Transcript Birmingham 1963 (And the KKK) English 12 African Heritage

Birmingham 1963
(And the KKK)
English 12 African Heritage
Birmingham Alabama in the 60s

KKK stronghold

America’s “most
racist” city (MLK)

What is the KKK?
What is the KKK?

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of a secret
organization in the United States, mostly
in the South, that is best known for
advocating white supremacy and acting as
vigilantes while hidden behind conic
masks and white robes. The first KKK was
formed after the Civil War.
The KKK uses terrorism, violence, and
lynching to intimidate and oppress African
Americans, Jews as well other racial and
religious minorities.
What’s in a Name?
The original Ku Klux Klan was created
in the aftermath of the American
Civil War by six middle-class
Confederate veterans on December
24, 1865. They made up the name
by combining the Greek "kyklos"
(circle) with "clan.”
Variations on a Theme
 The
Klan will never be accused of not
sticking to their KL theme. They meet
in “Klaverns”, their holy book is the
“Kloran”, they refer to their soldiers as
“klavaliers” and they engage in
“klonversations.” I’m not kidding.
Terrorist Organization

A federal grand jury in 1869 determined the
Klan was a "terrorist organization." It issued
hundreds of indictments for crimes of
violence and terrorism. This pushed the Klan
further underground. During
this time, other white
supremacist groups formed.
Interestingly, the National
Rifle Association (NRA) was
formed at this time as well.
Second Incarnation of the Klan
1915 – Birth of a Nation released
 Film spurs a new incarnation of the KKK,
initially formed in Georgia
 Anti-Semitic, Anti-Catholic, Anti-immigration

Birth of a Nation - 1915

Director D. W. Griffith's Birth of a
Nation glorified the original Klan.
His film was based on the play The
Clansman by Thomas Dixon. Dixon
said
his
purpose
was
"to
revolutionize northern sentiment
by a presentation of history that
would transform every man in my
audience!" The film created a
nationwide Klan craze. (KLRAZE?!)
At the official premiere in Atlanta,
members of the Klan rode up and
down the street in front of the
theatre
in
their
hoods.
The Story

Birth of a Nation is a psychotically racist film
It chronicles the founding of the US
 It blames all of America’s problems on African
Americans
 It portrays African Americans as violent,
sexually voracious and the root all evil
 All African American
characters in the film were
played by whites in
blackface.

First Screening
The first screening of the film was at the
White House…yes, that White House
 President Woodrow Wilson supported the
messages of the film.
Yes, Woodrow
Wilson…as in the League of Nations.

Lynching
Mobs
 Hanging, burning, beating to death
 Mob justice
 1880s – 1970s – Nearly 3500 lynchings of
African Americans
 Without Sanctuary

Without Sanctuary
Postcards of lynchings
 Not accessible in
school
 James Allen
 Youtube Video
(Warning: Images are
GRAPHIC)

Alabama Governor George Wallace

“You know why I lost
that governor's
race?... I was
outniggered by John
Patterson. And I'll tell
you here and now, I
will never be
outniggered again.“
Campaign Slogan

Segregation now,

Segregation
tomorrow,

Segregation forever!
George Wallace – Faustian Deal

"You know, I tried to talk about good roads and
good schools and all these things that have been
part of my career, and nobody listened. And
then I began talking about niggers, and they
stomped the floor.“

He made SEGREGATION his major policy, and
won

Recanted his views on his deathbed – He
wanted to go to HEAVEN
Birmingham 1960s

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

Bull Connor
Chief of Police
Violent Racist
Adults were too afraid
of him to protest
Hoses
Dogs
Bombings
March on Birmingham – Adults Terrified
Governor Wallace was a RABID segregationist
 Was quoted in the NY Times calling for “''a few
first-class funerals'' to settle the race conflict
 Bull Connor was terrifying, and not against
using brutal or lethal force
 MANY children marched on Birmingham
instead
 Freedom Riders came in from other states
 Became known as “Bomb-ingham”

th
16
Street Baptist Church
In the early morning of Sunday, September 15,
1963, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton,
Herman Frank Cash, and Robert Chambliss,
members of the Ku Klux Klan, planted a box of
dynamite with a time delay under the steps of
the church, near the basement.
 At about 10:22 a.m., twenty-six children were
walking into the basement assembly room to
prepare for the sermon entitled “The Love That
Forgives,” when the bomb exploded.

Four Little Girls

Four girls, Addie Mae
Collins (age 14), Denise
McNair (age 11), Carole
Robertson (age 14), and
Cynthia Wesley (age 14),
were killed in the attack,
and 22 additional people
were injured.
Not Guilty???
A witness identified Robert Chambliss, a
member of the Ku Klux Klan, as the man who
placed the bomb under the steps of the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
 He was arrested and charged with murder and
possessing a box of 122 sticks of dynamite
without a permit. On October 8, 1963,
Chambliss was found not guilty of murder and
received a hundred-dollar fine and a sixmonth jail sentence for having the dynamite.

1964

President Kennedy – HORRIFIED by 16th
St. Church Bombing

National sympathy for Civil Rights activists
in light of the loss of four little girls

1964 – Equal rights guaranteed under the
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT