The topic we researched was the demonstrations that occurred in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. These demonstrations stemmed from rising racial tensions in the area. African American people cried out for equality and when their cries were not answered they took the next step and participated in numerous demonstrations in 1963. The topics concerning the demonstrations and events that occurred in Birmingham that were most commonly written about in 1963 are lunch counter demonstrations, marches, a boycott of four variety store chains, church bombings, and the arrest of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of these events revolved around Martin Luther King, Jr. making him appear to be the central figure in Alabama and in the south at that time. -Lunch Counter Demonstrations: These demonstrations occurred when groups of African Americans would go to a lunch counter and stay there until they received service or the lunch counter closed down (“The South” 30). These demonstrations were not widely discussed among many newspapers or magazines except for Time Magazine. -Marches: Marches were a larger scale demonstration. Very large groups of African Americans would assemble and march together to a certain destination. A good example of a march is when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march on downtown stores in Birmingham to protest segregation. Even though the march was peaceful Martin Luther King, Jr. was still arrested for participating in the march (Hailey 70). Not only is this discussed in The New York Times but it is also discussed in The Atlanta University Review of Race and Culture. The Atlanta University Review of Race and Culture states that during his time in prison he also wrote a very influential letter that stated his feelings and concerns on the current state of America (Colaiaco 10). - Boycott of four variety store chains: Martin Luther King, Jr. planned and held a nation wide of four variety store chains. The boycott originated in Birmingham and the chains that were selected all had stores in Birmingham that segregated against Blacks. These stores depended on the revenue generated by black customers, so the boycotts damaged their business (“Four Chains Target of Racial Boycott” 20). - Church Bombings: In Birmingham, in 1963, there were numerous bombings within the area. There were over twenty bombings devastating the Birmingham area.
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
Aziwike, Abayomi. "The Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King: Continuing the Legacy of the Great Walk to Freedom of 1963." Global Research. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
In hindsight the build-up to 1963 is obvious; the tension had grown rather than diminished since the Emancipation Proclamation as new laws were enacted but slowly carried out or blatantly ignored. The centennial of the Proclamation was approaching, and the lack of follow-through by both Republicans and Democrats, in both the South and the North, brought disappointment, frustration, and anger. President Kennedy promised changes to housing discrimination but did not sign them into law until two years into his term and was not specific enough for it to bring actual change (p. 8). The black population’s faith in the government waned as they saw countries in Africa rebelling after World War II, the nearly nuclear war of the 1950s, and the Great Depression that lingered even longer for them than for the struggling white public. They were witnessing fighting and determination around the world without experiencing any liberty of their own. The struggle was a daily reality for the individual, and that fa...
Historians offer different perceptions of the significance of Martin Luther King and the 1963 March on Washington. Without examining this event within its historical context the media publicity and iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech can easily overshadow progress that was already underway in America. It was insisted by prominent civil rights activist Ella Baker, ‘the movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement.’ What is important not to overlook is the significant change that took place in the United States during the previous 100 years. Such that, many influential figures in support of racial equality opposed the March. The Civil Rights Act proposed by President Kennedy in 1963 was already in the legislative process. Furthermore the Federal Government was now reasserting power over the entire of the United States by enforcing a policy of desegregation. It is important to note that these changes all took place less than one hundred years after the Thirteenth Amendment in 1965 abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth amendment in 1968 acknowledged the rights of former slaves to be acknowledged as U.S citizens. With this level of progress Kennedy was against the March going ahead due to the argument that it was limited in what it could achieve. Today, King’s 1963 Speech is viewed as one of the most iconic speeches in history. However, was it a key turning point in African Americans achieving racial equality? Federal endorsement would suggest yes after decades of southern states being able to subvert the Federal law designed to break down segregation. This support built upon the corner stones of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments in the nineteenth century. Therefore looking at the national status of black Americans fro...
Racial unrest by the summer of 1963 was at its height since the Civil War. President Kennedy picked up the situation at the close of the Eisenhower years at a time when tensions were rapidly increasing. By the summer of 1963, however, after a series of violent demonstrations in the South, particularly in Birmingham, Alabama, President Kennedy pushed for a very strong civil rights bill in Congress. The first of its kind since the Civil War, this bill drastically called for the end of all segregation in all public places. In the eyes of the civil rights movement leaders, this bill was long over due.
