Английская Википедия:1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests

Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Use American English Шаблон:Self-contradictory Шаблон:Infobox civil conflict Шаблон:CRM in Florida The 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protest was part of a series of events during the civil rights movement in the United States which occurred on June 18, 1964, at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida. The campaign between June and July 1964 was led by Robert Hayling, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, C. T. Vivian and Fred Shuttlesworth, among others. St. Augustine was chosen to be the next battleground against racial segregation on account of it being both highly racist yet also relying heavily on the northern tourism dollar. Furthermore, the city was due to celebrate its 400th anniversary the following year, which would heighten the campaign's profile even more. Nightly marches to the slave market were organized, which were regularly attacked and saw the marchers beaten.

At the same time in the U.S. Senate, the civil rights bill was being filibustered. On June 10, this filibuster collapsed. The following day, King was arrested in St. Augustine. King had attempted to be served lunch at the Monson Motor Lodge, but the owner, James Brock—who was also the president of the St. Augustine Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Owners Association—refused to serve him. King was arrested for trespass and jailed; while imprisoned, he wrote a letter to leading Jewish reformer, Rabbi Israel Dresner, urging him to recruit rabbis to come to St. Augustine and take part in the movement. This they did, and at another confrontation at the Monson, 17 rabbis were arrested on June 18. This was the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history. At the same time, a group of black and white activists, protesters who had arrived from Albany, Georgia, J.T. Johnson, Brenda Darten, and Mamie Nell Ford, jumped into the Monson's swimming pool. Brock appeared to pour muriatic acid into the pool to burn the protesters. Photographs of this, and of a policeman jumping into the pool in everything but his shoes to arrest them, made headline news around the world.

By now the Civil Rights Act had been passed, but St. Augustine businesses—particularly in the restaurant and culinary trades—were slow at desegregating. Eventually the courts forced Brock and his colleagues to integrate their businesses, and soon after he did, the Monson was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), who violently opposed desegregation. The state judge was unsympathetic to his predicament, however, feeling that Brock and his colleagues had brought the violence of the KKK upon themselves; they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not.

On June 30, Florida Governor Farris Bryant announced the formation of a biracial committee to restore interracial communication in St. Augustine. Although the Civil Rights Act had passed, there were further problems for both Brock personally and Florida particularly. He had been repeatedly refused bank loans to pay for the damage caused by the protests, and declared himself bankrupt the following year. Also in 1965, although the city celebrated its quadricentennial, there was still a palpable underlying racial tension; the tourist trade had been badly damaged and it has been estimated that St. Augustine lost millions of dollars in tourism. Hotel, motels, and restaurants were especially badly hit.

Background

Шаблон:Main

SCLC planning

Шаблон:Quotebox The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had decided to renew their campaign against segregation,Шаблон:Sfn and give "new dignity to the movement".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn The leadership was originally divided on where to target. James Bevel, for example, wanted to focus on one state—Alabama—whereas Hosea Williams advocated the Floridian seaside holiday town of St. Augustine.Шаблон:Sfn St. Augustine was approaching its 400th anniversary.Шаблон:Refn Although much smaller than previous civil rights battlegrounds, such as Birmingham, Alabama, it was no less—and probably more—violently segregated, argues author Jim Bishop. Unlike Birmingham, racial power lay not with the mayor and chief of police, he says, but inШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote

Choosing of St. Augustine

For King—recently named Time Magazine's Man of the Year Шаблон:Sfn—it was his preferred choice of "non-violent battlefield" for "expos[ing] Klan savagery to the eyes of the world".Шаблон:Sfn It was a highly segregated town, argues the author Thomas E. Jackson, and its celebrations would be restricted to whites only. It was deliberately chosen, continues Jackson, as it had "a business elite vulnerable to negative publicity because it was dependent on northern tourist dollars, a police force with close ties to the Klan, and a reputation for brutal extralegal violence".Шаблон:Sfn Social ethicist and theologian Gary Dorrien has described St. Augustine as Florida's "most violently racist city...a Klan stronghold policed by unabashedly racist thugs", where "Blacks who tried to enroll their children in public schools got their homes bombed".Шаблон:Sfn scholar Stephen B. Oates says of St. Augustine's law enforcement:Шаблон:Sfn However, suggests Webb, this was known to be a dangerous strategy. The Florida Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights informed them that St. Augustine was a "segregated superbomb...with an extremely short fuse".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote Law enforcement in St. Augustine, says David Chalmers, can be summed up in the response to the Klansmen who rioted and the blacks who trespassed: the formers' bonds rarely rose above Шаблон:Inflation, while the latter's could "run into thousands".Шаблон:Sfn The Mayor of St. Augustine has been described by scholar L. V. Baldwin as a "biblical fundamentalist who tolerated such lawlessness while insisting that 'God segregated the races when he made the skins a different color'".Шаблон:Sfn received advance warning of the SCLC plans, including that protesters would include figures such as Governor Peabody's mother. The Boston Globe asked the mayor whether he had ever heard of her; he had not. When asked what would happen if, during the protests, she violated segregation laws, the mayor replied, "if she comes down and breaks the law, we are going to arrest her".Шаблон:Sfn

James Brock

David Garrow has described Brock as "a relative moderate" in the St. Augustine business community,Шаблон:Sfn although he was personally a segregationist.Шаблон:Sfn Warren, similarly, has said that Brock was "a decent man caught between the violence of the Klan and the unwillingness of community leaders to find meaningful ways to end segregation",Шаблон:Sfn while Colburn says he was usually gregarious and "rather mild-mannered, religious man who suddenly found himself thrust" into a civil rights struggle.Шаблон:Sfn Chalmers suggests that, while he was willing to desegregate, "he dare not be the first".Шаблон:Sfn Brock later explained his position as he saw it: "if I integrated, there wouldn't be more than one Negro a month registered at the motel, but the first night I integrated, all my windows would be busted in".Шаблон:Sfn

Prelude

Beginning the campaign

Black and white photograph of a segregationist arrested

A segregationist being arrested, June 1964; their bail bond was usually a fraction of their opponents'

The campaign in St. Augustine effectively began on Easter Sunday, March 29, 1964,Шаблон:Sfn and was deliberately aimed at the city's food and tourism industries, which, argues sociologist Ralph C. Scott, "were as much about race as they were about national and class privilege".Шаблон:Sfn This was also the first, but not last, time that the Monson Motor Lodge,Шаблон:Sfn at 32 Avenida MenendezШаблон:Sfn—a "big posh lily white" motelШаблон:Sfn—was to be targeted.Шаблон:Sfn Monson's was targeted because its owner, James Brock, was not only a prominent local businessman and president of the trade association, but the motel was regularly patronized by reporters, so was felt to provide easy access to the media.Шаблон:Sfn An interracial group, which included the 72-year-old mother of Massachusetts' Governor, Endicott Peabody, and the wife of that state's Episcopal Bishop, John Burgess,Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn led by Reverend David Robinson,Шаблон:Sfn attempted to integrate the motel's restaurant.Шаблон:Sfn Peabody and Burgess and 37 othersШаблон:Sfn were arrested and the affair made national headlines.Шаблон:Sfn The mayor condemned the protests, not as local discontent over segregation, but the work of "scalawags" from the north.Шаблон:Sfn Colburn argues that "the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of this 72-year-old drew the nation's attention to conditions in St. Augustine as no other incident had. It was a watershed in the community's race relations."Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn It was not long before leading members of the SCLC—Vivian, Williams, Lee, Shuttlesworth and James Bevel—arrived in St. Augustine and launched workshops on non-violent militant protest.Шаблон:Sfn Focussing on local businesses, such as the Monson, would, the SCLC concluded, apply fiscal pressure on the business community and persuade the local whites to see the benefit to granting concessions,Шаблон:Sfn and by the end of May the motel was subject to almost daily sit ins.Шаблон:Sfn

Jackson suggests that, as far as their strategy went, King and the SCLC had learned from the Birmingham campaign of the previous year that "vivid images of confrontation, with black and white protesters putting their bodies on the line against white supremacists moved the nation more effectively than inspired preaching or patient lobbying".Шаблон:Sfn To increase pressure on authorities, King and the SCLC turned to "wade-ins" to integrate public pools and beaches.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn In retaliation, large numbers of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arrived in St. Augustine in droves and commenced drive-by shootings in black neighborhoods, as well as attacking demonstrations with iron bars and bicycle chains.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn By now, argues the historian Michael R. Belnap, St. Augustine was "slipping into chaos".Шаблон:Sfn Confrontations occurred by day and night; one occasion, King only narrowly managed to persuade the young men not to go home and fetch their guns; Brun suggests that "had they done so, St. Augustine would have gone down as the most violent racial battle in King's nonviolent movement".Шаблон:Sfn

Sit-in protest

King arrived in St. Augustine on Sunday, May 31,Шаблон:Sfn and stayed in Lincolnville, less than a mile from Monson Motor Lodge; Lincolnville was home to prominent leaders of the black community.Шаблон:Sfn Apart from St. Augustine, King is known to have visited several other cities in Florida. Such as: Tampa in 1961,^[1] Jacksonville^[2] and Miami several times.^[3] Dorrien posits that he was deliberately kept out of St. Augustine by his colleagues as it was deemed too dangerous to risk his life there.Шаблон:Sfn

