Selma Page #5

to defend the lives

of its own people here in America!

We will not let it go!

And if he does not act, we will act.

We will act!

We will do it for all of our lost ones.

All of those, like Jimmie Lee Jackson,

who have gone too soon, taken by hate!

Let me hear the top-tier issues

that have to be evident

in the overall legislation we demand.

Let's break it down.

But let's root this discussion

in what we know.

We know Johnson

can't see the full picture.

So, let's paint it for him.

What are the specific hardships

and humiliations

we can address

within the larger context of legislation?

Doc, we gotta start

with banning these laws that

if a Negro tries to register,

I mean, actually musters up the courage

to go in that courthouse,

that their name and address

is published in the paper.

It gives anybody who wants

to do them any harm

their exact location,

and we know how the Klan is.

I hear that. But the poll taxes

got to be our focus first.

'Cause black people are poor!

Black people are poor down here.

- Yep.

- And they expected to pay for every year

they weren't legally registered

before they can register.

Now, what the hell is that?

Who got that kind of money?

Come on now! Listen now!

The big issue is voting vouchers.

Is that the number one issue?

Now hold on. Let me finish.

'Cause everybody'll forget

about this part.

But if you're Negro,

the only way you can vote

is if an approved registered

voter vouches for you.

Right? So, let's say, you take

some place like Lowndes County,

where there are no Negroes

who are registered

and you've got to have

someone who is registered

to vouch for you.

What are you supposed to do?

Nobody you know,

not a single black person

for 100 miles is registered.

So how do you get the voucher, right?

To get you into the courthouse door

to pay the poll tax

to get your name published

and get yourself dead.

That's true.

We need a new plan!

I can't take him back to Washington

and waltz into the White House

with a list of empty demands.

Tactics, my friends!

We must break down this institution

into the tangible tactics

that it takes to dismantle it.

What's your next move?

A march from Selma to Montgomery

to protest and amplify.

Well, I'll be damned.

This was always part of the plan,

wasn't it?

Provoke some tragedy

in little old Selma, then go big.

Get someone killed

and march on the State Capitol!

Selma to Montgomery's

gotta be 50 miles!

You march those people

into rural Alabama unprotected,

it's gonna be open season.

It's too damn far

and too damn dangerous!

Then propose new legislation, sir.

I can't do that this year. I won't!

I told you.

We need your involvement here,

Mr. President.

We deserve your help

as citizens of this country.

Citizens under attack.

Now, you listen to me. You listen to me.

You're an activist. I'm a politician.

You got one big issue.

I got a hundred and one.

Now, you demanding more

and putting me on the spot

with this visit, that's okay.

That's your job. That's what you do.

But I am sick and tired

of you demanding and telling me

what I can and what I can't do.

If you want my support

on this voting thing,

I need some quid pro quo from you.

What do you want, Mr. President?

We have a line on some threats that are

particularly troubling.

Well, what's new?

No, no. This is serious.

Credible threats with detail.

This information,

coming from the FBI, I assume?

High-level?

The same high-level

that's been tracking us like animals?

Bugging our homes

and our hotel rooms.

Digging for things that

simply are not there, Lee?

This all feels very convenient.

Okay.

This is coming

from Lowndes County, Alabama.

Between Selma and Montgomery.

I'm telling you, if he were my guy,

I'd keep him off the frontlines.

Just for a while.

Not gonna happen, Lee.

Meet me halfway on this, Martin.

I can't, Mr. President.

Can't or won't?

I came here hoping

to talk to you about people.

People are dying in the street for this.

It cannot wait, sir.

Mr. President, how did it go?

What can I do to help?

Get me J. Edgar Hoover.

King,

you know you are a complete fraud

and a liability to all nigras.

Like all frauds, your end is approaching.

You are done.

Your degrees and your fancy awards

will not save you.

The American public will

soon know you for what you are,

an evil, abnormal beast.

That wasn't me.

That isn't me, Corrie.

I know.

I know what you sound like.

I've gotten used to a lot.

All the hours

wondering after your safety,

worried about how you are.

This house.

Renting here.

No foundation.

Without the things

the children should have,

all because of how it would look.

I have gotten used to it,

for better or worse.

But what I have never gotten used to

is the death.

The constant closeness of death.

It's become like a thick fog to me.

I can't see life sometimes

because of the fog of death

constantly hanging over.

People actually say that

they will stop the blood

running through the hearts

of our children.

That's what they said on the other end

of that phone line.

How they're going to kill my children.

And what they'll do to you

and how they'll do it.

How many years

have I had to listen to this?

The filth,

deranged and twisted

and just ignorant enough to be serious.

If I ask you something,

will you answer me with the truth?

Yes.

Good, because I am not a fool.

Do you love me?

Yes, I love you, Coretta.

Do you love any of the others?

No.

I need to put the march back a day.

Why?

I have to be home right now.

Yes. Okay. I understand.

But I have to tell you

the organization looks good.

Real good.

The mood is strong.

And the locals are prepared.

The SNCC kids are ready to go.

We can start it off from Selma,

and you can join in on the second day.

I just think it'd be a mistake

to hold people back

when their blood is up.

I hear you,

but we need to be out there full throttle.

This ain't a test run.

We need to get to Montgomery.

I warned Johnson that

we were going to the Capitol.

We need to do just that.

And I believe we will. We'll get there.

And when we do the real deal,

the finale,

when you make the big speech

at the end,

right on Wallace's doorstep.

I don't know, Andy.

It'll be just fine.

We'll get it started strong.

And you'll finish strong.

Okay. Let's proceed.

But only one of us walks to start.

I don't want to get back on Monday

and find all our leadership in jail.

One of us walks.

Understood.

There will be no march

from Selma to Montgomery.

It is not conducive to traffic flow

on Route 80.

Or to public safety.

Your lives could be in danger,

but we're going to be strong

if we stick together.

Don't fight back.

It's a non-violent movement.

Non-violence is not passive.

It's actually very strong.

We shouldn't do this, John.

This is not us. This is not SNCC.

It's some bullshit.

It's gonna do more for King

and the SCLC than for Selma.

Rate this script:5.0 / 2 votes