|Clark, James Gardner (1922-2007)| A notorious foe of the
African American freedom struggle, James Clark served as sheriff
of Dallas County, Alabama, from 1955 to 1967. After years of
antagonizing local civil rights workers, Clark clashed with
Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) during 1965 voting rights protests in Selma,
Alabama. Clark’s brutality became a rallying point for King, who
said: ‘‘Until Sheriff Clark is removed, the evils of Selma will
not be removed’’ (Herbers, ‘‘Dr. King Urges’’). Clark was born
in Alabama in 1922. Prior to serving as sheriff, he worked as an
assistant revenue commissioner for the state of Alabama. In
February 1963 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
began a voter education and registration campaign in Selma, the
seat of Dallas County, where a mere 242 of the 15,000 eligible
African American voters were registered. By October 1963 Clark
had arrested hundreds of civil rights activists. Frustrated by
their limited success, in Dece