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For there to be more Negroes than white american in Tennessee is a shocker to the other southern states looking in, it’s also something that doesn’t happen very often. Mostly because white Americans were trying so hard to limit the amount of power Negroes had. For years we knew that the white man was dominate over blacks, however in a small town in Tennessee that was not the case. In this town Negroes were dominant in size in population and registered voting. That gives them the upper hand when it comes to voting correct?  Wrong! Negroes would cast a vote for who they want to be in the position in power after the votes were cast it was nothing they could do, on the other hand for the white Americans there was a whole lot they could do for example, After votes were cast they are then tallied up to decide the winner in this case i'm sure it was a white man who tallied up the votes he could easily miscount the total votes prior to the sheriff selection the county’s past elections left African Americans with the feeling they were being cheated when the total number of tallies were calculated . White southerners say Negroes had the right to vote but did they really? Whites would use and abuse Negroes in this county to insure control the incident takes places with a Mr. Pattat who was running for the democratic party knew what he was going against, another white man but the difference between the two was that Mr. Redfearn had the support of the Negroes in the county. He chose a different route, he knew that by getting the support of the African american community he would be an easy pick to win unfortunately that was not the case white southerners were not about to go down without a fight, they would do anything the could to regain total power. The democratic party had do something they never thought they’d have to do , they had to reach out to the African american community for help for their political party. Mr. Pattat started going around and meeting some of the county Negroes and shaking Hands with them. They never cared about the well being of the negro. How can a person live in a county that is dominated by the negro community and running for sheriff and still have to get acquainted with the townspeople. Negroes were never treated fairly despite laws being made for that exact reason. At the end of the day there wasn’t much that Negroes could do to be treated as equal. It seemed as if Negroes were only taken into account for something when a person needed something for themselves. Instead of just using Africans to benefit themselves could’ve showed more respect for them in a town that was dominated so heavily.

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The power of the Negro vote  becoming a threat to white politicians

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The power of the Negro vote  becoming a threat to white politicians

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Due to the rise of the African American voters, white politicians became very afraid that they would lose the white majority when it came to voting.  This constant fear of losing the white majority, which in turn would jeopardize losing political power, forced the white politicians to make decisions to prevent the Negros from gaining political power. The main goal for the white politicians, was to diminish the amount of black voters registered, so they wouldn't have as much of an effect on the outcome of the votes, making the majority of voters white, thus keeping the white majority in power. To combat these dirty political tactics, the African Americans choose to take action and stand up against the unjust politics, in an nonviolent manner.

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In 1957, in an effort to frustrate increasing black voter registration and the threat of losing a white voter majority, Alabama state senator Sam Engelhardt sponsored Act 140, which proposed to transform the Tuskegee City boundaries from a square into a twenty-eight sided shape resembling a "seahorse" that included every single one of the 600 white voters and excluded all but 5 of the 400 black voters.

Engelhardt, a plantation owner and executive secretary of the Alabama Association of White Citizens Councils, explained, "The folks up there feel like I do. Civil rights legislation is going to pass the United States Senate either this year or the next and we're going to be prepared for it. We couldn't stand seeing a Negro in the Alabama Legislature."

For years, Alabama had quite successfully discouraged and thwarted black voter registration, but with new civil rights legislation threatening to make disenfranchisement more difficult, the Alabama legislature decided to deliver a preemptory assault on black self-determination. Despite appeals by prominent African-American community members to the City Council, the County Commission, the Alabama Legislature's Committee on Local Legislation, and even a direct appeal to the voters in an open letter in the Montgomery Advertiser, on June 14 the Senate unanimously approved the bill, and on June 21 the House followed suit with an 80-0 vote.

In a city where the black population was more than quadruple the white population (5,397 to 1,310), Frank Oalin, a local paint store manager and city council member, insisted "It's a matter of self-preservation; Negroes were about to out-vote us and take over control of the city." Senator Englehardt proudly boasted, "I gerrymandered those niggers right out of town...If that civil rights commission comes down here and forces mass registration of unqualified Negroes, there'll be bloodshed. Why, we'd have niggers in office. Can you imagine being arrested by a nigger sheriff?"

In fact, though, the educational level of Macon County blacks exceeded whites because of the influence of the Tuskegee Institute, and the Chicago Daily Tribune went as far as saying that "Any educational test for voting, no matter how rigorous, if fairly applied, would probably result in the enfranchising of more Negroes than whites in (Macon) County."

According to Charles G. Gomillion, a dean at the Tuskegee Institute and president of the Tuskegee Civic Association (TCA), this was the "straw that broke the camel's back." Already frustrated by the Macon County Board of Registrar's failure to register black voters, Gomillion and several other black leaders decided to initiate a merchant boycott. Just four days after the House vote, 3,000 blacks gathered at Butler Chapel AME Zion Church to join the "Crusade for Citizenship" and listen to Gomillion urge a "Trade with Friends" boycott of local white merchants. He vowed, "We are going to buy goods and services from those who help us, from those who make no effort to hinder us, from those who recognize us as first-class citizens" and not "with those who would seek to devour us."

