Samuel Leamon Younge Jr. (November 17, 1944 – January 3, 1966) was a
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...
activist who was murdered for trying to desegregate a "
whites only" restroom.
Younge was an enlisted service member in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, where he served for two years before being medically discharged.
Younge was an active member of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a leader of the
Tuskegee Institute Advancement League.
Younge was the first
African-American university student to be murdered in the United States due to his actions in support of the
Civil Rights Movement.
Three days after his death, SNCC became the first civil rights organization in the United States to oppose the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, partly on the grounds that like Younge, innocent civilians should not face deadly violence.
Early life
Samuel Leamon Younge Jr. was born on November 17, 1944, in
Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee ( ) is a city in Macon County, Alabama, Macon County, Alabama, United States. General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, laid out the city and founded it in 1833. It became the county seat in the same y ...
. His father, Samuel Younge Sr., was an
occupational therapist, and his mother was a local schoolteacher.
From the age of 12 to 14, from 1956 to 1958, Younge attended
Cornwall Academy, in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.
He graduated from Tuskegee Institute High School in 1962, after which he joined the United States Navy. Younge served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
from 1962 until July 1964, when he was given a medical discharge as a result of having to have one of his kidneys removed.
Upon his discharge from the Navy, Younge began attending the
Tuskegee Institute, in 1965, as a political science student.
Civil rights activism
Younge became involved in the
Civil Rights Movement during his first semester at the Tuskegee Institute.
He participated in the
Selma to Montgomery protest march in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...
, against the "
Bloody Sunday" incident in March 1965. Younge joined the SNCC and the Tuskegee Institute for Advancement League (TIAL) — a local civil rights student group formed with the help of the
SNCC.
He soon started helping to lead protests by the organizations against civil rights infractions in Alabama. Then, in April 1965, he went to
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
and worked with
Unita Blackwell and
Fannie Lou Hamer to help the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party get black voters registered.
In the Summer of 1965, Younge lead Tuskegee Institute students in challenging overt discrimination in Tuskegee. The group attempted to enter white restaurants, held rallies, and picketed establishments that refused to hire black people. Several times they attempted to attend segregated white churches and were brutally beaten twice. In September 1965, Younge was arrested and jailed after attempting to drive a group of African-Americans to get registered to vote in
Lee County, Alabama.
Younge continued his efforts to get blacks registered to vote in
Macon County, Alabama four months after being released from jail, up until his death.
Murder and aftermath
Younge was shot in the face (under the left eye) by Marvin Segrest, a 68-year-old white gas station attendant at a
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
station in
Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee ( ) is a city in Macon County, Alabama, Macon County, Alabama, United States. General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, laid out the city and founded it in 1833. It became the county seat in the same y ...
, on January 3, 1966.
The shooting came after a verbal altercation between Younge and the attendant about Younge allegedly attempting to use a "
whites-only" bathroom.
Younge had retrieved a golf club from a vehicle and was holding it when he was shot.
Younge became the first black college student to be murdered for his actions in support of the Civil Rights Movement.
Samuel Younge Sr. said of his son's death, "This is an era of social revolution. In such revolutions, individuals sacrifice their lives."
A justice department report from 2011 contests this version of events. The report claims that Younge had been belligerent with Segrest several times previously, including one incident where he tried to avoid paying the correct price for gas, and another where he physically threatened Segrest for not having the correct type of gas. On the day of the shooting, Younge was drunk and demanded to use a restroom inside the gas station that may have been an employees-only restroom. When Segrest refused, Younge first asked a friend for a gun, and then when one was not forthcoming, began taunting Segrest, at one point grabbing a golf club. Segrest then shot Younge as he was running down an alley several meters away.
Trial
On January 4, 1966, Segrest was arrested, but released on $20,000 bond.
He was indicted for
murder in the second degree and tried on December 7.
[ The trial was moved from Macon County, where blacks outnumbered whites by a 2-1 margin, to Lee County.][ He was found not guilty by an all-white jury the next day.][ His acquittal sparked outraged protests in Tuskegee.]
Tributes
In January 1966, a protest of Younge's murder was staged in front of the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
by Leslie Bayless, with a coffin with a picture of Younge attached to it. Police forcibly removed the casket and arrested Bayless for disorderly conduct.
SNCC reaction
After Younge's death, the SNCC decided to publicly join the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. A statement on January 6, 1966, wrote that:
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee has a right and a responsibility to dissent with United States foreign policy on any issue when it sees fit. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee now states its opposition to United States' involvement in Vietnam on these grounds: We believe the United States government has been deceptive in its claims of concern for the freedom of the Vietnamese people, just as the government has been deceptive in claiming concern for the freedom of colored people in such other countries as the Dominican Republic, the Congo, South Africa, Rhodesia, and in the United States itself. ... The murder of Samuel oungein Tuskegee, Alabama, is no different than the murder of peasants in Vietnam, for both oungeand the Vietnamese sought, and are seeking, to secure the rights guaranteed them by law. In each case the United States government bears a great part of the responsibility for these deaths. Samuel oungewas murdered because United States law is not being enforced. Vietnamese are murdered because the United States is pursuing an aggressive policy in violation of international law. — Press release: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
See also
* Medger Evers
* James Chaney
References
External links
SNCC Digital Gateway: Murder of Sammy Younge & SNCC's Statement on Vietnam
Digital documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
Civil Rights Division Notice to Close File
containing a detailed description of the crime and followup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Younge, Sammy Jr.
1944 births
1966 deaths
People murdered in 1966
African-American activists
20th-century American military personnel
Activists for African-American civil rights
Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
History of racial segregation in the United States
American nonviolence advocates
Murdered African-American people
Deaths by firearm in Alabama
Assassinated American civil rights activists
Activists from Alabama
African-American history of Alabama
Anti-black racism in Alabama
Tuskegee University alumni
United States Navy sailors
Unsolved murders in the United States
People murdered in Alabama
African-American United States Navy personnel