Eisenhower key events - Birmingham Protest 1963 Flashcards
What was Birmingham a stronghold of?
-KKK
-Martin Luther King described it as America’s worst city for racism
What was happening?
-city businessmen actually believed that racism held back the city but they usually kept quiet
-the KKK had pressured the city to ban a book from book stores as it contained pictures of black and white rabbits and wanted black music banned on radio stations
-any civil rights campaign in the city would almost certainly provoke trouble and outcry from the people living their->highlights how deeply segregated the city of Birmingham had been
What was the impact of Connor (Head of police)?
-King’s saving grace was Connor (Head of police and a profound racist)->his short temper meant that he often viewed protests as threatening his ‘rule’ over Birmingham->set police dogs on peaceful protesters which gained national attention
What was a result when King when he was arrested?
-even more publicity was gained for King when he was arrested and kept in solitary confinement with refusal to see a lawyer
->J F Kennedy later intervene and filed his release
What did King do from jail?
-King was arrested after leading another march->from jail he wrote a letter saying that people have a moral duty to disobey the unjust laws
What happened in April 1963?
-in April 1963 he wanted to gain full national attention for the events in Birmingham->he hoped President Kennedy would be forced to intervene
-began at segregated lunch counters and the protesters were repeatedly arrested ->they were arrested and further marching was banned
What was the impact of more money being poured into the Southern Christian Leaders Conference?
-organisation set up by Martin Luther King to fight injustice towards AA to fight racism
What was the impact of King being released?
-organisation set up by Martin Luther King to fight injustice towards AA to fight racism
What was high school children’s involvement with the protest?
-on May 2nd police arrested over a thousand young people aged 8-16 years-> the next day more children joined the protest
What is evidence of success of the protest?
-after pressure from President Kennedy and his brother (the Attorney General) Birmingham shops and businesses finally agreed on May 10th to desegregate all restrooms, lunch counters, fitting rooms and drinking fountains and to hire more black workers
-the president started to push for new a Civil Lights law
-the Kennedy administration later admitted the Birmingham protests was key in admitted what happened in Birmingham was key to pushing through the 1964 Civil Rights Act which was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson
