Summary Of Birmingham Bombing

In 1963, a month after Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech rang harmonies of freedom and equality throughout the United States, Klan members set off dynamite in the sixteenth Baptist Church. The resulting explosion and compromise in the integrity of the building killed four girls. These girls, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNarr were the victims of this atrocity. The events that followed furthered the bloodshed. Thousands of black protestors flooded the streets in protest of the horrific acta that took place in the sixteenth Baptist street church [2]. It was not until 2001 and 2002 when some of the men responsible for the crimes would be prosecuted and eventually convicted. Though the intent of the bombing was to instill fear and panic into the black community, what came about was unity and a call to action.

Additionally, Birmingham and other southern urban areas had been the scenes of bombings coordinated at African Americans and social equality nonconformists. “One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to now there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto (Carmichael).” One of the tragedies of the battle against bigotry is that up to now there has been no national association which could address the developing militancy of youthful dark individuals in the urban ghetto. This shows how even today things have curved in a good way because of leaders who stood ground and believed that this was not the right way.

On March 25, 1931, With the Great Depression gripping the nation after the stock-market crash of 1929, people jumped on to freight trains to travel from one city to another city in hope to search for work. A group of whites and a group of blacks who are later called the ‘Scottsboro boys’ got in a fight on a train. The Scottsboro boys were defending themselves and they kicked the white group off in Jackson County. Then, two women who were on the train were trying to avoid arrest therefore falsely accused the nine black youths (who range from the age of thirteen to nineteen years old) of raping them. The Scottsboro boys were then arrested with assault and rape charges added against all nine of them after the allegations were made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It was a rousing allegation in the Jim-Crow South, where many whites were attempting to maintain power just 66 years after the end of the Civil War.

Martin Luther King Jr. also seeks to further his point logically by explaining to the people of Birmingham that most places in the United States aren’t segregated to the extent that Birmingham is. He also makes a point to say Birmingham’s “ugly record of police brutality is known in every section of the country” and that “it’s unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality“ (King 233). King also states “there have been more unsolved bombings in Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any city in this nation” (King 233). By making the statements that no other city treats African Americans as badly as Birmingham and that the injustice that is taking place in Birmingham is a reality that everyone throughout the country is aware of, King

The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing on September 15, 1963 has been one of the most historic bombing in the African American community. Since then, the Spike Lee’s Four Little Girls film and the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, have been created to commemorate the event and the loss of the four beautiful young girls. Both have received awards for their outstanding and thoughtful works that both artist put into their projects. The movie, Four Little Girls, was a very stimulating movie because it was not your typical scripted play. It was a documentary of all the family, friends, and community that were affected by this event. On the other hand, the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, was very eye opening because it put a new perspective of the church bombing.

In the two texts, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis and “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the authors both use the church bombing event to develop their own central ideas. In the text, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis the central idea focuses on how the event affected a few families personally, and the whole community in a different way. This is shown when the main character Kenny thinks his sister was killed in the bombing, though she was not. In the text, “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the central idea focuses on that the bombing didn’t just affect the girls, but the entire nation leading to the signing of the civil rights act by President Lyndon

In 1977 former Ku Klux Klansman Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was indicted in the murder of all four girls, tried and convicted of the first-degree murder of Denise McNair, and sentenced to life in prison. He died eight years later in prison. Thomas E. Blanton, Jr. was tried in 2001 and found guilty at age 62 of four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In the text, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963” the author makes it projects that the bombing was bad. The author include that horrific events such as men and woman covered in blood people covered in smoke. The family was shocked that someone bombed a church where people should be safe. This all happened because of racism.

In 1906, Ed Johnson was convicted after witnesses claimed he sexually assaulted white female by using a leather strap. Although Johnson provided numerous alibis about his part in the sexual assault, he was still convicted for the crime and sentenced to death by a jury of only white people. While in jail, Johnson was brutally murdered by a mob that broke in. Twenty-five years later, the Scottsboro Boys were convicted for gang rape of two white women while traveling on a train. Of the nine Scottsboro boys accused in this case, eight of them were sentenced to death. This conviction raised public awareness and was one factor that saw the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Just a few years later, three African American men, Ed Brown, Arthur Ellington and Henry Shields were all beaten and tortured into confessing for the killing of a white farmer in Mississippi. This incident became the well known Supreme Court decision titled Brown v. Mississippi (Grimsley). These were just average African American men living average lives when suddenly they are accused of crimes they did not commit. Earl Smith and Angela J. Hattery says in their journal that “many of them were at least twenty six years old when incarcerated whereas, some were sent to prison while they were still in their late teens and early 20s.” Before they were incarcerated, many of them were still getting their education and building careers and relationships. While these men were accused of their crimes based on their race, there are other factors that play a role in a wrongful conviction.

During the Scottsboro Boys Trial, nine african american boys were accused of raping two white women.(The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) They had four trials for the case and for the first trial they spent two years in jail.( The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) Local newspapers were making accusations about the Scottsboro Boys before the trial started.( The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account )While they were in jail, they would only be released from their cell once or twice a week.(The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) The nine Scottsboro Boys were pending an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court but while that was going on, the girls admitted that they were not raped by the Scottsboro boys.(The Scottsboro Case: A Timeline) By the time this trial was coming to an end, the all of the Scottsboro boys passed away.(The Scottsboro Case: A

These are the four little girls that had died in the bombing of The 16th street Baptist church. Their names were Addi Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise.

This is related to what actually happened in Birmingham, because on September 15, 1963, a bomb was dropped at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing 4 teenage girls, which shows that the Watsons and America was exposed to racism in a huge

The school was oblivious to what Kehoe was doing. No one felt any kind of a threat from Kehoe. They just thought he was bitter due to losing the election. Kehoe planted dynamite and pyrotol under the school. When the explosion took place, the roof collapsed on several children killing them. Police, parents, doctors, undertakers, and the Lansing Fire Department showed up to work to recover the trapped and dead children. Kehoe had shown up with his truck full of dynamite and pyrotol. Kehoe motioned for Superintendent Huyck to come to his truck. Huyck tried to take a gun away from Kehoe. Kehoe then detonated the bomb in the truck blowing it up killing Kehoe and Superintendent Huyck, 2 other men, and a child. When Kehoe appeared at first responders sensed no threat from him. The only immediate risk was the collapsed building and getting the bodies out safely. [2]

4 Little Girls is a 1997 documentary about the September 1963 murder of four African-American girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. The film re-creates the day of the bombing through several mediums such as news footage, photographs and eyewitness reports. The film also places the bombing within the larger context of the civil rights movement, and includes information on the sit-ins, the marches, the songs and the murders. In 1963 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King arrived in the town and the African American community would meet at the 16th Street Baptist Church while organizing events. The protests were covered by the national media, and the use of police dogs and pressured water from hoses on young black people

The response of the Labour party government to the July 7 bombings in London has retain a mixture of hand-wringing and when a person doesn't do what he or she orders everyone else to do.