At a strategy meeting he "spoke of touching white hearts with Christian non-violence". His audience, on the other hand, says Bishop, "wondered if King knew their town": white community leaders knew the SCLC's strategy. They also knew that bigger and stronger cities had eventually come to agreements with King in return for peace on the streets. St. Augustine, though, was "prepared to die on its feet rather than truckle to King", comments Bishop.Шаблон:Sfn King had made a tactical decision to get arrested to intensify the struggle.Шаблон:Sfn As such, he intended to take part in a sit in at Monson Motor Lodge's,Шаблон:Sfn a traditional—and segregated—motel and restaurant overlooking Matanzas Bay.Шаблон:Sfn At around 12:20,Шаблон:Sfn on June 11, King and his colleagues Ralph Abernathy, Bernard Lee, Clyde Jenkins,Шаблон:Sfn Will England,Шаблон:Sfn a white chaplain from Boston University,Шаблон:Sfn and five othersШаблон:Sfn arrived at the Monson for lunch.Шаблон:Sfn The SCLC had alerted the press to King's presenceШаблон:Sfn and several were there to witness King—who wore a black badge with the word "equal" in whiteШаблон:Sfn—arrive.Шаблон:Sfn The motel manager, James Brock, was also awaiting him on the welcome mat.Шаблон:Sfn Brock told his visitors that they were on private property.Шаблон:Sfn Although Brock tried to talk privately to King—who introduced himself as "Martin King"—microphones were pushed between them. Newsmen jockeyed for position, amid shouts of "duck your head" and "get that flashgun down".Шаблон:Sfn

The delegation attempted to enter the restaurant,Шаблон:Sfn but Brock told that the restaurant did not serve blacks. King said they would wait until it did, and some of those with him began a sit in.Шаблон:Sfn Brock's and King's conversation was polite.Шаблон:Sfn The manager told King and his party, "we can't serve you. We're not integrated."Шаблон:Sfn He did state, though, that he would give them entrance should either they present "a federal court order or if a group of St. Augustine businessmen prevail upon me".Шаблон:Sfn Their discussion lasted around 15 minutes;Шаблон:Sfn Scholar David Colburn describes there being something of a carnival atmosphere to King and Brock's encounter, particularly as King responded with sermon-like replies.Шаблон:Sfn

Brock eventually asked King and his party to leave, but, argues Colburn, King "had no intention of leaving. He was there to be arrested."Шаблон:Sfn Their conversation ended with Brock beginning to lose his temper, demanding of King, "will you take your nonviolent army somewhere else? I have already had 85 people arrested here." To this King replied, "we'll wait in the hope that the conscience of someone will be aroused".Шаблон:Sfn Abernethy asked why Brock had a sign welcoming tourists such as themselves.Шаблон:Sfn Brock publicly told King that the only blacks allowed on the premises were servants of white patrons, who allowed them to eat in the service area.Шаблон:Sfn In response, King asked Brock, if he understood "the humiliation our people go through".Шаблон:Sfn Brock, in turn, appealed to King to see it from his point of view. As a respected local businessman, he argued, it would damage him and his social position if he allowed black people into his restaurant.Шаблон:Refn Asking that King understand Brock's responsibilities to his family, he announced to the gathered reporters "I would like to invite my many friends throughout the country to visit Monson's. We expect to remain segregated."Шаблон:Sfn

Activist arrests

However, says Garrow, Brock was becoming "increasingly exasperated" with the situation,Шаблон:Sfn and appears to have called the police.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn In the meantime, other customers had arrived at the motel and, interrupting Brock' and King's discussion,Шаблон:Sfn a white customer asked if the restaurant was open yet. Brock replied in the affirmative, and the customer physically pushed his way through King's party, calling King a black bastard as he did so.Шаблон:Sfn At this point, the Chief of police Virgil Stuart and Sheriff L. O. Davis,Шаблон:Sfn arrived in possession of arrest warrant for breach of the peace, conspiracy and trespass against King and his colleagues.Шаблон:Sfn Brock, says Colburn, "breathed a sigh of relief".Шаблон:Sfn King and his companions were arrested under Florida's "unwanted guest" law.Шаблон:Sfn Branch describes how, then:Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote King and his colleagues refused to post bail, which led automatically to their imprisonment in the crowded St John's County Jail.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Fear of a jailhouse lynching led King to be moved to Jacksonville. Before he was sent there and wishing, says Branch, to "maintain the spirit of the St. Augustine movement", King wrote to Israel "Sy" Dresner in New York, who, as a 1961 Freedom Rider, had supported King on a previous occasion,Шаблон:Refn requesting him to come to St. Augustine and act as an independent witness to events:Шаблон:Sfn King also telegraphed Johnson to tell him that he had witnessed "most complete breakdown of law and order since Oxford, Mississippi".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Шаблон:Blockquote Johnson replied to King's telegram and was keen to know if it pleased King, who was known to have been upset at having heard an unfounded rumor that Johnson was intending to drop his support for the Bill; Johnson also wanted King to know that the White House was in contact with the State Governor.Шаблон:Sfn While in prison, says Webb, King also "secretly testified" to a grand jury that he would prevent future night marches if a biracial commission were to be established.Шаблон:Sfn

