STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE
STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE
SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was a civil rights group that focussed on giving young African Americans’ a voice. Soon evolving to a more radical branch of civil rights, the group began participating in bus boycotts and marches organized by Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1966, as part of the Summerhill Riots, the SNCC group gathered with loudspeakers to enable residents to voice their personal opinions and observations of the event. The riots began after an act of police brutality, where a white police officer shot Harold Prather, an African American man on Capitol Avenue.
“Prather went down; citizens of Summerhill, Peoplestown, and Mechanicsville rose up.”
As the crowd grew angry with the arrests, they began throwing bottles and rocks at police officers. Mayor Ivan Allen attempted to calm demonstrators by climbing atop a police car to address their demands, but later jumped off and was ignored by protestors. SNCC headquarters were subsequently raided by Atlanta police and Stokely Carmichael, SNCC chairman, was convicted of initiating the riot and practicing disorderly conduct. SNCC insisted that the rioting was caused instead by the failure of the mayor and other city officials to address long-standing complaints about substandard housing and municipal services, however.
Media's Interpretation of SNCC's Involvement
“For if one thing is clear, it is that future progress in civil rights depends upon co-operation within the framework of law by whites and Negroes whose dedication to equal treatment and equal opportunity is genuine rather that opportunistic.”
This article places emphasis on the need to further enforce the law and be stricter with African Americans in time of revolt, evident by the cartoon. The author was concerned that a lack of police enforcement would create a mentality of habituation within African American communities, leading to an acceptance of breaking the law.
Addressing the riots by arresting Stokely Carmichael is seen as a preventative cause of future potential violence outbreaks by this article. This article also focuses on creating future agreements between African Americans and white communities that are focussed on a common goal of equality, rather than opportunistic decisions in order to withstand societal cases.
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Reality of Summerhill
The newspaper clipping pictured is strikingly eye opening to the discriminatory scenario of the Summerhill riots and the extreme reaction that was an effect of the event; SNCC's intentions are not accurately reflected in history due to racial stigmas and most historic records being arranged by white males. Within this article, SNCC emphasizes that Harold Prather's death was completely unnecessary. Prather was accused of a breaking into his own car while it was stopped only ¾ of a block away from his home. Jumping from his car and running when the police arrived, he was shot three times. Slowing down after the initial shots, the officers shot again, ending his life. After the shooting, 150 to 200 people gathered outside the man's house in protest of the shooting.
Stokley Carmichael heard the news over the radio and was in want of creating a peaceful protest by locals. However, as crowds began to form to inform of the events of the shooting, police presence grew angrier and arrested individuals and a riot was induced.
The article stresses the reality of the riots which is unwritten from historical accounts of Summerhill: the white police officers responding were armed with machine guns while African American police officers were only given pistols, many African Americans were unjustly and illegally arrested, and that the demonstrators only wanted the officer who shot Harold Prather to be fired.
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Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. came to the riots, pictured famously standing on top of a car, and refused to address these issues. When the car was toppled over and Allen jumped off from being ignored, he ordered tear gas to raid the people in the streets. Officers then began shooting and a complete whirlwind of horror erupted in the streets.
In this clip, Ivan Allen blames SNCC's presence for "agitating" the Summerhill riots "by the use of a sound truck and other known methods of inciting people."
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The difference between SNCC’s accounts of the Summerhill Riots versus those of media, which was comprised of mostly white journalists, is evident through the documents within the Ivan Allen Jr. Digital Archive. These differences are also reflective of how those in a higher societal power can dismiss other viewpoints, objectifying history and leaving a narrow perspective behind. For example, in the video, Ivan Allen implies the riots occurred because of SNCC’s presence, tarnishing their image as a nonviolent group; an African American pastor writes to Allen:
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“I for one will not sit by and remain silent while the glowing image of our fine city is being tarnished by irresponsible beatniks and self appointed leaders. May I take this method of apologizing for any indignities that may have been suffered by you in connection with the recent rioting…”
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Additionally, in another letter, written by a real estate and insurance company to commend Allen on his “finest example of heroism, public service, and stewardship,” depicts the riots from the perspective of the white community, referring to the riots as the
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"Capital Avenue Mob."
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Quotes are taken from the documents on the right.
Whereas, in a handout sent out by SNCC, they state that “there were no SNCC people present” during the riots, and that they were simply a result of a community rallying against police brutality. Allen blaming SNCC is a result to try and divert the public’s attention away from the real causes of the riots: poverty and the destruction of communities.
SNCC Pamphlet is to the right.
The vast renditions of what "actually" happened during the Summerhill Riots begs the question:
Why are they called "riots?"
By definition, a riot is “a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd.” While some chaos did erupt during the demonstration, calling the events a “riot” is derogatory and strips the movement of any sense of purpose, which was to protest injustices to the African American community. In modern times, these events would be considered as a “protest,” considering a large group of people gathered to voice their opinion. Coining this event a “riot” adds an extremely negative connotation, and portrays the rioters as violent animals rather than dedicated protestors. In one brochure from the Digital Archive regarding the events, the term “rebellion” is used, and it is explained that
“these rebellions have been conscious political acts, just as the sit-ins and picket lines were conscious political acts.”
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Quote is taken from the Perspective brochure above.
Ivan Allen’s administration held control of the media, and consequently, these protests were televised as acts of brutality. Consequently, Allen wished to be regarded as the white savior who put down these barbarous rioters, which greatly affected how the white population regarded the events.