Julian Bond with Martin Luther King
Bond was barred from seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, circa 1966
In 1966 Julian Bond was barred from his seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, after winning the election.
Georgia House of Representatives refused to seat Bond because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. Georgia State Legislature pressed newly-elected Julian Bond to disassociate himself from SNCC. Bond refused.
“In light of this grave injustice,” Martin Luther King, Jr. told The Chicago Defender, “the Negro community and the white persons of goodwill have no alternative but to engage in creative protests.”
If a Black elected official like Bond could be denied an official win, was there any hope?
It took a Supreme Court decision to finally seat him in 1967.