The Orangeburg Massacre
It was February 8, 1968 and Orangeburg, South Carolina was a night filled with anger and frustration. Patrolmen randomly fired on a crowd of student demonstrators. 27 students were shot and 3 young men died from the incident only in a matter of seconds. Henry Smith, a family oriented 20-year old college student at South Carolina State was shot in the side and back five times; Delano Middleton, a 17-year old high school student was shot in the hip, the thigh, the side of his chest, his heart and three times in the forearm; and Samuel Hammond, a promising 19-year-old high school student who attended a newly integrated school was killed by one shot in the back. What led to the massacre was a demonstration at a bowling alley that did not admit Blacks. 200 students gathered around a bonfire built on a campus street, only to find it to be smothered by the police. Some students retaliated by throwing rocks and bottles at the officers. The students eventually built another bonfire when the patrolmen left and that was when the trouble started. Police returned to the scene to put the fire out, only this time, someone hit a patrolman with a banister post and more objects were thrown. Fires rang and that was when the true chaos began. After the slaughter, news spread of a gun battle between the Black students and officers. The officers, with the support of the government blamed the students for what occurred yet it was later found out that none of the students held firearms and that not one of the patrolmen followed correct riot procedures. A number of those shot wounded were shot in the feet while laying on the ground. Though the patrolmen used unacceptable means to control the demonstration, they were eventually pardoned. This is a typical story of many challenges Blacks had to face in 1968 America. It was a cry for Civil Rights.
April 4th - Martin Luther King Jr.., one of many great Civil Rights leaders was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. 168 riots spread like wildfire throughout the country due to this event.
June 6th - Robert F. Kennedy, otherwise known as "Ruthless Bobby" was assassinated in California. He too was an active supporter of Civil Rights.
August 10th - A peaceful anti-war march lead to a "police riot" in Chicago during the Democratic convention.
Shirley Chisholm who was a leader in women's rights was the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives.
Cry for "Black Power!" was adopted after the understanding that the struggle and holding back did not bring about the changes needed in America.
What sprung from the demand of Civil Rights in the 1960's was the understanding that Black Studies was of great importance that had to be kept and to be kept accurate. It was a swooping cultural awareness that was and is still with us to this very day.
Civil Rights were not limited to African-Americans but was also a path led by women, minorities, hippies, yippies, and anti-war demonstrators -- people from all walks of life. To those who fought for the cause of Civil Rights, it was a god-given human right. Civil Rights was a strong belief held by many ordinary people like you and I. Like the students in Orangeburg, South Carolina who died from fatal gunshots because of a demonstration they conducted, they knew that they were victims of an unequal society and they wanted to fix it. A number of people discovered and shared this common belief and that belief was to be "free at last, free at last," ...and that is the path that is being taken, to be "free at last..."
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Comments and questions should be sent to: mercier@vancouver.wsu.edu