Thursday, January 27, 2000
Civil rights giant evokes the '60s
BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
“I was sure I wouldn't see 40,” the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth said of his civil rights work in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1950s and '60s.
The Baptist preacher who led the fight to overturn the nation's most rigidly enforced segregation policies, the Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth, now 77, faced death several times in the name of civil rights.
He has outlived almost all of his contemporaries and today is regarded as one of the last living links to a time when the United States was truly two nations, separate and unequal.
He's in demand as a speaker nationwide, especially for Martin Luther King Day events and during February, Black History Month, which begins Tuesday.
He will be featured closer to home this week in “An Evening with Pastor Shuttlesworth,” at 6:30 p.m. Friday at his church, Greater New Light Baptist, North Avondale. The event will be taped for the historical record. There will be music by Kenny Smith's Peace & Serenity Ministries.
The Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth will answer questions submitted by students and ex press his opinions on a variety of subjects. What follows are some of his views on issues and personalities of the last 50 years:
• On an individual's responsibility to civil rights: “Segregation ought to be attacked on all fronts by everybody. King said everybody can
be a King, a Shuttlesworth, a St. Paul or whatever name you want, if we will be determined to resist evil anywhere — starting with that which is within us. That's the spirit of non-violence. You don't seek to belittle or make your enemy look bad. You seek to make a friend out of your enemy.”
• On the Rev. Dr. King: “I saw King as God's person to be the spokesman. A person who wasn't thinking about the movement, when they heard King, would start thinking about it. That was Martin's challenge. He wasn't to take the brutal work, although he paid with his life. The brutal work was my challenge. I was a battlefield general. I would never ask anyone to do anything that I wouldn't.”
• On Rosa Parks, the mother of the civil rights movement: “We've still got this battle against racism. Rosa Parks is a good person to keep as our model. She's one model you don't throw away.”
• On the Confederate battle flag still flying on the South Carolina capitol: “The Confederate flag is a relic of the past, an inglorious past. It should not fly in the face of present goodwill. It should be in a museum where other things of the past are viewed — old cars, old planes.”
Here's what other people have said recently about the Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth:
• “What always struck me most about Shuttlesworth was his personal courage. Shuttlesworth always put his body on the line. He was always manning the barricades and fighting for justice against the most egregious and brutal form of police and racial excesses.”
—Judge Nathaniel Jones of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Cincinnati, who left Youngstown to become general counsel to the NAACP in the late 1960s.
• “Martin had tremendous respect for Fred. He considered Fred a man of great courage, raw courage. Many people were committed to the movement but lacked courage to suffer the consequences of their beliefs. The Rev. Shuttlesworth was prepared to give his life.”
—Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. King.
• “I was never physically in danger. My children were never threatened. I wonder if I were living in the South if I'd have been so courageous. I remember seeing pictures of him with his arm stuck in doors of buses. This guy put life and limb on the line.”
—Milton Hinton, president of the Cincinnati NAACP, former president of the Glassboro, N.J., NAACP chapter.
IF YOU GO
• What: “An Evening with Pastor (Fred) Shuttlesworth.”
• When: Friday, 6:30-9 p.m.
• Where: Greater New Light Baptist Church, 710 N. Fred Shuttlesworth Circle, North Avondale.
• Miscellaneous: The Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth will answer questions submitted by students. Music by Kenny Smith's Peace & Serenity Ministries.
• Information: 860-7912.
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