The Selma March - At Random

The yearly commemoration of the EDSA revolution, where an unarmed multitude toppled a well-entrenched dictatorship, calls to mind another popular demonstration with enormous social consequences.

That was the Selma March led by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965. There had been a series of violent incidents. Many people were killed, highlighting a situation that had obtained for a century, namely, the oppression of and discrimination against Black people in the United States. Blacks had been shot; they were forbidden to vote, to enroll in schools, to enter certain churches; even to ride buses. King led a 5-day march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. 3,000 started. They were blocked at a bridge and only 300 were allowed to cross. Those 300 continued the march and were met at Montgomery by 25,000 marchers.

That march was the watershed. Horrible things continued to happen. Blacks continued to be beaten up or killed and the White juries refused to convict the criminals. Congress refused to pass President Johnson's voting rights bill. King himself was assassinated. But eventually, both the Congress and the Supreme Court recognized a fact to which White Americans had been blind for so long; namely, that Blacks have the same human rights and the same citizenship rights as anyone else.

Today Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is a national day in the US. That is of little importance. What is important is that Blacks are now recognized as human beings with the same rights as anyone. There are still restaurants that refuse to serve guests if a Black person (or a dark-skinned Filipino) is among them. And there are still schools and even churches that refuse to admit Blacks, and firms that will not hire them. But in general, a Black person can ride a bus or streetcar or railroad without being stopped or shot. And blacks can vote.

In point of numbers the Selma march was insignificant compared with the millions who remained at EDSA and the surrounding streets for several days and nights, refusing to budge despite tear gas attacks, and blocking the passage of a battalion of armored cars. But the social consequences of the Selma march are enormous and will be felt for generations.

That indeed is a great pain.