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The
Miami Herald reportedly recently that Jo-Ann Hughes,
a teacher for 32 years, got a letter in 1997 from the
Manatee County, Fla. School board asking her to explain
why she had been convicted for trespassing and disturbing
the peace during a civil rights protest in St. Augustine
more than 40 years ago. Hughes, who will be retiring
at the end of this school term, feared she might lose
her job.
Across
the country, activists like Hughes probably thought
that the record of their arrests and convictions would
be removed right along with the unjust segregation laws.
“Frankly,
I’m not 100 percent sure that they did it,”
said Dr. Sonnie Hereford. He was one of the leaders
of a protest movement in Huntsville, Ala., to desegregate
local businesses. Because Hereford filmed much of the
civil rights struggle in Huntsville, some of his footage
was used in "Mighty Times: The Children's March,"
which just won an Oscar for best documentary.
Hereford
estimated that there were 600 arrests in Huntsville,
though he wasn’t one of them. Since he was documenting
the movement and providing free medical care for any
protesters who fell ill or were hurt, he said the movement’s
other leaders wanted him to avoid jail.
During
negotiations to end the demonstrations, Hereford said
that city officials told them that all protesters would
be given a clean slate, but he can’t verify if
they were.
It
would be a shame if they weren’t. Civil rights
protesters in Huntsville, St. Augustine and around the
country weren’t arrested or convicted for stealing,
killing, drinking while driving, dealing drugs, pimping
women or abusing children. They were locked up for helping
America to do what it should have done for itself: live
up to its own Constitution and creed.
Florida
State Senator Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, will be submitting
a bill to the Florida legislature that should help Hughes
and others in the state with criminal records due to
civil rights era protests. Florida’s Attorney
General Charlie Crist reportedly stands ready to help
Hill and the activists ensure that their records will
be cleaned up.
Good
news for Hughes, who had no clue her state considered
her a criminal. Even though she had served 60 days in
jail in 1963 for protesting at a segregated pharmacy,
she told the Herald that her conviction had never come
up as she applied for her teaching job, bought a house,
gotten credit cards and voted.
But
what about the activists in Huntsville and other cities
and towns across America whose records still may be
tainted? Apparently, according to the Herald, there
is no national movement to help these folks. Even if
they haven’t had any hitches since their convictions,
they shouldn’t have to wonder if or when their
past will come back to haunt them.
While
I’m sure they aren’t ashamed of being arrested
for doing what was right – nor should they be
– they still shouldn’t be forced by a potential
employer or lender to explain why they were arrested
40 years ago, when all they were doing was protesting
for their civil rights.
This
is a cause that the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights,
the NAACP, the National Urban League, the ACLU, Southern
Poverty Law Center, People for the American Way and
every other civil rights group should take up. They
should ensure that every activist, living or dead, has
a clean record.
Why?
Well, because history is fickle. Over time, facts can
get blurred or changed by revisionists or those with
incomplete information. Civil rights activists and their
families have gone through enough. They shouldn’t
have to fear that one day their criminal records might
pop up to interfere with their lives – not when
all they were doing was standing up for what was right.
This
nation, and all of us who have benefited from their
sacrifices, owes them at least that much.
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