Albany Movement Research Paper

The years 1961-62 saw Albany become a key battlefield in the ongoing fight for African American Civil Rights in the USA. Following the arrest of the SNCC’s freedom riders there in December 1961, a local boycott of the bus station began. The boycott was backed by rallies and protest meetings and, following an address by King, a large protest was held. The protesters were ordered to disperse and, when they refused were arrested and fined. In order to increase awareness of this King refused to pay and as a consequence was jailed. However unlike the numerous protests which had proceeded this one, the Albany Movement failed. The city closed parks, sold the swimming pool and integrated the library only after removing all the seats. It also refused
Their lack of cooperation stemmed from the fact that the NAACP was suspicious of the SNCC interfering in what it regarded as its jurisdiction. The fact that the local black leaders resented what it saw as “outsiders” meant that there were considerable organisational problems between the groups, which lead to ineffective protests towards the latter end of the campaign. They also criticised King for choosing to pay a fine rather than remain in the Albany jail for Christmas as he had promised. Crucially the white city leadership paid a number of black informers, meaning that the city police were always one step ahead.

However the real killer for the Albany Campaign all stems from a lack of public support. In reality every protest or campaign is dependent on public support. However the lack of violence against the protestors meant that there was less awareness of what was happening. Furthermore violence from some extreme black activists actually reduced support for the campaign. This meant that the final protests of the campaign had very weight behind them and soon petered out. Crucially the campaign lost momentum and by 1962 was effectively