Wiki History: White Warriors of the Civil Rights Movement

Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. In this podcast series, we are remembering the unknown (or lesser known) heroes of the civil rights movement.  More specifically, I should say that we are remembering and honoring the lesser-known martyrs in civil rights—those men and women who fought for voting rights, housing rights, and other forms of equal rights and the people who staunchly fought against segregation, lynching, police brutality and other forms of violence.  In the last podcast, we remembered Corporal Roman Ducksworth who refused to be removed from the front of a bus travelling through Mississippi. We remembered Rev. George Washington Lee who fought for voting rights. And, lastly, we remembered Harry and Harriett Moore who fought for equal rights in education and investigated police brutality and lynching in Florida.

In today’s podcast, we will remember and honor some of the white people who fought for civil rights for Black Americans.  Remember, there were many white people and people of other races and ethnicities who marched, protested, rallied and participated in sit-ins and freedom rides to fight for civil rights and voting rights for Black Americans. Did you know that there were 60,000 whites at the March on Washington? Although white people did not face the same problems as Black Americans, they were often rejected by friends and family members, fired from jobs, threatened and even killed when they participated in civil rights activities. So, I think that it is very important to recognize, remember and honor them too—and that’s what I will do in this podcast. 

Unfortunately, as with the last podcast, we only have time to discuss a few of the people who participated and died in the struggle for civil rights.  

Before we begin, I just want to remind you that rememberinghistory.com was formerly called the robinlofton.com blog and podcast. It’s the same website and podcast—only better.  I have added some new features, mostly notably a bookstore where you can find great books, DVDs, audiobooks and other stuff to enhance your history experience. Everything that you find in the bookstore is something that I have personally read, watched, listened to or used in some way.  Everything has my personal stamp of approval so I hope that you will visit the bookstore and continue to expand your history education and experience.  Also, I hope that you have a chance to leave a comment or review about the materials, the podcasts, the blog or anything else that is on your mind. Of course, I welcome your recommendations on any resource that you think should be added to the bookstore. We are a great community of fun and friendly historians and everyone is welcome.

Now, let’s start this podcast and learn about a few Caucasians who made history in the civil rights movement.

We begin with Rev. James Reeb.

Reverend Reeb was a Unitarian Universalist minister and civil rights activist.  Raised in Kansas and Wyoming, Reverend Reeb decided in high school that he wanted to become a minister. His family moved a lot because of his father’s job so he went to different churches, including Lutheran and Presbyterian churches. However, he was particularly attracted to the Unitarian church because of its emphasis on social action. In the 1950s and 1960s, Rev. Reeb was involved in civil rights and also encouraged his parishioners to get active in civil rights.

In 1963, Rev. Reeb moved with his wife and 4 children to Boston when he became Community Relations Director for the American Friends Service Committee. The committee worked against segregation and for housing rights for the poor. The committee (led by Rev. Reeb) forced Boston to enforce its housing code to ensure housing for indigent families. Rev. Reeb bought a home in a poor, Black neighborhood in Boston, enrolled his kids in local integrated public schools, which were actually primarily African American.  Rev. Reeb was also a member of the SCLC (remember, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference).

In March of 1965, following the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King called for the clergy to join the march and support the nonviolent protest movement for voting rights for African Americans. Reverend Reeb immediately caught a plane bound for Selma to join the march. On the evening of March 9, Rev. Reeb and two other ministers ate dinner at Walker’s Café, a local Black (or integrated) restaurant. After dinner, the three men were attacked by white segregationists. Rev. Reeb was severely beaten with a club. His skull was broken. He was taken to the hospital where he died two days later.