The next week, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., came to show his support for the boycott by speaking to 2,000 blacks at the Washington Chapel AME Zion Church, stating, "You are not seeking to put the stores out of business but to put justice into business."

"If white citizens here feel Negroes shouldn't vote, then Negro citizens feel their money should not be spent with these folks. We prefer to spend our money with people who might help us, or who at least are in a poorer position to hurt us directly, white people in Montgomery, for instance," Gomillion asserted. Similarly, Dr. E.H. Foster, president of the Tuskegee Institute, judged "Now that they don't want us in the city of Tuskegee, I have no reason to trade there."

Within weeks the boycott had plunged local sales by more than 75% and put the gerrymandering case in the national spotlight, Consequently, Alabama officials began an effort to suppress it. By the end of July, state attorney-general and future governor John Patterson led multiple raids against offices of the Tuskegee Civic Association in an effort to discourage the boycott.

On July 29, Patterson warned blacks against violating Alabama's antiboycott law. By August 16, Patterson succeeded in obtaining an injunction against Gomillion and the TCA, after having secured an injunction banning the NAACP from operating in Alabama the previous year.

Gomillion appreciated the irony: "If we stay away from their churches, schools, and playgrounds, we are wise and understanding Negroes. But if we stay away from their stores, we are criminals...If they did not want our vote, why should they have our money?"

Despite the injunction, the boycott continued. By the end of 1957 over 100 white businesses were forced to close their doors and many other businesses and dealerships were reporting drop-offs of 40, 50, and even 60 percent in sales.

In spite of the economic turmoil caused by the boycott, the Tuskegee City Council unanimously voted to deny a petition signed by over 700 blacks, which requested that the city re-annex the territory removed from its limits by Act 140. In addition, Senator Englehardt continued his self-proclaimed crusade to "split Negro political power" by proposing a constitutional amendment which would enable the legislature to "abolish Macon County," which was 84% black (25,771 blacks to 4,677 whites), in order to dilute the black population amongst the surrounding, predominately white counties.

On December 17, the amendment was approved by Alabamians 58,824-40,710, with the New York Times reporting that "Advocates of the change said it was necessary to prevent Negro control of the county government in view of Federal civil rights legislation to use national authority to guarantee voting rights" while the TCA alleged that the "proposal was a device to 'maintain an undemocratic system of social relationships, a system which cannot be justified morally or politically.'"

As the months wore on, the TCA continued to hold weekly mass meetings of 1,000-2,000 people at various Negro churches in order "to keep up the spirit of resistance." Then, in June 1958, an Alabama judge struck down the injunction against the TCA, noting that Americans have a right to trade with whom they choose and ruling that Attorney General Patterson had failed to substantiate his charges of coercion and intimidation against the organization.

Two months later, on August 4, Gomillion and twelve other disenfranchised black voters filed a federal suit against Tuskegee Mayor Phil Lightfoot and the City Council contending that Act 140 violated black voters' constitutional protections.

By the end of 1959, participation in the boycott had dropped noticeably, but on February 27, 1960, 400 students at the Tuskegee Institute reinvigorated the campaign with a peaceful march in downtown Tuskegee, followed by a meeting two nights later deciding to tighten the boycott to make it "100 per cent effective."

Then, on November 14, 1960, after several lower courts ruled that issues regarding gerrymandering did not fall within the judiciary's purview, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gomillion v. Lightfoot was entitled to a full trial to determine if the gerrymandering had the effect of disenfranchising black voters. Eight justices found that such an effect violated the Fifteenth Amendment, (Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.), and one, voting in concurrence, found it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

On February 17, 1961, Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled that Act 140 did have the effect of disenfranchising black voters and was thus unconstitutional and issued an order prohibiting officials from enforcing the act. Several weeks later, Judge Johnson delivered another sweeping victory for Macon County blacks by ruling that the Board of Registrars was actively and deliberately obstructing black voter registration, and ordered an overhaul of the registrars' operating procedures.

With these victories the four-year boycott on Tuskegee merchants came to an end.

Research Notes

"ALABAMA BOYCOTT STIRS STATE RAIDS: Negroes in Tuskegee Shun White Merchants in Protest of a Gerrymander Law. "New York Times (1923-Current file) 27 Jul 1957, ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Alabama Votes Plan to Abolish a Predominantly Negro Country: NEGRO VOTE CURB GAINS IN ALABAMA." New York Times (1923-Current file) 18 Dec. 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Apartheid in Alabama." The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-

1959) 29 Jun 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1994), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"BILL REALIGNS TUSKEGEE: Alabama Senate Favors Shift on 400 Negroes." New York Times (1923-Current file) 15 Jun 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

BY ED CONY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. "Tuskegee

Battlefield :Negroes Boycott Town To Fight Gerrymander Voiding Their Votes State Aims to Ease Impact Of New Civil Rights Law, May Set Southern Pattern

"We'll Split Negro Power" Tuskegee Battlefield: Negroes Fight Vote Loss by Boycotting Stores. " Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) 5 Nov. 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Wall Street Journal (1889 - 1993), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Court Orders Negroes To End Store Boycott." The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-1959) 17 Aug. 1957, ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1994), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"CUT NEGRO VOTE: Alabama Measure Would Pare City Limits of Tuskegee." New York Times (1923-Current file) 22 Jun 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339 (1960).