Civil Rights Bill debates

Furthermore, comments scholar Dan Warren, a Civil Rights Bill was being filibustered before the Senate, which made King's arrests "particularly timely".Шаблон:Sfn The filibuster had been on-going for 75 days,Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn and on the same night King was arrested, the Senate voted for cloture of the debate,Шаблон:Sfn the first time in United States history that the Senate had closed down one of its own debates on civil rights; the passage of the bill was now "virtually inevitable".Шаблон:Sfn It is possible, argues the scholar James A. Colaiaco that, "had the white population of St. Augustine continued to allow the demonstrators to march unmolested, the protest would have probably died out within a few weeks. But once again, SCLC provoked white racists".Шаблон:Sfn However, says Garrow, the situation was about to take "a turn for the worse".Шаблон:Sfn

Prison release and tensions

Black and white photograph of a St. Augustine KKK rally

Ku Klux Klan rally in St. Augustine, July 23, 1964: Note Charles Conley Lynch in the Confederate flag vest, holding microphone

King was released from jail the following day. Looking, according to Hayling, haggard and frightened", he refused to talk about his overnight imprisonment and left St. Augustine immediately,Шаблон:Sfn traveling first to Harvard University to collect an honorary degree and then to Washington, DC to be photographed with Johnson.Шаблон:Sfn King had ensured that "the nation's attention would be focused on the brutal actions of the Klan and the adamant stand elected officials of St. Augustine had taken to prevent demonstrators from protesting segregation".Шаблон:Sfn Klan demonstrations continued over the next few days. On the 14th, Klansman, attorney, and leader of the newly founded National States Rights Party J. B. Stoner spoke before a large crowd at the Slave Market, declaring that "tonight, we're going to find out whether white people have any rights! When the Constitution said all men are created equal, it wasn't talking about niggers. The coons have been parading around St. Augustine for a long time."Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn King was accused of being a "longtime associate" of communism, while the Supreme Court was "Jew-stacked".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Accompanied by local Klan leader Charles Conley Lynch—whose trademark costume, notes Garrow, was a "vest cut from a Confederate battle flag"—Stoner "claimed that African Americans were sexually depraved brutes more closely related to apes than humans...The two men evoked the Lost Cause as a means to rally white males in defense of their wives and daughters".Шаблон:Sfn

The same day King was released from jail, a number of city business leaders met at the Monson. These included Herbert E. Wofe, head of St. Augustine's largest bank, four executives from the Fairchild Stratos corporation, and the mayor. The businessmen proposed to the latter that he support the creation of a committee to examine racial tensions in the city.Шаблон:Sfn This was not intended to have any black members, although, comments Bishop, "this oversight was called to their attention". The committee was then suggested to be a biracial one.Шаблон:Sfn The mayor, however, saw this as surrendering to the SCLC, and refused.Шаблон:Sfn The committee was, in any case, not indeed to have to negotiate with King or Abernethy, as it was deliberately phrased as wishing to deal with law-abiding locals.Шаблон:Sfn Nor, indeed, did they wish to talk to locals they had not chosen: Hayling, although local, was deemed not to pass the "law-abiding" criterion, having already been arrested.Шаблон:Sfn

In the background, an offer had been made by the city authorities to set up a biracial commission comprising five blacks and five whites.Шаблон:Sfn This would investigate complaints regarding segregation in return for an end to the demonstrations and mass meetings; it was supported by the SCLC as a fair compromise, and at a secret meeting of St. Augustine businessmen, the new committee was also endorsed. A Grand Jury was due to decide the issue over the next few days.Шаблон:Sfn

Protest meetings

On the evening of Wednesday, June 17, leading Reform rabbi Albert Vorspan and 16 colleaguesШаблон:Sfn from eight different statesШаблон:Sfn joined a mass-meeting in the St. Augustine Baptist Church, where King "announced their entrance to an enthusiastic crowd". Dresner addressed the crowd—the only member of the delegation with experience of these meetings—in the form of a call and response sermon.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn The rabbis left the church and followed Fred Shuttlesworth, Andrew Young,Шаблон:Sfn—King's deputy in the townШаблон:Sfn—and 300 othersШаблон:Sfn on a long march to the old St. Augustine Slave Market,Шаблон:Sfn which historian Clive Webb calls a "symbolic focus of protest" in St. Augustine.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn and then to the Monson Motel.Шаблон:Sfn The rabbis dispersed to the local homes where they being billeted, while King and his colleagues discussed strategy.Шаблон:Sfn Branch argues that it was originally Hosea Williams' idea to launch an integration against a swimming pool, with the aim of maintaining popular momentum. However, "Williams suffered a ribbing when he refused to lead one of his own wild schemes...Williams admitted he could not swim".Шаблон:Sfn

Protest

Protesters enter the motel

Shuttlesworth and C. T. Vivian led a group of around 50 supporters to Downtown's Monson Motor LodgeШаблон:Sfn at about 12:40 pm.Шаблон:Sfn King observed the operation from a waterfront park over the road;Шаблон:Sfn Again, Brock met the integrated group at the doors and again announced his was a segregated business.Шаблон:Sfn By now, suggests Colburn, the almost daily marches to and trespasses on his business—combined with equal pressure from segregationists not to surrender—had worn away Brock's usual calm and pleasant demeanor, leaving him irritable and short-tempered. He had also received death threats.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Warren has described it as being a "rather comical scene, arranged primarily for its news value", particularly due to Brock'sШаблон:Sfn "frantic, comical antics".Шаблон:Sfn Described by Branch as "normally a bookish and controlled businessman", Brock locked the doors on the group on their arrival at 12:40 pm.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn

Jewish prayers

In an attempt to distract the motel authorities from the activists' plans at the rear of the building, Rabbi Israel S. Dresner led 15 colleagues in an open-air Hebrew prayer meeting in the parking lot.Шаблон:Sfn The rabbis requested Brock to allow them to enter his restaurant and eat, which he refused. He appears to have begun losing his temper when, on his refusal, the rabbis knelt to pray in his car parkШаблон:Sfn for him.Шаблон:Sfn At this, Brock—a Baptist deacon and a superintendent of the local Sunday School—lost control.Шаблон:Sfn By now the police were on the scene, and Branch describes Brock as pushing each kneeling rabbi, one at a time, towards them to be arrested.Шаблон:Sfn

Protesters enter pool

In the meantime, SCLCШаблон:Sfn activists Al Lingo and J. T. Johnson, leading a group of supporters,Шаблон:Sfn attempted an integration:Шаблон:Sfn this time, a "dive-in".Шаблон:Sfn Again, the press had been alerted.Шаблон:Sfn Seven minutes after the rabbis' arrival at the front door, shouts from the swimming pool drew everyone. There, they saw a number of young people swimming together, both blackШаблон:Sfn—six men and a womanШаблон:Sfn—and white. Two white activists, both possessing room keys, indicating they were guests, stated that they had invited friends to use the pool, as they believed to be within their rights.Шаблон:Sfn

Brock's harassment of protesters

News cameras began rolling.Шаблон:Sfn Brock told the white swimmers "you're not putting these people in my pool",Шаблон:Sfn and—"with exaggerated gusto", suggests WarrenШаблон:Sfn—went to his office and brought out a Шаблон:Convert drum of muriatic acid and poured it into the pool.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn This was a cleaning fluid,Шаблон:Sfn and Brock was "screaming that he would burn them out", comments Branch.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Brock also yelled that he was "cleaning the pool", a presumed reference to it now being, in his eyes, racially contaminated.Шаблон:Sfn Another report states that he also allowed an alligator into the pool.Шаблон:Sfn

Crowding and Dr. King's arrival

As they attempted to leave the pool, members of the straining crowd shouted numerous threats, including to shoot, stone, or drown the swimmersШаблон:Sfn and called for dogs.Шаблон:Sfn Police held them back. By then, suggests Branch, both police and civilians were "enraged at the sight of the intermingled wet bodies"Шаблон:Sfn and the audacity of it.Шаблон:Sfn Brock appears to have "lost his cool",Шаблон:Sfn and, weeping, shouted "I can't stand it, I can't stand it".Шаблон:Sfn King and his party approached the motel only to be surrounded by hecklers. Hosea Williams later recalled wanting to "get the hell out of there" and feared that, on account of his being unable to swim, they were going to throw him in the pool.Шаблон:Sfn

Arrest of protesters

Brock's attempt to force the protesters out did not work,Шаблон:Sfn and, impatient at the slow progress the swimmers were making in leaving the pool,Шаблон:Sfn Officer James Hewitt announced that they were all under arrest.Шаблон:Sfn An off-duty policeman,Шаблон:Sfn Officer Henry Billitz, jumped in—except for his shoes still fully clothed—in an attempt at dragging them out himself;Шаблон:Sfn he beat them up as well.Шаблон:Sfn Then-state attorney Dan R. Warren Шаблон:Refn later wrote how, from his office in the courthouse, he heard a "near riot" taking place from the motel, which was "only a block away".Шаблон:Sfn By now there were over 100 people watching by the poolside. Colburn speculates that the SCLC's new integrationist tactics "had a greater impact than even they perhaps envisioned."Шаблон:Sfn It also alienated the St. Augustine business community further; James Brock, for example, says Colburn, who had previously supported compromise, "conceded his attitude had changed as had those of his colleagues in the motel business".Шаблон:Sfn Whites were told that this was an example of the future if blacks were given more rights.Шаблон:Sfn

black and white photograph of the state governor, Bryant

State Governor Farris Bryant, who ordained state rather than city law during the civil rights campaign

Three days before the integration,Шаблон:Sfn the State Governor, Farris Bryant had ordained that state officers took custody of those arrested under riot conditions. However, local officers were intermingled with them outside the motel, and notes Branch, one "overwrought local deputy reached over and around a trooper to pummel one arrested swimmer most of the way from the pool to a State Police cruiser".Шаблон:Sfn Still wet, they were arrested for trespassing.Шаблон:Sfn