Rev. Reeb’s funeral was attended by more than 500 people, including 100 Unitarian ministers.  Giving the eulogy, Dr. Martin Luther King described Rev. Reeb as “a witness to the truth that men of different races and classes might live, eat, and work together as brothers.” He further described Rev. Reeb as a “shining example of manhood at its best.”  Wow, those are big words from Martin Luther King!  And I think that they are very appropriate for Rev. Reeb who had a lifelong commitment to civil rights and lived what he believed. Dr. King asked the clergy for help and Rev. Reeb did not hesitate to answer.  For his courage and commitment to civil rights, we honor and remember Rev. James Reeb. (applause)

William Lewis Moore

The next person that I want to mention is a name that will be new to many people. And that’s unfortunate because he was truly a man of conviction and courage.  But let me back up  here. Who was William Lewis Moore?

Born in upper state New York and raised in Russell, Mississippi, William Moore went to graduate school at Johns Hopkins. During his studies, he suffered a mental breakdown and never returned to the university. He became a postal worker and started advocating for the rights of persons suffering from mental illness.  This activism for the rights of the mentally ill led him to get active in the civil rights movement. He was an active member of CORE (remember, the Congress for Racial Equality).

In the early 1960s, Moore organized three civil rights protests in which he marched to three different capitols to hand deliver letters that denounced and called for an immediate end to racial segregation. He first marched to Annapolis, Maryland and delivered a letter to the state governor. On his second march, he marched to the White House to deliver a letter to President Kennedy. He reached Washington, DC at about the same time that Dr. King was released from a jail in Birmingham (remember, his Letter from a Birmingham Jail?).  His letter to President Kennedy stated that he next intended to walk to Jackson, Mississippi and deliver a letter to Governor Ross Barnett, who was a known white segregationist. His third march went from Chatanooga, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi, some 340 miles away. He intended to deliver letters to Governor Barnett demanding that he accept integration. Moore wore a sandwich board that proclaimed “Equal Rights for All!”

On April 23, 1963, after walking more than 70 miles, Moore met with a reporter in Alabama who had received anonymous tips about Moore’s location. Moore told the reporter, “I intend to walk right up to the governor's mansion in Mississippi and ring his door bell. Then I'll hand him my letter." The reporter feared for Moore’s safety and offered to take him to a hotel, but Moore refused because he wanted to continue his march.  Did I mention that the marches that Moore had organized were single man marches?  It was just him, one lone crusader delivering letters that demanded equal rights and urging an end to segregation, walking through cities and along lonely stretches of highway.

An hour after the meeting with the reporter, a motorist found Moore’s body laying upon the side of the road, shot twice in the head at close range.  Moore died just before his 36th birthday. The gun was traced to Floyd Simpson (a member of the Ku Klux Klan) who had argued with Moore earlier in the day about segregation, interracial marriage and religion.  No one was ever convicted for his murder.  Moore’s letter to the Mississippi Governor was retrieved from his bag. It stated that “the white man cannot truly be free himself until all men have their rights.” And to Governor Barnett, it said personally, to “be gracious and do more than is immediately demanded of you.”

Witnesses remember William Moore as a determined man, walking along the road or highway, wearing a sandwich board and pulling a red wagon stacked with letters. He would often stop and hand the letters to people along the road.

In 2009, the FBI reopened the Moore murder case as part of its cold case files on crimes during the civil rights movement. They have not revealed the results of their investigation. On the April 23, 2010 (the 47th anniversary of his murder), a plaque in honor of William Moore was unveiled in the city of Birmingham, New York.  

There is also a fantastic book written about William Moore called Freedom Walk: Mississippi or Bust, which gives much more information about his single-man marches and also discusses other lesser known martyrs of the civil rights movement. You can find it in the Bookstore at rememberinghistory.com.

William Lewis Moore was truly a brave man who definitely walked the walk. He believed in equality for all and courageously announced that belief. It was reported that 65 percent of liberal white people felt that he was on a pitiful journey and disagreed with him.  But he stood talk and lived his convictions. He demanded that the governor be gracious and give more than is immediately demanded of you. Those are great words for all of us.  For his courage and actions in his lone man marches for integration, we remember and honor William Lewis Moore.  (applause!)

