Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door was an incident that took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on 11 June, 1963. Alabama Governor George Wallace, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, stood at the door of the auditorium to try to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood.[1]
Background
On 17 May, 1954, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision regarding the case called Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in which the plaintiffs charged that the education of black children in separate public schools from their white counterparts was unconstitutional.
African-Americans apply to the University of Alabama
Brown v. Board of Education meant that the University of Alabama had to be desegregated. In the years following, hundreds of African-Americans applied for admission, but all were denied. The University worked with police to find any disqualifying qualities, or when this failed, intimidated the applicants. But in 1963, three Blacks with perfect qualifications—Vivian Malone, Dave McGlathery and James Hood—applied, refusing to be intimidated. In early June a federal judge ordered that they be admitted, and forbade Governor Wallace from interfering.[2]
The incident
On 11 June, Malone and Hood arrived to register. Wallace, attempting to uphold his promise as well as for political show[2], blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium with the media watching. Then, flanked by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach told Wallace to step aside.[1] However, Wallace cut Katzenbach off and refused, giving a speech on state's rights.[2] Katzenbach called President John F. Kennedy, who then nationalized the Alabama National Guard. Henry Graham then commanded Wallace to step aside, saying "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved.[3]
Aftermath
The incident helped bring George Wallace into the national spotlight.[4]
In popular culture
The event was popularized in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, in which the character of Forrest Gump appeared at the event.[5][6][7]
References
- ↑ a b Elliot, Debbie. Wallace in the Schoolhouse Door. NPR. 11 June 2003. Accessed 19 February 2009.
- ↑ a b c Standing In the Schoolhouse Door (June). Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. Accessed 19 February 2009
- ↑ Stephan Lesher: George Wallace: American Populist. Da Capo Press, 1995, ISBN 0201407981, 9780201407983(?!), S. 233 (google.com).
- ↑ Governor George C. Wallace's School House Door Speech. Accessed 19 February 2009.
- ↑ History Re-Membered: Forrest Gump, Postfeminist Masculinity, and the Burial of the Counterculture. Accessed 28 February 2009.
- ↑ Paul Grainge: Memory and Popular Film. Manchester University Press, S. 229 (google.com [abgerufen am 28. Februar 2009])..
- ↑ Behind the Magic of Forrest Gump: "George Wallace." in Forrest Gump special collector's edition. [DVD].