By Otis Groetwohl

St. Louis, Missouri

Dozens of trade union and Black liberation activists participated in a commemorative picket line on Aug. 23 in St. Louis, Missouri, to honor the historical Jefferson Bank protest that occurred 61 years ago.

On Aug. 30, 1963, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Black community organized a militant protest that lasted for several months, demanding employers throughout the city hire Black workers and pay livable wages.

Jefferson Bank — which is now owned by First Med Bancshares, Inc. — was a particular target of the protesters at the time due to their reputation of having discriminatory hiring practices.

The recent honorary event was co-sponsored by the Organization for Black Struggle and Missouri Jobs with Justice.  It took place outside of a bank that used to be Jefferson Bank. The multinational crowd marched on the sidewalk carrying signs. They collectively recited chants, such as, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, racist bosses have got to go!” and “When Black workers are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

A few of the attendees spoke following the picket, including labor representatives from National Nurses United/National Nurses Organizing Committee and Service Employees International Union. The union leaders connected current struggles against hospital bosses with that of the historic Jefferson Bank battle. The keynote speaker was Percy Green, one of the only living veterans of the original Jefferson Bank protest.

Defending Black history in St. Louis

The 1963 Jefferson Bank protest was very militant, especially for its time, and CORE leaders committed courageous acts of civil disobedience. Defying a court order, many of the protesters were arrested and subjected to brutal treatment by the police. As protest elder Percy Green stated, “Nineteen protesters went to jail, and some of their sentences lasted almost a whole year.”

Among those arrested in the original protest was a young city alderman at the time named William L. Clay, who spent 270 days in jail and was forced to pay a $1,000 fine. As a result of Clay’s dedicated political action, bigoted residents unsuccessfully called for his ouster as alderman.

In 1968, Clay became Missouri’s first African American congressperson. He spent 32 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Clay also authored a book entitled, “The Jefferson Bank Confrontation: The Struggle for Civil Rights in St. Louis,” which talks about the uprising from his perspective.

The militant bank protests pressured racist employers throughout St. Louis to hire Black workers. Many liberals and even some civil rights supporters were critical of CORE’s radical tactics, but the organization’s unwavering commitment was proven to be helpful in pressuring bosses to hire Black workers.

There are some reactionaries in the St. Louis area — and throughout the U.S. — who do not want people to learn about historical Black freedom struggles, such as the Jefferson Bank protest. As one example, a predominantly white school district located in a suburb of St. Louis attempted to ban Black studies as recently as December 2023. That month, the Francis Howell School Board voted 5-2 to stop offering Black History courses.

The bigoted board members do not want students to learn that African Americans in St. Louis had to fight to secure employment. Fortunately, the Francis Howell School Board was forced to reverse their backward decision.

Far right forces want to erase history by ignoring important struggles of the past.  Workers and oppressed people can effectively counter anti-education reactionaries by observing and memorializing the legacy of historical battles for Black Liberation and working-class emancipation like what happened in St. Louis more than 60 years ago.