The last person that we will discuss today is Rev. Bruce Klunder. 

Reverend Klunder was born in Greeley, Colorado and raised in Oregon. He graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1961. Then he and his wife and two children moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Klunder, a Presbyterian minister, was always committed to fighting for civil rights and equality and believed that his religious calling demanded social activism.  He founded and headed the local CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) Office in Cleveland and participated in numerous protests, marches and pickets in support of fair housing. He also participated in numerous activities and sit-ins to oppose racial segregation and discrimination in hiring and employment.

In April, 1964, the city of Cleveland started constructing a public school that was designated as a segregated school.  Rev. Klunder and about 100 other protesters tried to stop construction of the school by placing themselves around the bulldozers, cement mixers and other equipment. They were successful on that day; construction stopped. On the next day, April 7, 1964, the city tried to continue constructing the school. Rev. Klunder and a 1000 other protesters again tried to stop the construction of the school. Three protesters placed themselves in front of a bulldozer while Rev. Klunder laid down behind the bulldozer effectively to block the bulldozer from moving in any direction. The bulldozer driver was not aware that Rev. Klunder was laying behind the vehicle so he moved backwards to avoid hitting the protesters in front of the vehicle. The bulldozer ran directly over Rev. Klunder who was killed instantly.  His death was ruled an accident. It probably was just that, but it is still a sad incident in which a person was killed in defense of civil rights. Rev. Klunder was 27 years old. Construction of the school was halted for a few days but resumed and was completed later that year. In 2013, the school was torn down. Rev. Caviness, a minister at the Greater Abyssinian Baptist Church, was present when Rev. Klunder was killed on that fateful day and witnessed Rev. Klunder’s body laying in the dirt. “Every time I pass that school, Rev. Caviness said, it is sacred ground. It is a sacred location to all of us who were here and saw what the struggle was all about.”

Rev. Klunder’s death polarized the Cleveland community: some saw his death as inevitable while others were saddened and angered by the incident.  Rev. Klunder’s funeral was attended by hundreds of people from Cleveland and beyond. He has been listed in the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

Rev. Klunder believed that “his life must be his sermon”. (that is a quote from the minister)  He was committed to civil rights, fair housing and dismantling segregation in education and all public facilities. His courage and commitment will be remembered and honored. Thank you, Rev. Klunder. (applause)

There are many other white people who participated in the civil rights movement either on a large scale (like the 60,000 whites at the March on Washington) or on a small or individual scale like Rev. Klunder’s protest to stop the construction of a segregated school or William Lewis Moore’s one-man marches demanding integration. All were important. All had an impact. All showed that the civil rights movement was not a movement only by and about rights for African Americans but a human rights movement to ensure equality and fairness for everyone.  Again, I return to my quote by Edmund Burke that said, “All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Don’t “do nothing”.

So, that brings this podcast to an end. We have one more podcast in this series of less famous (or even forgotten) heroes: Women in the civil rights movement. In the next podcast, we will discuss the contributions of three women who were martyred in the struggle for civil rights.  No, all of these women are not black. There is one woman who is white and her contribution will be discussed next time. Spoiler alert: she was mentioned (briefly in the Selma movie). And for additional information, like books, DVDS, audiobooks and other information about these courageous people, please visit the Books & Stuff store at rememberinghistory.com. Look in the special section for April called Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. And please let me know your thoughts and comments about this and the other podcasts in this series.

Again, I know that this is a bit depressing but it is so vitally important to remember these people and their contributions. And remember, yes, we discuss that they were killed, but we focus more about how they lived, what was important to them and their courage under fire. They should not be forgotten because they give us the courage to stand up for our rights and for the rights of others, anyone in need.

I look forward to seeing you next time for the women heroes (besides Harriette Moore who we discussed in the first podcast), the women heroes in the civil rights movement. Hope to see you soon at rememberinghistory.com where were are remembering history and we’re making history.

Bye for now!