Birmingham Protest
Birmingham Post
What Caused The Protests?
Birmingham is known as one of the most segreated city in America. Birmingham's police and politicians do everything in their power to maintain white surremacy. All public facilities like restrooms, parks, cabs, and department store fitting rooms are segreated. And when necessary, they could rely on thugs like the Ku Klux Klan to take "extralegal" measures to keep the Black population in line. These Blacks only wanted to be treated equal so they began to protest peacefully with out any violence. This protest went on for months but alot was accomplished in this time.
What Was The Outcome Of The Protest?
Who in the Deep South would have guessed in the early spring of 1963 that there would be more changes in the next three months than there had been in the previous three-quarters of a century? Today, with the number of Black children in deep poverty on the rise, and U.S. prisons packed with young Black men and women, it's clear that the struggle against racism is far from over. Nevertheless, Birmingham stands out as an important struggle to celebrate a turning point in the civil rights movement to put an end to Jim Crow racism in the south.
Did Anything Bad Happen To The Protesters?
City firemen were ordered to use their fire hoses. With TV cameras again rolling, the hoses--with hundreds of pounds of water pressure, enough to rip the bark off of trees, knock bricks loose from walls and send people tumbling were turned on protesters.
All over America, people watched in horror as children were beaten with nightsticks, bitten by dogs and knocked senseless by the fire hoses. In only two days, some 1,300 Black children were thrown in jail. And across the country, the demonstrations in Birmingham became the number one news item on television. But in the end these protesters remained peaceful during the protest and choose not to rely on violence to solve their problems, but it would only make matters worse.
Attack Dogs
This picture shows the police using dogs to scare off the protests.
Hoses
Firemen are using high pressure water hoses to keep back the protesters.
Protesters
A group of protesters in Birmingham trying to gain there rights as U.S. citizens.