Empathy In Ballad Of Birmingham

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Drawing Traumatic Empathy from “Ballad of Birmingham” The 1960s were a riotous decade for America, particularly for those who lived in the South. During this period, the South was under legalized racial segregation due to the influence of Jim Crow laws. In support to end these laws and establish civil rights for all Americans, protests, demonstrations, and marches took place across the country. However, as not everyone supported this movement, substantial backlash was inflicted upon many by those opposed to change; which Dudley Randall writes about in his poem, “Ballad of Birmingham.” Before I begin to analyze the poem, it is necessary to review the pertinent facts of the Birmingham Bombing. The city of Birmingham, Alabama, was established in 1871 and quickly became the state’s key …show more content…

On September 15, 1963, a bomb detonated on the east side of the church, killing four young girls and sending families across America into horrific shock. As difficult as it was to respond to this tragedy, Dudley Randall, an African-American writer and poet, wrote his sorrow into the lines of “Ballad of Birmingham.” The rhyming poem with simplistic style and heart wrenching matter tells of a time when those who fought to keep the spirit of equality alive were also mourning the death of four young girls. The historical event described in the poem happened to four African-American mothers and daughters in Birmingham. However, I will argue that Dudley Randall’s, clear and simplistic, use of poetic singsong effects, the tradition of broadside ballads, diction, and symbolism in “Ballad of Birmingham” is designed to draw empathy from any reader, no matter his or her race, as the poem itself lends to a violent ending that helps readers feel how heart-rending this racist, cowardly violence was, leaving them in a space of

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