Historical Spotlight: Sammy Younge, Jr.
Resistance movements are often filled with young people striving to create a better society. Throughout history, young, Black Americans have picked up the fight for equality and better treatment. From those hidden voices during slavery to the loud bold ones of modern day, there has always been a spirit to push back against injustices. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on Sammy Younge Jr., the very first Black American college student to be murdered due to his support of the Civil Rights Movement.
Sammy was born on November 17, 1944 in Tuskegee, Alabama. His dad, Sammy Sr., was an occupational therapist and his mom, Renee, was a school teacher. His parents worked hard so that he and his younger brother, Stephen, could grow up with middle-class comforts.
From September 1957 to January 1960, he attended Cornwall Academy, a college prep school for boys, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He then graduated from Tuskegee Institute High School in 1962 and immediately joined the United States Navy.
Sammy served on the aircraft carrier USS Independence during the Cuban Missile Crisis when the US instituted a blockade of Cuba. After only just a year in the Navy, he developed a failing kidney that had to be surgically removed and was medically discharged in July 1964.
In 1965, he enrolled at Tuskegee Institute as a political science student. He quickly became involved in the Civil Rights Movement and even participated in the Selma to Montgomery march with legendary activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a local civil rights student group called the Tuskegee Institute for Advancement League (TIAL) and started helping to lead protests in the area.
In April 1965, he went to Mississippi and worked with Unita Blackwell and Fannie Lou Hamer to help the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party get Black voters registered. Later that year, he returned to school and helped fellow students challenge discrimination in the university. The group attempted to enter white restaurants, held rallies, and picketed establishments that refused to hire Black people.
In their efforts, they faced violence from the unruly dominant society. They attempted to attend segregated white churches several times, but were brutally beaten twice. He was even arrested in September 1965 after trying to help a group of Black Americans get registered to vote in Lee County, Alabama. Despite serving four months in jail before being released, he didn’t lose his drive to help his community fight for the right to vote.
On January 3, 1966, Sammy was shot by Marvin Segrest, a 68-year-old white gas station attendant in Tuskegee. There was a verbal altercation between the two after Sammy was accused of attempting to use a “whites-only” restroom. He became the first Black American college student to be murdered simply because he supported the Civil Rights Movement.
Sammy’s assailant was arrested the next day, but was released on a $20,000 bond. He was indicted for murder in the second degree and tried on December 7th, but was found not guilty by an all-white jury after the trial was moved from the predominantly Black Macon County to predominantly white Lee County.
This acquittal sparked protests in Tuskegee and around the country because Sammy never got justice from being unlawfully shot. A woman named Leslie Bayless even organized a protest in front of the White House but she was unfortunately removed by police and arrested for disorderly conduct.
Leaders and organizations in the Civil Rights Movement also took notice of his death and made moves to stand in solidarity against the system that allowed his murderer to get off with a slap on the wrist. The SNCC decided to publicly oppose any US involvement in the Vietnam War and felt that the interest in the Vietnam conflict was fueled by ulterior motives instead of innocent desire to help the Vietnamese achieve freedom.
While Sammy unfortunately lost his life unnecessarily, he instantly added fuel to the fight for Civil Rights. His unlawful death didn’t go unnoticed by the leaders and organizations fighting against discrimination, segregation, and racism. Even today, he serves as an example of putting everything on the line to fight for something you believe in.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
