John King produced a segment of the CNN "State of The Union" program by traveling to Selma last week, and as I watched the resulting story Sunday morning, I was astounded to see three Selma residents sitting in The Downtowner restaurant, two white women and a black man, rehashing the "outsiders came here and caused the racial troubles" routine. "Busloads!" said one of the women. They said it was all about money, the TV Networks wanted to show the discord because it would make them money. But at some point, doesn't the State of Alabama and its people have to accept responsibilities for what happened? George Wallace wasn't an outsider. Nor were the Klansmen that bombed the churches and killed the children. Nor were the state troopers that bashed the peaceful marchers on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Yet if you read the official history of the Department of Public Safety online, there's barely a mention of their role:
Gov. Wallace chose Albert J. Lingo, a longtime member of the Highway Patrol, to direct the Department of Public Safety during the turbulent early '60s. These years were marked by marches and demonstrations that characterized the civil rights movement in the South. The names Birmingham and Selma were in the press daily and were known not only in Alabama, but also across America and throughout the world. Public Safety was called on time and time again in response to the demonstrations, and its officers sought to maintain order amid strife.
Were there "outsider reporters" here for the story? Sure, it was an International story! But they didn't create the story any more than reporters created a police brutality story in Manhattan or a war in Iraq. Were "outsider protesters" here to take a stand? Of course. But the conditions that caused the Civil Rights Rebellion in Alabama were anything but an outside job. When we suggest they were, we shame the good homegrown people who were brave enough to do the right thing.
[ALSO: Howard Kurtz in yesterday's Post on the "new" Newsweek. A magazine seeking fewer readers.]
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regualr feature of this blog]
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