MLK in SA?

January 10, 2007 8:41 PM

Why does San Antonio, Texas host the largest Martin Luther King, Jr. march?

San Antonio doesn't exactly have the largest black population. Of course the MLK march "serves" to show support for all races, but it just seems odd that it's so large in San Antonio (100,000+ people).

posted by deep_sea_diving_suit to Society & Culture (11 answers total)

Wikipedia, ftw, as always:

In the late 1970s, in San Antonio, Texas, Reverend R.A. Callies, his family, and church members began an effort to honor Dr. Martin Luther King by beginning a fund drive to erect a statue at the corner of North New Braunfels and East Houston Street. Every Saturday, over several years, Rev. Callies stood at this intersection with donation cups and the blaring speeches of Dr. King being played on a microphone. Rev. Callies was successful in having the statue built, but it was during a time that the State of Texas did not honor Dr. King with a state holiday. Rev. Callies efforts sparked the large March that San Antonio has today.

From the Recent Developments section of King's entry there. I'm sure googling Callies' name would lead to quite a bit more info.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:49 PM on January 10, 2007

Guh. Sorry. Should've quoted the entire pertinent info there:

Despite minor disagreements, it was in 1978 that about fifty community members came together to broaden the scope of the March, and began what has since become one of the largest marches in the United States. This initial group of people saw the March as a ”March,” and not a parade. These fifty people marched from Martin Luther King Middle School to the place where the MLK statue now stands. Rosa Parks attended one of the Marches in the 1990s. She was honored on the street where she spoke by naming Houston Street “Rosa Parks Way.” The March was to become a vehicle to continue the legacy of the King movement by honoring him through addressing the current problems of the day, which included discrimination, poverty, unemployment, war, and other social issues.

Many of the original fifty people involved in the initial march included Rev. R.A. Callies and family, Corine Duncan, T.C. Calvert, Bettye Roberts, Rick Greene, Mario Marcel Salas, Rev. C.C. Houston, Lillian Sutton Taylor, Webb Boyd, Rev. Christopher Griffin, Vashon Byrd, Jessie Mae Hicks, Bobby Roberts, George Clark, John Stanford, John Inman, Charles Middleton, John Allen, William Boyd, and many others, including former members of the local chapters of SNCC, members of the NAACP, and ROBBED organizations. The march received very little press coverage initially, but the marchers marched in all types of weather. In the early 1990s one such march involved freezing temperatures and sleet. Committee members TC Calvert and Mario Salas. and former Precinct 4 Constable, Matthew Marshall, stayed up all night in freezing weather, and in their cars, guarding the stage from threats of vandalism by anonymous phone callers.

Many of those who participated in the initial march were NAACP members and former SNCC members who went on to establish Frontline 2000, a civil and human right organization. This group spearheaded the demand for a Martin Luther King, Jr. state holiday by traveling to Austin, Texas, in 1991, and meeting with then speaker of the Texas House, Gib Lewis. Under the threat of a Texas tourist boycott, against the City of Houston’s bid for a Super Bowl, Rick Greene, Mario Salas, and Frontline 2000 leadership pressured the Speaker of the Texas House, then Gib Lewis, to demand that Legislator Pete Laney move the bill forward. The Speaker relented and moved the bill forward. It became law in 1991 despite some statewide opposition.

With this victory in hand, the March grew larger and larger, eventually attracting tens of thousands. In 1990 and 1991, the march attracted over 15,000 participants. Today, the March attracts over 70,000 participants. Additionally, the March has taken on international issues by demanding freedom for Nelson Mandela in South Africa and an end to the Iraq War. The March Committee has had many chairpersons across the decades, but has maintained the diversity that King espoused by having women, and various ethnic representations as committee chairpersons. The Martin Luther King March Committee has taken on working class issues, as King did with the sanitation workers, and over the years continues to invite all segments of society to address their issues as they honor Dr. King on his birthday.

posted by Ufez Jones at 8:51 PM on January 10, 2007

Everything's bigger in Texas.
posted by klangklangston at 9:12 PM on January 10, 2007

Ufez Jones: ftw?
posted by Ian A.T. at 4:41 AM on January 11, 2007

BTW, Houston has 2 parades for MLK. One at 10 in the morning and one at 2 in the afternoon.
posted by nimsey lou at 5:09 AM on January 11, 2007

ftw - for the win
posted by blind.wombat at 5:42 AM on January 11, 2007

klangklang beat me to it.
posted by SpecialK at 6:15 AM on January 11, 2007

I grew up in San Antonio in the 1970s, and I remember some of this. It's true, the community has a small African-American population -- it's southwestern, not southern.

In addition to all that was quoted above, I'll add that San Antonians love parades. Every time you turn around there's another parade, another shindig, another big public event. It isn't the Fiesta City for nothing.
posted by Robert Angelo at 7:00 AM on January 11, 2007

I'd wager that, while SA doesn't have the black population you'd expect to see in a city hosting a march of that size, it is pretty easy to get to from Houston and Dallas, which are the fourth and ninth most populous cities in the country, respectively. Even Austin weighs in at 16th most populous, and it's just an hour up the road.

So, my guess is that King supporters from all over Texas make that day trip.
posted by pineapple at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2007

Does "King supporters" equal only or mostly blacks? I've never seen the parade so I wouldn't know.
posted by j-urb at 4:40 PM on January 11, 2007

Certainly not "only." But, I've lived in Houston, Austin and now Dallas, and in my anecdotal experience, the marches and rallies tend to segregate (not surprising - it makes sense that cultural/ethnic minority populations would have more support to show than Anglos for civil rights leaders).

In Texas, Latino/as seem to come out more to show support for activists who've fought for causes dearer to Latino culture, such as Cesar Chavez.

And, in a city like SA where people of Latino heritage are about 58% of the population and people of African-American heritage are about 7% (cite)... yeah, it makes the turnout for MLK seem unusually high.
posted by pineapple at 9:17 AM on January 12, 2007