In this WSB newsfilm clip from a press conference held in Atlanta, Georgia on January 13, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. criticizes the Georgia legislature for refusing to allow Julian Bond to take his place in the House of Representatives. The clip begins with a silent portion where Dr. King appears to speak, reporters take notes, and the camera shows a reel-to-reel recorder. King begins to speak, but his comments are not completely recorded before a break in the audio. When King speaks again, he condemns the legislature's refusal to allow Julian Bond to serve as an act with "obvious racial overtones." King asserts that many of those in the legislature are the same people who "through irresponsible statements and actions" encouraged a riot at the University of Georgia and who urged "defying, evading, and circumventing the United States Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in the public schools." The University of Georgia riot King refers occurred on January 11, 1961 riot when students protested the university's integration by throwing rocks and bottles at the dormitory of Charlayne Hunter, the first female African American student on campus. Georgia legislators also worked to keep Georgia schools segregated after the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. In November 1965 Julian Bond was elected to the serve as the representative from the 136th district in the Georgia House of Representatives. Julian Bond, SNCC communications director, was elected to the 136th district of the Georgia legislature in November 1965, one of ten African Americans elected to the legislature that year. After Bond publicly endorsed the SNCC anti-Vietnam statement and said he respected those who burned their draft cards, members of the House of Representatives voted one hundred eighty-four to twelve to not allow Bond to serve in the House on January 10, the first day of the legislative session. Later that year the United States Supreme Court ruled that Bond's statement was within his first amendment rights, and the Georgia legislature had to seat him. Bond served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1965 to 1975.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): color, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of a press conference during which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. criticizes the Georgia Legislature for not seating Julian Bond in the House of Representatives in Atlanta, Georgia, 1966 January 13, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1346, 20:33/21:51, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.