The arrest of Dresner and his fellow rabbis remains the record number of rabbis arrested on a single occasion.Шаблон:Sfn While in prison overnight, the rabbis composed a document they titled "Common Testament", which Rabbi Eugene Borowitz wrote on the back of a KKK leaflet.Шаблон:Sfn Following the rabbis' arrests, comments Bishop, "a wave of antisemitism swept through St. Augustine".Шаблон:Sfn

Aftermath

Brock's reaction

Brock, according to Branch, was "enraged [and] feeling betrayed on both flanks for his moderation, drained and refilled his pool to purify it of integration".Шаблон:Sfn He also hired armed guards for the swimming poolШаблон:Sfn and raised the Confederate flag above the motel.Шаблон:Sfn It has been described as "one of the most significant events of the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement".Шаблон:Sfn Business leaders, meanwhile, reversed their earlier support for the biracial committee on the grounds that intensifying protests went against the spirit of the proposal. They were particularly concerned, argues Garrow, that King had intended to, in his words, "put the Monson out of business".Шаблон:Sfn After all, says Warren, Brock's entire business was focused around the Monson and repeated demonstrations threatened its profitability.Шаблон:Sfn

Official reactions

Two days after the integration, Bryant banned public demonstrations, but the violence continued unabated.Шаблон:Sfn The all-whiteШаблон:Sfn grand jury summoned witnesses to the Monson integration and, instead of authorizing the biracial committee as had been expected, issued a new report. In this, they suggested that St. Augustine demonstrated "a solid background of harmonious race relations" with "a past history of non-discrimination in governmental affairs". Instead of granting the commission, the jury now attacked the motives of King and SCLC, asking whether they really wanted St. Augustine's issues solved; if they did, instructed the grand jury, King "and all others [were] to demonstrate their good faith by removing their influences from this community for a period of 30 days". If, after this period, King and the SCLC had done so, the jury said it would confirm the biracial commission.Шаблон:Sfn In the event, all its white members resigned,Шаблон:Sfn and the commission never met:Шаблон:Sfn Bryant, suggests Webb, had only ever intended the prospect of the commission to "expedite a resolution to the crisis".Шаблон:Sfn This was very much down to the Monson motel integration, argues Warren which, while it may have been intended as an almost-comic episode in the protest, "its impact on the jury's decision was anything but comical".Шаблон:Sfn

Beach protest

Black and white photograph of segregationists fighting on a beach

Segregationists trying to prevent blacks from swimming at a "White only" beach in St. Augustine, June 25, 1964

Black and white photograph of segregationists, highway patrol and black demonstrators at a "white only" beach

Segregationists, highway patrol and black demonstrators at a "white only" beach, June 25, 1964

The same strategy was repeated less than a week later when SCLC activists performed a "wade-in" at the whites-only St. Augustine beach. On this occasion, violence broke out when the protesters were attacked by segregationists and multiple arrests were made by Florida Highway Patrol officers.Шаблон:Sfn Armed gangs of both blacks and whites drove around shooting up cars and windows at night.Шаблон:Sfn

Civil Rights Act of 1964

However, on July 2 the same year, the Civil Rights Act was signed into United States Federal law,Шаблон:Refn This effectively enforced desegregation:Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote The Civil Rights Act was passed by the Senate the day after the Monson Motel swim-in.Шаблон:Sfn Jackson argues that, while the St. Augustine protest had probably been directly responsible for enabling the act to be passed, "locals had paid a heavy price". Unemployment went up as, not having security of employment, many were fired from their jobs.Шаблон:Sfn An SCLC official later reported that St. Augustine had been "the toughest nut to crack" that he had encountered in his career of direct action; King, too, called it the "most lawless" place he had campaigned in.Шаблон:Sfn

Desegregation of St. Augustine

Brock chaired a meeting of 80 local businessmen to decide how the business community would respond to the new act.Шаблон:Sfn Brock told reporters that although his colleagues were, to a man, opposed on principleШаблон:Sfn— and although with "considerable unease", suggests Garrow—by a majority of 75, they agreed to abide by it. The unease stemmed from fears as to how the KKK would react to their adhering to desegregation, and he wrote to Judge Simpson requesting the aid of US Marshals from "the mob action that will undoubtedly occur".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn With the Johnson administration refusing the aid of federal marshals, says, Oates, "St. Augustine had become a nightmare" for King and the SCLC.Шаблон:Sfn On July 4, Brock, as the spokesman for the St. Augustine Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Owners Association, stated that they "want[ed] to do everything we can to get our community back to normal with harmonious relations between the races".Шаблон:Sfn

Segregationist protests of the Monson Motor Lodge

On Thursday July 9, 1964, James Brock welcomed the first black guests to the Monson Motor Lodge restaurant. Visitors were greeted at the entrance by a picket line; the confederate flag flew and placards announced "Niggers Ate Here".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Brock, suggests Warren, "would pay a high price for advocating harmony among the races",Шаблон:Sfn and the Monson was picketed daily from this point.Шаблон:Sfn Placards with slogans such as "gated establishments, carrying picket signs proclaiming "Delicious Food—Eat with Niggers Here", "Niggers Sleep Here—Would You?" and "Civil Rights Has To Go" were prominent. Brock asked Stoner, who was on the picket, why the Monson had been targeted; Stoner told him, "we're just trying to help you get some nigger business". Шаблон:Sfn Blacks who attempted to eat at Monson were beaten before being driven away.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Quotebox