By ANTHONY LEWIS Special to The New York Times.. "U.S. WINS ROUND ON NEGRO VOTE: Trial Points Up Intricate Means That Are Used to Limit Ballot. " New York Times (1923-Current file) 2 Apr. 1961,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Negroes Get Warning on Boycott Law." The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-1959) 30 Jul 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1994), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"NEGROES LOSE PLEA: Tuskegee Will Not Re-Annex Land Cut Out of City." New York Times (1923-Current file) 14 Nov. 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN TUSKEGEE." Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-

1963) 25 Jul 1959,ProQuest Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune (1849 - 1987), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

Special to The New York Times. "NEGROES PUSH BOYCOTT: Tuskegee Rally Pledges Aid in Ban on Whites' Stores." New York Times (1923-Current file) 26 Jun 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

Special to The New York Times. "NEGROES STOPPING ALABAMA BOYCOTT: Leader of Tuskegee Economic Strike Says Aim Is Achieved, But Redistribution Is Set Bill Signing Expected City Council Criticized." New York Times (1923-Current file) 7 Jul 1957, ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Students Boycott Stores." New York Times (1923-Current file) 2 Mar.

1960,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

Tribune Staff Writers. "Alabama Setting Vicious Vote Pattern for South." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001) 24 Dec. 1957, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER. "Tuskegee Whites Prefer Ruin to Giving Negroes

Equality." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001) 17 Dec. 1957,ProQuest Historical Newspapers Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"TUSKEGEE -- BEFORE AND AFTER." New York Times (1923-Current

file) 6 Mar. 1960,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"Tuskegee Injunction Dissolved." The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-1959) 22 Jun 1958,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1994), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

"U.S. COURT UPSETS A NEGRO VOTE BAN: Prohibits Alabama from Enforcing Law Resetting Tuskegee City Limits." New York Times (1923-Current file) 18 Feb. 1961,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007), ProQuest. Web. 11 Sep. 2011.

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Black citizens boycott white merchants for U.S. voting rights, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1957-1961

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In 1957, in an effort to frustrate increasing black voter registration and the threat of losing a white voter majority, Alabama state senator Sam Engelhardt sponsored Act 140, which proposed to transform the Tuskegee City boundaries from a square into a twenty-eight sided shape resembling a "seahorse" that included every single one of the 600 white voters and excluded all but 5 of the 400 black voters.

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After the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans felt there was no better time then the present to fight for their rights, especially their right to vote. In the years prior to the newly established law, African Americans were often denied the right to vote, and those that were able to vote, had to jump through hoops to do so.  With white primaries, literacy tests, and poll taxes, many African Americans couldn’t afford to register to vote. Since this new law outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, African Americans saw an opportunity to rally together, make their way to the polls, and attempt to make a meaningful change through the form of voting.

In the Southernmost states, and despite the Civil Rights Act, African Americans were still viciously repressed.  Nonetheless, they worked with the NAACP to ensure that they were properly registered to vote, and then decided to show up in record numbers at the polls. This mindset of uniting as an African American community, and centuries later, is what has inspired change in our political system and has even inspired who was the leader of our country. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson was reelected into office due to the significant support from the black turnout. Additionally, Former President Barack   Obama’s two elections were partly due to the success of the black turnout to the polls.

White politicians knew the power of the black vote which is why they viewed African Americans as a threat. Despite the many efforts to keep blacks from voting, once they realized that there is power in numbers, they did everything they could to overcome the obstacles and be the change they wished to see.

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Black voters wouldn't go to the polls at such levels again until President Obama's first election in 2008, when 60.8 percent of them voted. In 2012, 62 percent turned out for Mr. Obama's re-election.

What's most impressive about the 1964 result, though, is that it happened at a time when some Southern states still viciously repressed blacks' attempts to vote. That wouldn't begin to end until the following year, when the Voting Rights Act passed with the strong support of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who owed much of his re-election margin to that enormous black turnout.

In fact, black turnout outside the South hit 72 percent in 1964, a level it has not reached since. In the South, black turnout was just 44 percent.

Those numbers would begin converging in 1968, and by the 1990s black turnout in the South was identical to the rates seen in the rest of the country. Southern black turnout even exceeded the rest of the country's for President Obama's two elections.

This does not necessarily portend anything for next month's midterm elections. While the rate of black turnout will be critical in Georgia, as my colleague Nate Cohn has written, and possibly elsewhere, history offers little guidance here.

Black turnout in presidential years has been steadily increasing since 1996, but it has been generally flat in midterm years. Black turnout in 2010 was 40.7 percent, only one percentage point above its average since 1966.

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national assn for the advancement of colored people

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Black voters wouldn't go to the polls at such levels again until President Obama's first election in 2008, when 60.8 percent of them voted. In 2012, 62 percent turned out for Mr. Obama's re-election. What's most impressive about the 1964 result, though, is that it happened at a time when some Southern states still viciously repressed blacks' attempts to vote.