The Effects of the Birmingham Campaign on Segregation in America

Even the largest political movements when stripped to their bare fundamentals reveal a simple idea, image, or action. Likewise, the Civil Rights Movement began with an idea. An idea of an improved future; a future in which colored people could walk the streets of America beside people of other races without scorn and contempt. This future was realized by the city of Birmingham, Alabama. At the end of the 20th century, Birmingham was populated to such an extent with hatred and spite, Dr. Martin Luther King referred to it as “probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States” (King 2). Fueled with the vision of a better future, the African American community embarked on a sequence of violent and peaceful protests that would stretch from early April to late September 1963. Though beginning with a simple idea, this prolonged demonstration for human rights would eventually lead to the involvement of youth demonstrators in the Birmingham Children’s Crusade, which in turn lead the accord of Birmingham to become a non-segregated city; forever imprinting itself on the novel of history.

During the 20th century, the pro-segregation laws in Birmingham, Alabama, not only divided schools and shops based on race, but parks, cemeteries, restaurants, and swimming pools as well (“Racial Strife” 191). As one visiting reporter stated, “Whites and blacks still walk the same streets. But the streets, the water supply, and the sewer system are about the only public facilities they share.” (Mayer 7). In mid-April, the rising tensions between the African American and Caucasian races led to a prolonged sequence of violent and peaceful protests, beginning on April 3rd and concluding in late September. Though Alabama Christian Movement f...

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“Fire Hoses and Police Dogs Quell Birmingham Segregation Protest.” The Washington Post, Times Herald. 4 May, 1963: A1 Print.

King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Letter. 16 Apr. 1963. Letter from Birmingham Jail, 2009, P 1. Great Neck. History Reference Center. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. .

Mayer, Robert H. When the Children Marched: the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2008. Print.

"Racial Strife." The New York Times 5 May 1963: 191. Print.

Robert, Gordon. "Waves of Young Negroes March in Birmingham Segregation Protest." The Washington Post, Times Herald 3 May 1963: 11. Print.

Sitton, Claude. “Birmingham Jails 1,000 More Negroes.” The New York Times 7 May 1963: 1. Print.

Wallace, Terry. "Birmingham's Use of Dogs Assailed." The New York Times 7 May 1963: 32. Print.