Re-segregation of the Monson Motor Lodge

By July 16, Brock had de-integrated, partly in order, argues Branch, to avoid punishment from local klansmen. If this was the case, however, his attempt failed; Branch notes that, while he remained on good terms with the local KKK, the Monson was still firebombed by an out-of-state gang.Шаблон:Sfn A few days later, the KKK held their biggest march yet, boasting that they had recruited significantly on the back of the pending Civil Rights Act.Шаблон:Sfn The SCLC had brought a case against around 30 St. Augustine restaurants and eateries in an attempt to force them to integrate.Шаблон:Refn Warren recounts how Brock—"besieged operator of the now infamous Monson Motor Lodge"—personally testified to the court "his frustration in attempting to comply with the new law and demanded the court get Holstead Manucy and the picketers off his back".Шаблон:Sfn

Legal hearings

As a result, following a two-day hearing, Florida Chief Justice Simpson ordered that blacks be allowed to eat at two restaurants in St. Augustine.Шаблон:Sfn Holstead's testimony was punctuated by his pleading the fifth about 30 times on one day.Шаблон:Sfn The SCLC attempted to show that a conspiracy existed to prevented enforcement of the new law. Brock testified that when he had first begun serving blacks and had been picketed, he had asked Manucy to "get the[m]...off his back". When Manucy denied having that kind of influence, Brock had disbelieved him, saying "you are the kingfish with these people". However, he told the court, it had not done any good, and the Monson continued to be picketed.Шаблон:Sfn When Simpson pressed Brock to state who was with Manucy on these occasions, Brock requested that the judge not make him answer, telling Simpson, "you put me in an unpleasant position when you ask me this. I am a little bit afraid to be talking like this." Simpson ordered Brock to receive a bodyguard for the remainder of the hearings.Шаблон:Sfn

Simpson's judgment was as the first federal ruling under the new Act, a "landmark", argues Warren. All parties were ordered to refrain from further violation;Шаблон:Sfn Brock and his colleagues were to desegregate again in accordance with the law and "regardless of threats".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn Brock did so, despite threats from the KKK.Шаблон:Sfn On the evening of July 23, business leaders met at the Monson to discuss the legal options available to them. One strategy decided on was to allow themselves to be summonsed, as this might also persuade a judge to condemn the KKK picketing. The following morning, two white men threw a molotov cocktail into the lobby of the Monson,Шаблон:Sfn causing damage valued at around $Шаблон:Inflation(adjusted for inflation).Шаблон:Sfn For the rest of the day, comments Colburn, "those businesses who had not started turning blacks away now did".Шаблон:Sfn

Dr. King visits St. Augustine

On August 5, King returned to St. Augustine for the first time since his release from jail.Шаблон:Sfn He was concerned because the struggle there had taken a disproportionate amount of time and manpower, and, notes Bishop, "he was a man with a carefully planned schedule and the calendar of coming events was becoming crowded".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn

Segregationist backlash

The following day the Monson Motel was firebombed.Шаблон:Sfn Judge Simpson ordered Brock and his colleagues to obey the law and reintegrate: this, argues Oates, "gave them the excuse of external coercion to take down the "WHITES ONLY" signs—"what else can we do?'", they could ask.Шаблон:Sfn Warren also describes Brock and colleagues as "pander[ing] to the Klan" by claiming "we're not capitulating to anybody...we had no other choice".Шаблон:Sfn Simpson also passed a restraining order against both Davies and Manucy. This quotes Oates, "ended their reign of terror and moved Abernathy to quip that the movement changed Manucy "from a Hoss to a mule".Шаблон:Sfn Not everyone was sympathetic to the St. Augustine business community. The State Attorney, James Kynes, watching from Tallahassee, had "little sympathy". He believed that businesses had encouraged white thugs to confront black picketers and demonstrators—if only through lack of protesting—so they could hardly now complain that the "monster" they had created "now ran amok in their city".Шаблон:Sfn Historian David Mark Chalmers agrees, believing that, had business leaders told the sheriff to intervene against the Klan, he probably would have had to. However, "community leaders who had been willing to countenance violence against black people and integrationists found that they were now unable to control it or turn it off", and they were publicly blamed for that failure.Шаблон:Sfn Webb, too, argues that silence implicitly equaled approval, particularly among restaurateurs, some of whom not only held KKK fundraisers but provided leading Klansmen and segregationists with free meals.Шаблон:Sfn

