Selma Page #7

These pictures are

going around the world, Lee.

I understand, Mr. President.

All the more reason to act now.

I'm gonna act now.

You tell Wallace

and those backwater hicks

I don't want to see any more

of this horseshit.

And you tell King he best not march,

you hear me?

Either King stops and Wallace stops,

or I'll stop 'em both.

I'm here on the President's order

to try and make this work.

Please work with me.

So we give up the march and you...

You give what?

We asked for federal protection.

And with no disrespect,

but when the Assistant Attorney General

is the highest-ranking

federal official in Selma,

we have our answer.

And it's not the one we want.

Might I suggest that

you speak with Governor Wallace

and Sheriff Clark

and urge them against violence

instead of trying to persuade us

not to have a peaceful protest?

Maybe we can make a deal.

What if I

could assure you that the administration

would endorse a later march

if tomorrow is called off?

You know what?

He's closer than you may think

to coming around on this issue.

I believe this compromise

might be agreeable.

Mr. Doar?

Thousands have gathered here

to demonstrate their dignity.

I don't want to

challenge Judge Johnson.

I don't want to go against the President.

I don't want any of this.

The President could stop this

with a stroke of his pen.

He chooses not to.

The decision is with your side, sir,

not ours.

Good to see you, Father.

Good to see you.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you for coming out.

Hello, sister.

Good to see you this afternoon.

You came.

You called and we came, my friend.

You are not alone, my friend.

Welcome, welcome.

- Hi, what's your name?

- Susan.

Hi, I'm Viola. Welcome to Selma.

- Yes, ma'am, I'm good. How are you?

- Fine, thank you.

What is your name

and where are you from, sir?

My name is James Reeb.

I've come from Boston.

Tell me, why have you traveled here,

Mr. Reeb?

I heard about the attack

of innocent people

who just want their rights,

and I couldn't just stand by

when Dr. King put out that call to clergy.

I couldn't.

The President doesn't

want us to march today.

The courts don't want us to march.

But we must march.

Yeah!

- We must stand up.

- Yeah!

We must make a massive

demonstration of our moral certainty.

I'm so glad we're here together today.

I thank you for standing up.

For we shall be victorious in our quest.

We shall cross the finish line

hand in hand.

For we shall overcome. All right.

Troopers, withdraw!

My point is,

after what happened the last time,

if it don't feel right, we don't do it.

That's my point.

We've been going round

and round on this for hours,

and nothing's gonna

change the fact that

it was Doc's decision

and we have to support him.

This is a movement of many, not of one.

So any choice we make

has to be right for many.

Come on, Diane. Now, you know

that's not what I meant by that, all right?

People are angry, Dr. King.

Angry. They went back to that bridge

because they were hot about Sunday.

That was our moment out there today.

And you threw it away.

They could've sealed off

the road behind us.

No food, water,

no kind of support allowed through.

We wouldn't have made 10 miles.

You saying this was a trap?

I don't know what it was.

That was no trap!

You know why they opened up

the road to us?

Because all them nice,

respectable white folks was with us,

and we should've capitalized on that.

Because they're not gonna be

around here for long. They never are!

It was Martin's call. It's done.

He made the wrong goddamn call!

Hey, watch your mouth, young man!

Two days ago,

you didn't wanna march at all.

And now you're mad because

it didn't go the way you planned?

Calm down, brother.

Now, what happened out there today?

You gotta tell us something. Please.

I'd rather people be upset and hate me

than be bleeding or dead.

My dearest Corrie,

at a time when I need you,

I cannot call you.

And I have done this to myself, to us.

At this late hour,

my thoughts are of you

and all you have sacrificed

for this struggle.

So many have sacrificed.

So many have been lost.

I wonder how many must we lose.

I pray for discernment and guidance

as we journey on.

I pray, too, that I can justify

the faith you once had in me.

I, too, often feel that

heavy fog you spoke of, Corrie.

Only you and our family clears the haze.

Love, Martin.

He betrayed trust.

He called, we came,

and he didn't fulfill his own call.

Yeah, but sometimes

it's not that clear-cut.

Sometimes it's instinctual.

Like when you're preaching,

and you're just flying.

You know, you're not on the notes.

You're not on memory.

You're tapped into what's higher,

what's true.

God is guiding you.

I've known that feeling.

It's rare, but I've known it.

I think that's what happened to Dr. King

up there on the bridge today.

He kneeled down,

prayed to God and got an answer.

And he was brave enough

to follow that answer,

and I, for one, don't fault him for it.

Except he owes me a bus ticket home.

You know what

I hate more than n*ggers?

What's that?

White n*ggers.

Look, we don't want trouble, okay?

No, you came here stirrin' trouble.

Doc,

someone's been hurt.

A priest, from Boston.

White.

Now you know what

being a n*gger around here

feels like, boy.

Hurt? How?

Dead.

I need a phone!

Chicago, Detroit, Boston, I don't care.

Hell, you got 2,000 people

marching up in Harlem.

Well, good for you.

But when you have people

come inside the White House?

Inside the White House! On a tour?

They just sat down, Martin.

They sat down in the main corridor,

started singin' and shoutin'.

Well, I won't have it!

I cannot stop people from expressing...

You can! You can stop them.

No, you can stop it.

You, sir, can do more.

Now I'm glad to hear that you

called Reverend Reeb's widow, sir.

That is very fine, and it is right.

I only wish that

Jimmie Lee Jackson's family

would have received

the same consideration

from their President.

Don't you lay your guilt at my door.

You're the one choosing to send

people out to slaughter

when we told you there was trouble.

We won't sit idle

while you wait another year or two

to send this bill up at your leisure.

That should be clear by now.

We will continue to demonstrate

until you take action, sir.

And if our President

won't protect our rights,

we will take this fight to court.

You know, I'm... I'm trying here.

We're getting close

to figuring something out

on this voting thing,

but I will not have this!

This bill has been almost impossible

to craft, you hear me?

You think you're jugglin', Martin?

I'm jugglin', too.

I am a preacher from Atlanta.

You are the man

who won the presidency

of the world's most powerful nation

by the greatest landslide

in history four months ago.

And you are the man

dismantling your own legacy

with each passing day.

No one will remember

the Civil Rights Act.

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