “I would not go so far as to say that he is engaged in a conspiracy to the extent that some others are” (Bill Hannah, “Albany Ban Is Unjust, King Says,” Atlanta Constitution, 23 July 1962).
Source: NBCNA-NNNBC, National Broadcasting Company News Archives, National Broadcasting Company, Inc., General Library, New York, N.Y.