User:MThomas45512/16th Street Baptist Church bombing

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Background

In the years leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham had earned a national reputation as a tense, violent and racially segregated city, in which even tentative racial integration in any form was met with violent resistance. Martin Luther King Jr. described Birmingham as "probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States." Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety, Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor, perpetrated the racial segregation in the city through the use of violent tactics. For example, Connor responded to the student protests of May 1963 by allowing the students to be attacked by fire hoses and dogs and then arresting them as well.

In Birmingham, black and white residents had access to different public amenities such as water fountains and even public places like parks and movie theaters. The city had no black police officers or firefighters. Instead of being able to obtain employment in law enforcement or other sectors of society, black residents could at most find employment as cooks and cleaners. Black residents did not just experience segregation in the context of leisure and employment, but also in the context of their freedom and well-being. Given the state's disenfranchisement of most black people since the turn of the century, by making voter registration essentially impossible, few of the city's black residents were registered to vote. Bombings at black homes and institutions were a regular occurrence, with at least 21 separate explosions recorded at black properties and churches in the eight years before 1963. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. These attacks earned the city the nickname "Bombingham".

Given the state's disenfranchisement of most black people since the turn of the century, which made voter registration essentially impossible, few of the city's black residents were registered to vote.

Birmingham Campaign

As a result of the deeply engraved and institutionalized racism in Birmingham, Civil Rights activists and leaders sought to fight against the city's segregation by targeting Birmingham's economic and social disparities. For example, they demanded that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated and that there would be no discrimination when it came to employment opportunities in different industries such as retail.

Civil Rights activists and leaders in Birmingham fought against the city's deeply engraved and institutionalized racism with tactics including the targeting of Birmingham's economic and social disparities. Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated, the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed, and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities.

Civil Rights activists and leaders in Birmingham fought against the city's deeply engraved and institutionalized racism with tactics that included the targeting of Birmingham's economic and social disparities. Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated, the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed, and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities. The Civil Rights leaders did not just want to see the end of segregation in Birmingham, but rather that segregation would end across the South. The work they were doing in Birmingham was still crucial to the movement since the Birmingham campaign would serve as guidance for other cities in the South rising up against segregation and racism.