The Civil Rights Demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama - Research Paper Example

?The Civil Rights Demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama The Conditions Prior to the Storm Prior to the passage into law of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the South had always been the most racially divided region in the country. It is here were segregationist policies are systematized through state legislations, the outcome of which were called the Jim Crow laws. However, Birmingham in Alabama stands out when it comes to the practice of racial discrimination. The black citizens of the city faced grave injustices and inequalities which were apparently results of prevalent belief among the white majority that colored peoples are generally inferior and, therefore, should be treated as such. Such cultural or ideological concept was further strengthened with the formulation and implementation of certain ordinances in the city. Two particular ordinances that highlight segregationist policies are Section 369 and Section 597 of the city ordinances (Birmingham’s Racial Segregation Ordinances, May 1951). Section 369 is about the separation of races when it comes to restaurants and other places in the city that serve food. A restaurant may also serve to both blacks and whites but dividers should also be put in place. Section 597, on the other hand, explicitly states that “it shall be unlawful for a negro and a white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.” These policies clearly banned any socialization done between whites and blacks. What is interesting to note is that Birmingham, during the said period in history, nearly had an equal population of white Americans and African Americans; the former comprising 60 percent while the latter made up for 40 percent. It is clear that while the blacks were a minority, they were not far behind in numbers when compared to the whites. However, this was also the factor why they bore the brunt of racism even more. This could be seen in how they had been deprived of job opportunities. This consequently affected the capabilities of the blacks to gain income. According to Garrow, the average income of African Americans in Birmingham was less than half of white salary-earners; a fact that could be observed at the local steel mills (1989, p. 165). The jobs that were made available to the blacks were only those that are under the category of manual labor. Any time that retrenchments have to be made, it was always the black workers that have to leave first. Aside from the cultural and economic biases against the blacks in Birmingham, violent actions and political coercion were also made against them. These only made the situations even worse. In fact, there were scores of bombings that were made since 1945 to 1962 that targeted prominent African American individuals. Homes, meeting places, and even churches used by the blacks, especially those that were used as venues to discuss their conditions, were not spared from such attacks. The state of Alabama outlawed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This is the reason why Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, along with other leaders in the church, organized the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. The said organization immediately waged a campaign to junk the segregationist ordinances in Birmingham. The courts were soon convinced that segregationist policies related to the use of the city’s parks are illegal. In response, the city administration decided to close the parks. Early Attempts at Demonstrations and Failures After realizing that Birmingham’s city administration would not easily give in to the demands for the termination of segregationist policies, Rev. Shuttlesworth decided to seek help from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was fast becoming influential in uniting the blacks in the struggle for civil rights. The SCLC responded positively and immediately went to plan the first series of protests. Its first attempt at non-violent direct actions aimed to put pressure on the city’s business sector, in the hope that the bad effects on the economy would prompt the city government to negotiate. The direct action was launched during the Christmas shopping season, in which “a boycott of downtown stores, initiated in March by students at Miles College, was already hurting the city's merchants: some establishments saw their trade cut in half” (Fairclough 2001, p. 113). The boycott did work as it was able to adversely affect the economy of the city. The business owners began to lobby for relaxing the laws on segregation. Being the ones who control the money flow in the city, any pressure from the business sector would surely have significant effect on the local government. However, the reaction to the initial non-violent direct action launched under the leadership of the SCLC coming from the city government only compelled the members of the black community to struggle even harder. When the boycott began showing positive gains, such as the pressure coming from the city’s business sector to resolve the issue, the Birmingham city government retaliated by depriving the low-income blacks of the food aid they normally get from the get from welfare. This only made the African Americans in the city more resolved in achieving their aim of racial equality. The boycott lasted longer than expected, with supporters roving around the streets of downtown Birmingham and convincing every member of the black population to shun stores and shops that are known to practice segregation. In the churches, the pastors took the pulpits and reminded their respective congregations of the relevance of their campaign. This direct action might have begun in December 1962 but it lasted long enough until Easter season, which was another part of the year in which Birmingham’s retail businesses would have higher sales. However, because of the boycott, the retailers in the city continued to suffer; their sales plunging. Apparently, the boycott was making concrete effects on the city government as well. When the businesses in the city which practiced segregation began to cater to the blacks in the same manner provided to the whites and in the same facilities that were once exclusive to the whites, the government reacted again in the negative. Commissioner Bull Connor, the city’s most prominent segregationist, threatened businesses that did away with segregation with closure. Sensing that the business sector would soon be swayed into submission by the city government, the SCLC and the local leaders of the Civil Rights movement began to entertain other potential forms of mass actions that would result in solid gains at a more rapid pace. They also decided to invite Martin Luther King, who was the most prominent leader of the Civil Rights movement. It was also at this point that the SCLC and the local leadership of the movement decided to stretch further their actions beyond the limits set by the city government. This phase of the direct action being taken was called Project C. With ‘C’ standing for confrontation, the aim of this part of the campaign was indeed to expose further the oppressive character of the Birmingham city government, particularly that of Commissioner Bull Connor. The method that would be applied is one that would compel