Introduction|
Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
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The above objectives correspond with the following Alabama Course of Study Objectives:
| Police Officer with Dog Disperses Segregation Protesters |
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| Police Officer with Dog Disperses Segregation Protesters. Corbis. 2010. Discovery Education. 23 March 2010 <http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/> |
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| African American segregation protesters flee from a police officer and police dog during a prayer march in Birmingham, Alabama. |
Overview
During the spring of 1963, the nation’s attention turned to Alabama as Dr. King and the SCLC attempted to desegregate Birmingham, AL; a city considered by many to be the “most segregated city” in the United States. Initially, the plan was to hold numerous marches and protests to force integration at the workplace, shopping locales, and lunch counters. After weeks of protests with quiet, but strong resistance from the white community, the leaders of the movement faced the prospect of failure. Based on previous experiences, the leaders knew that they needed media attention to help generate widespread support and pressure for integration. Thus, they decided to alter the course of the movement by utilizing children in the protests.
This maneuver successfully brought needed media attention, but it also escalated the city’s response to the protests. Once the city’s jails became overwhelmed by the children, dogs and fire hoses were brought out to further the deter marchers. The horrific scenes of children under attack were caught on film and quickly distributed throughout the world. Within days the world openly criticized the brutal acts of Birmingham. The pressure from the protests, now coupled with the world’s response, ultimately forced city leaders to end segregation. More importantly, the acts of Birmingham inspired strong support for a civil rights act that would end segregation everywhere, forever, in the United States.
Tragically, four months after the victory in Birmingham, four little girls lost their lives in a bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The incident was part of a larger plot by the local KKK to attack sites of civil rights activities. The city of Birmingham was nicknamed “Bombingham” by many after this and other bombings that occurred in the city during the Civil Rights era.
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