Brock put out another association statement qualifying their support for the act: "We deplore the action of the Congress and the Courts in enforcing integration...integration of places of accommodation is obnoxious to us".Шаблон:Sfn Some of Brock's colleagues put signs above their tills informing patrons that money earned from black customers would be donated to Barry Goldwater's current presidential campaign, as Goldwater was known to be anti-integrationist.Шаблон:Sfn

Tourism downturn

The civil rights protests of June–July 1964 nearly witnessed the destruction of the St. Augustine tourist trade,Шаблон:Sfn and a contemporary report declared that "the tourist trade is already off at least 50 per cent...and many a motel owner is threatened by bankruptcy and foreclosure".Шаблон:Sfn Jackson estimates that St. Augustine lost approximately 122,000 tourists and $Шаблон:Inflation (adjusted for inflation) as a result of the protests,Шаблон:Sfn which the historian Michael Honey has compared in their ferocity to those of Birmingham, Alabama and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.Шаблон:Sfn An investigative committee announced by the state legislature eventually—and, comments Warren, with a "remarkable lack of understanding"—variously blamed King, the KKK, newspapers, and television, for racial problems that could otherwise "have been solved amicably by Negro and White citizens last summer had they been free from outside agitation." The committee also declared that such was the ultimate cost of the events of 1964, that the taxpayers of St. Augustine had effectively paid for King's visit.Шаблон:Sfn Likewise, the SCLC campaign, argues Webb, failed to address the fundamental issues "of poverty and deprivation that afflicted the local black community".Шаблон:Sfn

Racial tensions

St. Augustine celebrated its quadricentennial the following year. Tourists flocked, but there was a seething racial tension beneath the surface.Шаблон:Sfn Although the business community had changed its policies if not its attitude towards racial integration by 1965, Blacks were still unsure, generally, of where they stood and few dined out in white motels or restaurants. One later saidШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote

Brock's bankruptcy

Tourism helped the desperately in-need city economy; hotels and motels, in particular, were fully booked. Brock, however, did not do as well as he might have hoped.Шаблон:Sfn St. Augustine's main bank refused to provide financial cover,Шаблон:Sfn and Brock had been consistently refused bank loans to cover costs incurred during the pickets and demonstrations the previous year. On May 2, 1965, he declared bankruptcy, statingШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Blockquote

Official report

Nearly two years after the original disturbances, in June 1965, the Florida investigative Committee published its report, titled Racial and Civil Disorders in St. Augustine. The committee was careful to share the blame equally between the Klan and the SCLC, in both cases emphasizing that it was "out of town", rather than resident, elements who had caused the trouble between them.Шаблон:Sfn Wade-ins and swim-ins remained a central tactic for Floridian blacks even after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, and laid the path of integrating other areas of society that were proving less than susceptible to change, such as green open spaces and schools.Шаблон:Sfn

Legacy

Colour photograph of a plaque for Judge Simpson

John Milton Bryan Simpson plaque; following his death in 1987, he had a Jacksonville Courthouse named after him

Fate of the Monson Motor Lodge

Brock sold the Monson in 1998.Шаблон:Sfn The motel and pool were demolished in March 2003 following five years of protests,Шаблон:Sfn although not before its early modern foundations had been excavated.Шаблон:Refn Those who disagreed with the proposed demolition argued that it would eliminate one of the nation's important landmarks of the civil rights movement.Шаблон:Sfn Author David Nolan told WJCT that "people would claim the motel had no historic significance, even though a large civil rights protest occurred there".Шаблон:Sfn The owner, a local property developer, wanted to build a new corporate hotel, while opponents believed it would be a useful target for drawing more black tourists to Florida, something the state was attempting to do.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn A city planner, on the other hand, commented "the Monson is not the only historical site [in St. Augustine]...This one just happens to have Martin Luther King involved".Шаблон:Sfn The Hilton Bayfront Hotel was built on the site, although the steps of the Monson—where Brock and King had their "quiet chat"—have been preserved with a plaque to commemorate King's activism in the city.Шаблон:Sfn Brock, interviewed in 1999, stated that "I don't feel sorry for any of that stuff. I have nothing to be ashamed of", as he was obeying the law of the time.Шаблон:Sfn

Jewish commemoration

On June 18, 2015, the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society commemorated the arrest of the rabbis 51 years earlier. The events, called "Why We Went to St. Augustine" included a public reading of the letter they jointly wrote in jail that night.Шаблон:Sfn

In photographs and film

A number of iconic photographs were taken during the integration. One, by an Associated Press photographer caught Officer Billitz in mid-jump as he leapt into the pool. This appeared the next day on the front pages of the Miami Herald and New York Times.Шаблон:Sfn Photographs of Brock pouring acid into the pool made international news headlines,Шаблон:Sfn as well as proving ammunition for what has been termed King's "war of images".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn This photograph has since been described as "infamous".Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn Warren notes, too, that due to the distance film had to travel for processing and distribution, for an event to hit the ABC, CBS and NBC six o'clock news bulletins, it had to take place before noon; as the swim-in had taken place just before, it was guaranteed to be headline news that evening.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Sfn

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

References