the Birmingham police to commit violence on the protesters. Once the national media captures the confrontation, the plight of the African American community in Birmingham would be known outside the city and the state of Alabama. It is hoped that the massive uproar coming from rest of the country would pressure the Birmingham city government to give in to the demands of the Civil Rights movement. The confrontations on the streets did become violent. In fact, this led to the arrest of King and his being put in jail. In April 3, 1963, sit-ins were staged by the SCLC. This day was the start of Project C. In April 6, the arrests of protesters and demonstrators began and brutal dispersals committed by the Birmingham police were also initiated under the leadership of Bull Connor. By this time also, the police began to use police dogs to attack the demonstrators. While planning for Project C, it was already foreseen by the leaders of the Civil Rights movement that arrests would be made. In fact, it was already considered that King himself would be arrested. As part of Project C, it was “called for King to be arrested on Good Friday, April 12” (Cozzens 1997). Indeed, he was arrested and it was while in jail that he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail, which became one of the most compelling written works of the Civil Rights movement. However, as the arrests became more frequent, many individual demonstrators became discouraged. Aside from this, the mass arrests made the numbers of the demonstrators fewer. The Children’s Crusade The first phase of Project C was successful in its aim of exposing further the oppressive character of the Birmingham city administration and law enforcers under Bull Connor. With scenes of the violent dispersals making their way to television and print, the federal government saw the urgency of resolving the issue through legislation. However, in Birmingham, the demonstrators and the leaders of the movement were at a loss on how to continue the struggle, with many of its members still in jail, including its key leader Martin Luther King. There were still demonstrations being held but the number of marchers was dwindling. As fewer and fewer people participated in the demonstrations, the lesser also its impact had become. As a result, the national media saw it appropriate to recall its reporters who are assigned to cover the movement in Birmingham. It was at this point that the leaders discovered another potential force that could be mobilized for the struggle: the children. It was the leaders of the ACMHR-SCLC, James Bevel and Ike Reynolds who “encouraged the campaign to recruit schoolchildren” (Eskew 1997, p. 261). For them and the other leaders in the movement, this solution was both practical and strategic. It was practical because the arrests made had resulted into very adults who were still willing to take to the streets. Besides, the adults were also busy with their jobs, which was why they could not be expected to sustain their participation in the mass actions. The children, on the other hand, were not restricted by economic considerations. Being concentrated in schools in large numbers, they were also easier to mobilize. The strategic value of their participation was that their being on the streets was expected to make the police hesitant in dispersing them. Aside from this, the media would certainly capture the actions and would inform the rest of the country about these. The first direct action of the so-called Children’s Crusade in the struggle for civil rights occurred in May 2, 1963. Instead of going to school, the students assembled at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. From the church, they marched in groups towards the downtown area. In reaction to this, Connor and the Birmingham police force accosted the students and hauled them off in school buses. As hundreds are being arrested, the mood among the students was light. Majority of the students did not show fear in any way. Instead, many were laughing while they were being brought to jail. It was clear that Connor and his force were caught unprepared for this new tactic employed. They ran out of vehicles to be used for hauling those arrested to the jail. In fact, at the end of the day, about 1,200 were locked up in the jail which could only accommodate less than a thousand. King, who was reluctant at first to mobilize young students in high schools for the mass action, later said that he was moved by what he saw and that this was proof that the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham had not ended (Eskew 1997, p. 265). There were, however, some criticisms coming from individuals who supported the Civil Rights movement. They believed that the employment of children in the mass actions was inappropriate. Nevertheless, the leaders of the ACMHR-SCLC persisted. In May 3, they conducted another demonstration. This time though, Connor and the police force employed more brutal methods that further incensed the nation. Firemen trained their hoses on the protesters, who braved the pressurized water but were later drove back because of the pain it inflicted. Police dogs were also used to attack the young demonstrators. The sacrifices made resulted into tactical and strategic gains for the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham and in the entire country. All the actions were captured by the national media and were broadcasted. Pictures of the brutal dispersals by the police of the young civil rights activists were also published in the country’s leading newspapers. One tactical gain is that “acting without Birmingham officials’ approval, a committee of white businessmen said they would meet the movement’s demands” (Williams and Beard 2009, p. 140). On a strategic point of view, this signaled the revitalization of the SCLC and the entire Civil Rights movement. The media coverage also resulted in the federal government’s action to push for the legislation of the Civil Rights Act. Conclusion It is in Birmingham that racial discrimination was most serious. However, wherever oppression is gravest, the struggle ignited by it is also the most intense. Driven to the wall of racism, the African American community in Birmingham had no choice but to resist. Armed with sheer determination, it was only through actual experiences that the leaders and participants of the Civil Rights movement in the city were able to learn the tactics and strategies that could be employed to pursue their objectives. Despite criticisms regarding tactics employed, the activists in Birmingham proved that they were right when actual gains were achieved. References Birmingham’s Racial Segregation Ordinances. (May 1951). Retrieved 3 February, 2012 from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Public/civilrights/ordinances.html. Cozzens, L. (1997). Birmingham. Retrieved 6 February, 2012 from . Eskew, G. (1997). But for Birmingham: The Local and National Movements in the Civil Rights Struggle. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Fairclough, A. (2001). To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. Garrow, D. (1989). Birmingham, Alabama, 1956-1963: The Black Struggle for Civil Rights. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub. Williams, R. and Beard, B. (2009). This Day in Civil Rights History. Montgomery, AL: New South Books. Read More