5 Girls in Alabama Church Bombing
Is the Nightmare Over?
The 1960s was a severely changing time in the US. The 1960s has shaped the way the US is today. It was a very changing time period because of many reasons, such as the hippie movement, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the creation of children’s toys, but one main event that occurred in the 60s was racism. Racism in the 1960s was a huge problem between whites and colored people for years. Propaganda was the main reason; prejudice commercials, sperate water fountains, restrooms, and buildings. People such as Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister who became a civil rights activist tried to bring black and whites together by broadcasting speeches to the public ("blogspot.com").
Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, known as the KKK didn’t care about what Martin Luther King Jr. had to say. The KKK scared blacks into leaving town by burning homes, crosses, buildings, putting up signs, and killing blacks all over the country. Blacks were portrayed as horrible people in the 1960s ("blogspot.com"). If whites saw blacks somewhere they would call them out their name, and tell their children not to communicate with them and they would ask what’s she or he doing here.
The KKK began a new era of violence in the 1960s. They were upset that African Americans were getting all these rights, and members had to do something about it to show their madness. On Sunday September 15, 1963 The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church a black church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed. Four young girls by the names of Addie Mae Collins 14, Cynthia Wesley 14, Carole Robertson 14, and Denise McNair 11 who decided to attend church that morning were killed by the explosion while attending Sunday school class and twenty-three adults and children were injured ("Ballad of Birmingham"). Whoever would have thought a good day in church could turn into such a tragedy before service ended? Addie Mae Collins was the daughter of Julius and Alice Collins, born April 18,
The 1960s was a severely changing time in the US. The 1960s has shaped the way the US is today. It was a very changing time period because of many reasons, such as the hippie movement, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the creation of children’s toys, but one main event that occurred in the 60s was racism. Racism in the 1960s was a huge problem between whites and colored people for years. Propaganda was the main reason; prejudice commercials, sperate water fountains, restrooms, and buildings. People such as Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister who became a civil rights activist tried to bring black and whites together by broadcasting speeches to the public ("blogspot.com").
Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, known as the KKK didn’t care about what Martin Luther King Jr. had to say. The KKK scared blacks into leaving town by burning homes, crosses, buildings, putting up signs, and killing blacks all over the country. Blacks were portrayed as horrible people in the 1960s ("blogspot.com"). If whites saw blacks somewhere they would call them out their name, and tell their children not to communicate with them and they would ask what’s she or he doing here.
The KKK began a new era of violence in the 1960s. They were upset that African Americans were getting all these rights, and members had to do something about it to show their madness. On Sunday September 15, 1963 The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church a black church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed. Four young girls by the names of Addie Mae Collins 14, Cynthia Wesley 14, Carole Robertson 14, and Denise McNair 11 who decided to attend church that morning were killed by the explosion while attending Sunday school class and twenty-three adults and children were injured ("Ballad of Birmingham"). Whoever would have thought a good day in church could turn into such a tragedy before service ended? Addie Mae Collins was the daughter of Julius and Alice Collins, born April 18,
References: . "Racism In The 1960 's." blogspot.com. Blog Spot, 16 2008. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://1960sracism.blogspot.com>. "Newspaper Article on Church Bombing in 1960 's." tripod.com. Tripod. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://arcchampman.tripod.com/literature>. . "Addie Mae, Cynthia, Carole, and Denise." findagrave.com. Find A Grave. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=6433252&page=gr>. "The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing." Ballad of Birmingham. www.balladofbirmingham.com. Web. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm>.