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speech was in Atlantic City, as a representative for Mississippi Freedom Democratic
Party (MFDP) during the Democratic convention in 1964. During this speech she asked
the pivotal question “Is this America?” 38 Her question was aimed at the utter hysteria
that White America seemed to be in, as African Americans fought for justice and
equality. This question confronted America with its history of violence and racism
toward people of color, whose only desire was to reclaim their humanity in a world that
failed to fully acknowledge their existence. During her speech she stood firm on her
conviction and told the truth about the political farce in Mississippi, which disguised
itself as the democratic process. Her speech was so powerful that President Lyndon
Johnson censored her nationally televised speech by interrupting it to give his own
televised speech. The prophetic voice of this poor sharecropper from Mississippi was so
distinct that she was able to intimidate the most powerful man in the United States
more than the most recognizable figures of the movement. Hamer’s speech in Atlantic
City did not occur in a religious setting, but it was filled with her religious convictions.
Hamer embraced a religious hope to help create future change. She described
the beating that she took at the hands of the prisoners under the order of White
officers. She prayed that God would have mercy on them because she understood the
righteousness of her cause. She also spoke out against the hypocrisy of White American
and White Christian values. She was imprisoned, persecuted, and beaten all on account
of wanting to exercise a constitutional right. She stated: “All of this is on account of we
want to register, to become first-class citizens. And if the Freedom Democratic Party is
not seated now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home
of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our
lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in
America?” 39 Although Hamer’s prophetic vision was not realized in 1964, her ability to
call out political hypocrisy in the South was instrumental in the passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. Despite the powerful speeches by many great speakers, they were
38
Ibid, 29.
39
Ibid, 32.