In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Why We Can’t Wait, Martin Luther King, Jr. describes the harsh treatment of Negroes while they were fighting for their freedom. Negroes were not allowed to vote, sit at lunch counters with whites, use the same restrooms as whites, or even ride next to whites on buses. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the Birmingham movement in efforts to gain freedom for the Negroes. The Birmingham movement was successful because it gained freedom for blacks, desegregated many places, and it opened up many job opportunities for blacks that they never had before.
Over 200,000 demonstrators participated in the March on Washington in the nation’s capital on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to gain civil rights for African Americans. There was a wide diversity in those who participated, with a quarter of all the demonstrators being white (Ross). Even southern people came to contribute which caused them to be harassed and threatened for coming to the march. The March on Washington became a very successful event for the rights of African Americans, and amended several peoples’ view-points towards the topic, even President John Kennedy’s. “The president feared that it might make the legislature vote against civil rights laws in reaction to a perceived threat. Once it became clear that the march would go on, however, he supported it” (Ross). The event took over a year to plan with heaps of organizations’ assistance. The event soon became the largest demonstration for human rights in Washington D.C. (Official Program). How did the March on Washington’s planning and set up help influence so many people and grant them the rights they fought for?
One of the first major themes of the book deals with civil rights. The events that happen during this decade are what lead to the civil rights movement of the early 1960’s. Which eventually turned into the Civil Rights Act of 1965. When most people think about the civil rights, most people think of Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, SLLC etc.
Thousands of Americans gathered and marched peacefully in August 28, 1963 to Washington which was the greatest assemblage for human rights in the history of the United States. They marched for justice, equality and peace. According to the article, “The 1963 March on Washington” Yussuf Simmonds describes, “…An unprecedented gathering of blacks and Whites exposing society 's ills and demanding that the government enforce the laws equally to protect all its citizens regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity or any other superficial differences that had been place by human beings on other human beings” (1). Dr. King delivered his historic speech “I Have a Dream” which is one of the most influential speeches against racial segregation
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 commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Conner, to the protests. Seeing any kind of black protest as a threat to his rule, Conner sent out police and firemen to subdue the non-violent protests. Soon enough scenes such as German Shepherds attacking black men and firemen hosing down protesters with high-pressure hoses became emblazoned across the country’s newspapers. Martin Luther King had also been arrested for his role in the protests (his 13th time) and while in jail, wrote his well know “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in response to another letter published by eight white Alabama clergymen (An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense). This letter written by King went on to be published in national newspapers and circulated through various churches in pamphlet form.
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation was written, African Americans were still fighting for equal rights in every day life. The first real success of this movement did not come until the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 which was followed by many boycotts and protests. The largest of these protests, the March on Washington, was held on August 28, 1963 “for jobs and freedom” (March on Washington 11). An incredible amount of preparation went into the event to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people attending from around the nation and to deal with any potential incidents.
From the Boston Tea Party of 1773, the Civil Rights Movement and the Pro-Life Movement of the 1960s, to the Tea Party Movement and Occupy Wall Street Movement of current times, “those struggling against unjust laws have engaged in acts of deliberate, open disobedience to government power to uphold higher principles regarding human rights and social justice” (DeForrest, 1998, p. 653) through nonviolent protests. Perhaps the most well-known of the non-violent protests are those associated with the Civil Rights movement. The movement was felt across the south, yet Birmingham, Alabama was known for its unequal treatment of blacks and became the focus of the Civil Rights Movement. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, African-Americans in Birmingham, began daily demonstrations and sit-ins to protest discrimination at lunch counters and in public facilities. These demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the injustices in the city. The demonstrations resulted in the arrest of protesters, including Martin Luther King. After King was arrested in Birmingham for taking part in a peaceful march to draw attention to the way that African-Americans were being treated there, their lack of voter rights, and the extreme injustice they faced in Alabama he wrote his now famous “Letter from Birmingham.”
According to Hari Sharma, Martin Luther King was a leader of peaceful protests against the segregation of African-Americans. In 1963, the city of Birmingham passed a legal provision banning street protests without permission (Sharma, 2007). Hence, the black people of Birmingham felt that they are not allow
Garrow, David J. Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. New York: New Haven and London Yale University Press. 1978