There are various explanations as to why efforts in Albany proved unsuccessful, while the Birmingham campaign constituted a significant victory for the early Civil Rights Movement. In 1961, members of SNCC came to Albany to help organize the black community’s fight against racial segregation in the community. However, these efforts lacked a clear purpose or target, and within a few month leaders (like Dr. Anderson) became concerned with the number of demonstrators that had been arrested (500). Furthermore, the SNCC and the Albany commission failed to secure provisions for the families of those who had been arrested. In response, Dr. Anderson invited SCLC leader Martin Luther King Jr. to aid in coordinating the protest activities. Despite King’s …show more content…
First of all, the local government in Montgomery was experiencing great tension as the old regime refused to cede its power to the incumbent administration. This instability undoubtedly harmed the local community’s ability to respond with the same shrewdness and wisdom that Prichett had displayed in Albany. Simultaneously, the SCLC launched its Project C, which had a much clearer target than the Albany efforts and did not suffer from organizational disagreements (i.e., targeted 3 specific stores in which to conduct sit-ins). After hundred of demonstrators had been arrested, Dr. King established himself as the clear leader of the movement by securing his own arrest as a means of protest. Although local clergymen objected to King’s activities as “untimely,” King declared that the time for change had come. Thus, King’s ability to take charge of the movement galvanized public support. Another factor contributing to the success of the Montgomery Campaign was its use of young school age children who were committed to maintaining the principle of non-violence. This tactic granted vitality to the protests and allowed families to remain financially stable during the protests. Finally, the Birmingham campaign achieved success due to the national and international media frenzy caused by “Bull” Connor’s use of police dogs, brutality, and powerful fire hoses during the protests. Although Governor George Wallace denounced the publicity, the story became breaking news that was easily distilled into small video clips on local and national broadcasts. As a result, local officials, SCLC leaders, and the Assistant Attorney general met to reach a compromise agreement that would satisfy all parties involved (i.e., desegregation of lunch counters, black employment campaigns, etc.). Soon after, President Kennedy announced that he would ask Congress to support a future Civil Rights Bill (which
To stay strong when surrounded by cruelty. To show respect to a fellow man, even when he refuses to return the favor. Preaching these words is one thing, but to fight a war with such practices, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers did, is truly astonishing. As a minister, Dr. King was bound and determined to win the battle for equality using the teachings of God. History has remembered him as the quintessential civil rights leader, not only because of the great strides he made in the fight for racial equality, but also for the manner in which they were accomplished. Nonviolent protests across the nation, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Selma to Montgomery marches, were organized by King in order to combat prejudice against his people. During his protest campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, King and fellow leaders were violently arrested for boycotting without a permit. Alone with his thoughts in his damp jail cell, Dr. King assembled a passionate letter to defend his operations. Little did he know, this letter would go on to play a major role in attaining the equality he had thirsted for his entire life. In King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" he utilized the power of his pen to deal a lethal blow to the segregation and unethical practices that had plagued this country for centuries. His goals were not achieved through threats or immoral behavior, but by actively deciding to seek a solution through peace and
King and his comrades, who formed the Southern Leadership Conference, took notice to this and decided to launch Project C in Birmingham. Project C was aimed to protest the segregation system in the city through a nonviolent, peaceful form. (PBS)The turning point of all these protests was on April 7, 1963 when Connor lashed out violently of protestors who were participating in peaceful protests. (Amistad) The violent outbreak was completely uncalled for considering that the protests were peaceful. As a result, King decided that a protest would be held despite there being a law that he would be breaking. This law was passed on April 10, the State Court ordered that demonstrations were not permitted, but King had strong determination. On April
Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.
