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An Appeal for Human Rights is a civil rights manifesto[1] initially printed as an advertisement in Atlanta newspapers on March 9, 1960 that called for ending racial inequality inAtlanta, Georgia, United States.[2] The manifesto was written by students of Atlanta's sixhistorically black colleges and universities that comprise theAtlanta University Center.[3] It was drafted byRoslyn Pope and other students of the Atlanta University Center after the students, led byLonnie King andJulian Bond, were encouraged by the six presidents of the Atlanta University Center to draft a document stating their goals.[4][5][6][7] The students, organized as theCommittee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR), publishedAn Appeal for Human Rights working within and as part of theCivil Rights Movement.[8][9]
Inspired by thesit-in movement in other cities, students of the black colleges in Atlanta formed theCommittee on Appeal for Human Rights, which led theAtlanta Student Movement.Atlanta University's presidentRufus Clement suggested that they write a "bill of particulars" laying out their concerns and what they wanted to achieve.[1] The document's primary author was Roslyn Pope, a 21-year-old student ofSpelman College who wrote most of the first draft.[10][1] It was printed on a typewriter at the home of Spelman College professor and historianHoward Zinn.[10] The students took inspiration from a publication calledA Second Look in Atlanta[11] also calledA Second Look, which was published in February 1960 and questioned the idea that Atlanta was more enlightened than other places in the South, such as Mississippi, in terms of racial equality.[12]
An Appeal for Human Rights listed seven examples of areas of inequality within Atlanta: education; jobs; housing; voting; hospitals; movies, concerts, restaurants; and law enforcement.[1] Each example had a short comment explaining the inequality in that area.[13] The document was signed at the bottom by a student representative from each of the six schools comprising theAtlanta University Center: Willie Mays from Atlanta University,James Felder fromClark University, Marion D. Bennett from theInterdenominational Theological Center, Don Clarke fromMorehouse College, Mary Ann Smith fromMorris Brown College, andRoslyn Pope fromSpelman College.[1][13]
An Appeal for Human Rights was printed as a full-page paid advertisement inThe Atlanta Constitution on March 9, 1960.[13][2] The ad was also published inThe Atlanta Journal andAtlanta Daily World on the same day.[1] The ad was purchased at a cost of $1,800. Atlanta University's president Rufus Clement toldAJC Magazine in 1965 that he paid for it with a personal check which was later reimbursed though student fees, while Julian Bond said that the anti-segregationist Southern author and social criticLillian Smith paid for the advertisement.[1][11] In a March 10, 1960 articleThe Atlanta Constitution said that the check paying for the advertisement was signed by Clement using funds contributed by students.[14]
After its publication, the advertisement was denounced by Georgia'ssegregationist governorErnest Vandiver.[10] The day after the advertisement was published, Vandiver read a prepared statement during a morning news conference which was also published inThe Atlanta Constitution that same day.[15] In the statement, Vandiver calledAn Appeal for Human Rights "anti-American" and "evil".[2] Vandiver later said it "sounded as if it has been written in Moscow, if not in Peking,"[11] suggesting that it was Communist and anti-American propaganda.[16]
A response from Atlanta mayorWilliam B. Hartsfield was printed in the same March 10 issue ofThe Atlanta Constitution as Vandiver's response,[14] who differed with the Governor's opinion and said thatAn Appeal for Human Rights represented "the legitimate aspirations of the city's own young people."[11] Hartsfield also spoke positively of the students for their commitment tononviolence.[1]
The students sent a copy of the manifesto toJacob Javits, a Republican senator that represented New York in theUnited States Senate. Javits approved of the message, and during a speech on the Senate floor on March 16, 1960, he requested that the manifesto be entered into theCongressional Record.[1] In addition to being entered into theCongressional Record, the manifesto was republished for free inThe New York Times andLos Angeles Times.[10]
Anhistorical marker was placed at Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard in Atlanta in 2014 by the Commission to Honor an Appeal for Human Rights and the Atlanta Student Movement,Atlanta City Council member Michael Julian Bond, and Atlanta mayorKasim Reed. The historical marker describes the manifesto's origins and its impact.[17]
The 60th anniversary of the publication ofAn Appeal for Human Rights was celebrated in a ceremony hosted by Atlanta City Council member Michael Julian Bond in March 2020.[18] TheAssociated Press interviewed Roslyn Pope for a story published on March 9, 2020, the 60th anniversary of the manifesto's publication, who expressed concern that the achievements the students worked hard for were being eroded, and said “we have to be careful. It's not as if we can rest and think that all is well.[10]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Works related toAn Appeal for Human Rights at Wikisource