The Unsung Heroes of the Birmingham Campaign

When one thinks astir(predicate) the well-bredised decents drive, the first name that comes to mind is Dr. Martin Luther King junior He contri preciselyed greatly to the advance ment of African American people in the U. S. withal, in the case of the Birmingham Campaign, it was a collective group elbow grease from legion(predicate) topical anaesthetic leaders and MLK that peacefully protested for, and eventually gained, the rights that all American citizens de dress. Few de none the efforts of local leaders comparable Fred Shuttlesworths work with Project C, James patoiss orchestrating of the Birmingham Childrens Crusade, Wyatt Tee baby carriages organizing confrontations with urban center mop upicials.MLKs own br new(prenominal) A. D. King, who play a burst in the eventual victor of the exploit, is often left break of these conversations as sound. None of the rights that African Americans gained subsequently the forepart would make up been contingent without the cooperation of professorship John F. Kennedy and the sledding of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a customary address to the dry land, President Kennedy tell, It ought to be possible for American consumers of any glossiness to receive equal service in places of public accommodationwithout universe forced to resort to demos in the street. He proceed with, It ought to be possible for American citizens of any color to register and to vote in a free election without interference or fear of reprisal, which was in accompaniment a goal of the Birmingham campaign. 1 There were troopsy pointors that brought the cultured rights movement to Birmingham. Although it was a city with a forty percent blackened cosmos in 1960, Birmingham remained one of the most segregated communities in America. 2 The fact that African Americans had been free from slavery for n proterozoic one hundred old age did not mean anything to a bulk of whites in the South.Segregation of both communal an d commercial facilities was required by law and enforced strictly in Birmingham. 3 African Americans had gained the right to vote ninety years originally the beginning of the Birmingham Campaign, but that did not seem to mean such(prenominal) in the South. Whites used several(prenominal) methods including poll taxes, literacy exams, and the grandfather clause to prevent blacks from example their constitutional right to vote. In 1960, only ten percent of the African American population in Birmingham registered to vote. Some might wonder wherefore the white confederacy was so opposed to desegregation. One answer is the that they evidently had nothing to gain except increased competitions for jobs. 5 The unemployment rate for blacks was 2 and a half times higher that it was for whites. Also, a vast majority of whites had been raised thinking they were superior to African Americans based solely on the color of their skin. It was this stubborn and ignorant way of thinking that do it so difficult for blacks to attain equality in the south.Although the white and black communities of Birmingham would have never been considered to be at peace, tension between them began to mount early in 1963. On January 14, Governor George C. Wallace was inaugurated. In his speech he stated he believed in segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. 6 It was at this time that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which was founded in 1957, made plans for the Birmingham Campaign. 7 Originally it was scheduled for work of the same year. However, the SCLC chose to wait until later the run-off election for mayor of Birmingham on April 2.Albert Boutwell, who was moderate compared to his segregationist opponent Theophilus Eugene diddly-squat Connor, won the election. Connor remained the Commissioner of Public Safety, and would later play an instrumental part in the Campaign. 8 They believed this would be the best time to bring the civil rights movem ent to Birmingham in full force. The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, a group created in 1956 when Alabama outlawed the NAACP, released a statement entitle the Birmingham Manifesto explaining the reasons for the demonstrations that would take place in the following months. It alike entailed how black citizens have tried petitioning for the repeal of city ordinances requiring segregation as well as how they have turned to the system of the courts. It is clear that those involved in writing this entry believed that demonstrations in Birmingham were their last resort. Fred Shuttlesworth and N. H. Smith were the only men brave enough to sign their names at the bottom of the document that declared the black communities future resistance to the discriminatory laws in Birmingham. 10 The Birmingham Campaign officially began on April 3, 1963, the day after the release of the Birmingham Manifesto.Some of the things those loafer the movement hoped to accomplish included desegre gating public facilities, release non-violent protestors from jail, and reopening of parks that were shut in order to defend segregation. On April 3, black citizens gathered in downtown Birmingham to protest for racial equality in hiring. Smaller groups present sit-ins at white only lunch counters however, the lunch counters were closed and nearly twenty people were arrested. The following day, MLK move to lead a bound to the Birmingham metropolis dorm. The jar against did not last long due to a lack of followers. 1 After the protests on the first two eld of the campaign saw no results, Fred Shuttlesworth and Wyatt Tee Walker, who were both very mobile in the SCLC, organized Project C (for confrontation. It involved a serial publication of sit-ins and nonviolent protests that would begin on April 7. Shuttlesworth and Rev. Charles Billups, another local leader, staged a march that was supposed to reach the Birmingham City Hall. Police stopped the march and twenty-six peopl e, ranging in age from seventeen to seventy- eight-spot, were arrested. 