In April and May of 1963, Birmingham, Alabama was a focal point for the civil rights movement. Birmingham was home to one of the most violent cells of the KKK and violence against black people was so commonplace (especially in the form of explosives) that it was referred to as “Bombingham.” It was these conditions that lead Martin Luther King to arrive and organize a series of non-violent protests in the city. These protests were relatively low key and weren’t very well attended. This was due to the fact that political rivalries between King’s organization, the SCLC, and other civil right’s organizations like CORE and the NAACP. However, the Birmingham protests soon became headlines due to the response of the city’s police
April 12, 1963, in an Alabama Birmingham Gaston motel room, twenty-five Southern Christian leaders sitting together seriously discussed whether to continue their protest activities in a despairing and helpless atmosphere. It was because two days ago, Birmingham government just got a ban from the court to prohibit black people from holding protest activities; otherwise, they would arrest and punish all the protestors severely. Nevertheless, as the leader of the activities, Martin Luther King knew that if he refused to comply with the court injunction, he would be jailed, but in order to keep his promise that he would adhere to struggle for African-American civil right, he insisted to lead the protest to fight for black people. In fact, about
King Jr. continued to endure the hardships, he would soon find out that he would be rewarded for his perseverance, when society was soon affected in a positive way. During the protests police ordered violent acts to stop the protesters and many protesters were jailed. The violent police acts were shown on television. The actions taken horrified many Americans (Marazani 3). Since the unjust acts were finally being televised, citizens of the United States, were now actually seeing and realizing the cruel actions that were being taken against protesters, by American officers. Now that America was finally realizing the harsh acts against African American protestors, Dr. King Jr’s goal of ending segregation was almost accomplished by making the problem known throughout America. Since all of America now knew about the brutality that police were enforcing against African Americans, there was an outrage and an agreement was reached and employers agreed to desegregate public places, and employ African Americans (Birmingham 3). Therefore the demonstrations finally came to an end now that Dr King Jr’s goal had finally been achieved. Dr. King Jr. and the protests had successfully desegregated the city of Birmingham, as well as achieving rights of equality for African Americans. However this would not have been possible without the Letters from the Birmingham
In the early 1960s, Birmingham was, culturally and forced by police, one of the most racially divided cities in the United States. Blacks did not have the same legal and economic rights as their white brethren. When attention was drawn to this issue, they were faced with violent responses. It was conceivably the most segregated city in the country. Protests began to form to fight for equal chance of employment at businesses and to end segregation in public places such as stores and schools. Sit-ins were soon organized after the failed protests to produce a copious amount of arrests and draw the country's attention towards Birmingham. Shortly after, the amount of adults to take part in the sit-ins fell harshly and there were new volunteers. High school and college students rose to the occasion and took part in passively fighting for their rights. With the addition of the students also came many of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). Among those who came with the SCLC was a very important guest. One who was jailed, had an article criticizing himself and his methods, and was able to produce a letter in which he responded to the writers of the article while incarcerated. This man
The turning point in King’s career came in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The SCLC launched a major demonstration to protest anti-Black attitudes in the South. Confrontations ensued between unarmed Black demonstrators and Birmingham police and firemen who used clubs, attack dogs, and fire hoses as a show of unnecessary force to quell the crowd. The publication of this demonstration and the incidents that ensued had profound effects across the country. It sparked protests across the country and prompted President John F. Kennedy to push for passage of new civil rights legislation.
Most importantly, the news and pictures of such horrific treatment of innocent children ultimately reached the Kennedy Administration, who were prompted to make monumental changes regarding civil rights (Friedman). The media coverage in the Birmingham Campaign was unlike any other movement, and acted as one of the most essential contributors to the campaign’s success. Without such media coverage, the Birmingham Campaign would have not gained the worldwide support it did, and, ultimately, would not have been as successful as it was. The Birmingham Campaign succeeded because of the methods of protest that constituted it, the African American leaders that organized and executed it, the resistance it faced by adversaries, and the media that covered it all.
But reason behind why the campaign was held there was because King believed that if he could stop segregation in Birmingham he had the ability to stop it anywhere. But also it was at this one demonstration that was the turning point in the fight for black civil rights thanks to new technology at this time being the television people both white and black could see for themselves the innocent brutal treatment received by the blacks from whites, therefore it convinced many people to join the bid for civil rights. In 1964 saw civil rights movement for black Americans progress further through another organised march from Selma Alabama to Montgomery to draw attention about their right to vote. But their protest did not run like clock works as white officers tried to oppose the black demonstrators by using several methods to bring down moral including hosing and beating them down and gassing the determined crowd.
The city of Birmingham was the center bed of segregation and racism as the city's mayor had won the election with the promise of continuing with segregation forever. King justifies the move to break the Birmingham laws on segregation because the laws were unjust and were meant to racial abuse the African Americans. As such, the blacks were under no moral or constitutional obligation to follow laws which were meant to make their lives more difficult. Martin Luther king's push to break unjust laws awakened the African Americans in other parts of the United States as they realized that they did not have to follow laws which were meant to segregate them. King led peaceful demonstrations which were meant disrupt the normal operations of the city and push its officials to act on the issue of segregation. Even though he was arrested for such
The year was 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, one of most segregated cities in the country. A sequence of marches and sit-ins, known as the "Birmingham Campaign", had been organized by numerous civil rights organizations. This open letter was a response to a public statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen while King was still in jail. Even though they agree that racial segregation and the ill-treatment of African Americans was intolerable, they accused MLK of being an radical and of not having the tolerance to wait for the courts to sort out these issues. In response to the criticism on why King's advocated to "break some laws while obeying others", he argues there is a difference between just vs unjust laws:
Until 1955 the civil rights movement in the country had focused on the courts: while the NAACP is subject to registration through its offices in the south and protested discrimination (Documents in US History III, Pg. 3) its efforts are concerned with the frequency of coordination and local authorities used to harass locals and their activist members. After Brown's
In my now secure position as one of the main leaders of the Black Civil rights movement I have tried to co-ordinate many thousands of people to fight for our future for the good of the people now and for the good of people forever. This fight Birmingham will take effort and tactical planning however I had managed to pick up a few things after what happened in Birmingham. So I decided when I came to Birmingham that the campaign would target a specific person. This way I knew how they would react if under pressure because at Albany we were applying pressure but we didn’t target anyone in particular which is why I felt we didn’t have the success we wanted there.
The media played a huge part in the success of the Birmingham campaign in 1963. For the first time the press lent a sympathetic view of the events as they occurred that day. Previous civil rights protest in Alabama had been unsuccessful. However, on May 3, 1963 this would all change. The media help was able to show the world the atrocities and racial hatred and intolerance that still existed in the South.