12 Nine of those arrested were female. some(prenominal) Shuttlesworth and Billups were in the front of the march and were arrested.The following day, A. D. King led a group of over two honey oil people to protest Shuttlesworth and Billups incarceration. The demonstration was quick put to an end when Circuit Court Judge William Jenkins issued a court injunction that for notionale public protests. 13 Very early in the campaign, African Americans gained one small victory. On April 11, 1963, the Birmingham Public Library voted to desegregate. 14 On this same day, a court- logical injunction against boycotting, trespassing, parading, picketing, sit-ins, kneel-ins, wade-ins, and inciting or encouraging such acts, was issued.MLK and Ralph Abernathy were arrested for parading without a permit the following day, Good Friday. 15 16 some were outraged that the biggest leader in the subject civil rights movement was partially arrested for a peaceful protest in Birmingham. Following MLK and Abernathys arrests, eight white clergymen released A Call for Unity, an article that was intended for African Americans in the Birmingham community who had been protesting in the past weeks. The article used words like impatient to describe blacks and as well warned about joining outsiders in their demonstrations, referring to MLK. 7 While in jail, MLK wrote a direct answer to his fellow clergymen entitle Letter from a Birmingham Jail. The first issue he intercommunicate in the letter was his reason for organism in Birmingham. MLK says, I am here be curtilage I was invited here, and also, I am here because injustice is here. These were direct responses to the questions posed by the clergymen in A Call for Unity. Next, he explained the four basic move of any nonviolent campaign collection of facts to determine whether injustices exist dialogue self-purification and direct action.MLK believed the people of Birmingham had gone through all of these steps. Also, he addressed the injustices that African Americans had faced in the Birmingham courts, as well as the legion(predicate) unsolved bombings. MLK then explained why his associates and he did not give the new city administration time to act. He states that the new city administration must(prenominal) be pressured early in order for them to act. Also, he states that although Boutwell is a much more gentle person the Mr. Connorwe are sadly mistaken if we know that the election of Albert Boutwell will bring the millennium to Birmingham. Later in his letter, MLK explained that he believes segregation is a sin because is denies African Americans their basic human rights. He also says that one has a moral responsibility to disobey raw laws. Then, he explains the difference in a just law and an cheating(prenominal) law. A just law is a man made figure that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral lawOne who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. MLK also discusses that he is upset with the white moderate because they are more implicated with keeping order than attaining justice. The main focus of the letter is to help bed expand the meat of civil disobedience. MLK believed this was the best way for African Americans to achieve their goals. end-to-end the letter, he used strong language but was never offensive. The response was widely published and has since become very famous. 18 The Campaign go along throughout April with various demonstrations that achieved little success.However, James camber, a minister who played a big part in the Nashville Student movement and who had been called in to work alongside MLK, had been planning a big series of events. For weeks Bevel had been meeting with local elementary and high school students in the Birmingham school districts. He had been teaching children how to protest without using violence. If students did not edge an ability to handle verbal, and sometimes physical, assault without retaliating, they were not allowed to join Bevels cause.When he finally felt his students had been trained well enough, Bevel instructed them to march from the sixteenth Street Baptist Church to Birminghams City Hall to protest city segregation laws. Bevel chose to use kids to help his cause because he believed most people would have the decency to not harm the children however this was not always true. The demonstrations began on May 2, which earned the nickname D-Day from many. all over the next five days, thousands of student protestors where arrested which filled the jails to maximum capacity. This did little to come down their spirits. Thousands more lined the streets. forge Connor, the Head of Police at the time, ordered the use of fire hoses and police dogs to help put an end to the Childrens Campaign. 19 20 On May 5, Fred Shuttlesworth was hospitalized after being knocked off of his feet by a blast from a fire hose. Connor was quoted saying that he was upset that he had missed seeing this happen and that he wished he had been carried away in a hearse. 21 One white man attempted to run his car into demonstrators and was arrested. 22 When pictures of fire hoses and police dogs being used on children were released in newspapers, the incident gained discipline watchfulness.Ironically, by support segregation so fervently, Bull Connor actually drew national economic aid to the civil rights movement and hastened the passage of major civil rights legislation. After audition of what had happened during the Childrens Campaign, President Kennedy asked MLK to stop using children in his protests. When King relayed the message to Bevel, he refused. He then instructed the students to prepare to March to capital letter. This caught JFKs attention. The president and his team began collaborating with the SCLC on a comprehensive civil rights bill, considered by some as a step in the right direction for America.A March was still organized in Washington, however it was not to protest. Instead, over two hundred and fifty thousand people came to Washington in August of 1963 to show their support for the bill. 23 On May 8, the SCLC met with many local business leaders to form a compromise to end the Birmingham Campaign. Fred Shuttlesworth was so disgusted with the agreement he checked himself out of the hospital in order to confront the leaders of the SCLC for giving in. He believed the compromise was unacceptable because it lacked any serious concessions from Birminghams white community.The SCLC met again with the business leaders and a modified compromise was agreed upon. On May 10, at the A. G. Gaston Motel, MLK announced the end of the Birmingham Campaign while Shuttlesworth fielded questions. 24 Although the Birmingham Campaign was over, the local civil rights movement continued. Birmingham s white community did not embrace the compromise that ended the campaign. For example, public parks were not reopened for nearly two months. 25 One of the stipulations of the compromise involved releasing of non-violent protestors from jail, including A.D. King. After his release on May 11, King returned to his home. Later that night, members of the Ku Klux Klan bombed his residence, but the family was able to escape. Another bombing at the A. G. Gaston Motel occurred the same night, and riots began in the streets of Birmingham. 26 The African American citizens were outraged by the bombings. Nearly three thousand rioters gathered in downtown Birmingham after the bombing of the motel. Wyatt Walker arrived quickly and pleaded with the citizens to disperse to their homes.Several rioters began throwing rocks at policemen, making this one of the few events where African Americans were violent. Walker and A. D. King asked all those who would not protest peacefully to leave. They knew that if policemen got hurt, it would be bad news for the black citizens. By 400 A. M. fifty people were harmed in the riots, including one police officer that was stabbed. 27 The civil rights movement continued in Birmingham throughout the summer. On June 11, JFK announced in an address to the nation that he was committed to the Civil rights movement.His attention had previously been focused on the Cold War, however the local leaders as well as MLK had pushed the issue. In Birmingham however, little progress had been made. Governor Wallace, in an attempt to fight segregation, ordered all city schools to be closed. 28 JFK called in the subject area Guard to reopen and integrate the schools. 29 Although it took nearly two months, Birmingham City Parks were reopened. On September 15, Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, which had been a rallying point for the movement, and four African American girls were killed. 0 Many considered this to be the tu rning point in the national civil rights movement. An article in the Milwaukee Sentinel read, The Birmingham church bombing should serve to goad the conscience. The deathsin a sense are on the work force of each of us. 31 Both the city of Birmingham and Governor Wallace offered a fix for the arrest of the bombers. Many would argue that the Birmingham Campaign had little impact for several reasons. Many of the integration efforts that were proposed in the compromise that ended the Birmingham Campaign were overturned.There were numerous bombings after the campaign had ended, which showed the white community would not embrace the attempted changes without a fight. However, others would argue that the Birmingham Campaign was successful not because of what it accomplished in Birmingham, but for what it accomplished on the national level. The campaign gained national media attention, which helped spread the message of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Alabama Christia n Movement for Human Rights to other areas of the nation.The campaign was instrumental in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Wyatt Tee Walker wrote that the Birmingham Campaign was the chief turning point of the nonviolent movement in the United States. 32 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did play a major role in the national civil rights movement however, in the case of the Birmingham Campaign, it was a collective group effort from numerous local leaders and MLK that peacefully protested for, and eventually gained, the rights that all American citizens deserve. Fred Shuttlesworth and Wyatt Tee Walker organized Project C.Shuttlesworth was even hospitalized after being hurt during a protest. James Bevel organized maybe one of the most successful demonstrations of the Birmingham Campaign with the Childrens Crusade. This helped gain attention and support from across the nation. Without the help of these men, as well as other local leaders, MLK would have accomplished very little in Birmingham. Although Bull Connors ordering the use of police dogs and fire hoses during protests was cruel and violent, it gained national media attention, which contributed greatly to the success of the Birmingham Campaign.President Kennedys cooperation was also crucial in the success of the movement. After the numerous violent acts in Birmingham, JFK announced his commitment to the civil rights movement and was instrumental in the passing of the Civil Rights act of 1964. As one can see, it was a combination of efforts from numerous leaders in Birmingham, the President, and MLK that lead to the eventual desegregation of not only Birmingham, but also the entire nation.