Madelynn Fretto
Dr. Stephanie
Brown
ENGL 306
4
December 2016
Research Paper
Final Draft
The history of the black population in
the United States is one of discrimination, segregation, and fear. In the years
leading up to 1963, there had been a systematic oppression of this entire race
of people that did not allow them to have equal rights in any aspect of their
lives. Laws had been passed so that black people could not have access to
resources and facilities available to white people. It was ingrained in white
American’s minds that black people were considered to be less than them and
should be treated accordingly. The compounding of these various factors is what
led to the 1963 Birmingham Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.
In
Birmingham, the climate leading up to the events in 1963 was tense and
Birmingham was “probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United
States” (King 1). The purpose of the Birmingham Campaign was to focus on
attainable desegregation goals that would be put into law by the city
government. These goals included desegregation of shopping stores, fair
employment standards, use of parks by black people, and a biracial committee to
work on desegregating public schools. The Birmingham Campaign was one of
numerous movements that occurred during the modern civil rights movement, in
which the starting point is considered to be the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955
(Salem Press 131). However, even though it was one of many, it proved to be a
turning point in the history of black Americans. This is because national
attention was brought to Birmingham via the media and showed the country the
negative effects of segregation. Additionally, the protest was successful in
ending segregation in Birmingham and a direct consequence of the protest was the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Birmingham Campaign was a pivotal
moment where black Americans finally had a voice and could make a positive
change in their history, which until that point had been filled with inhumane
treatment and a lack of equal rights. By using powerful rhetoric and effective
protest tactics, Birmingham soon became a symbol of freedom and equality.
The history leading up to the Birmingham
Campaign explains why the events occurred in Birmingham the way they did. There
had been deliberate actions taken to degrade black Americans and hinder them
from having social equality, all in the name of white supremacy. One of the
most well known degradations of black people was their enslavement, and most of
the black population in America was slaves from 1789-1865. A major legislative
point for the enslaved population was the passage of The Fugitive Slave Law of
1850, which required the government to return slaves that had escaped to their
owner, furthering the discrimination (Salem Press 276). In terms of education,
black children, regardless of whether they were enslaved or not, were
prohibited from being taught in Southern states (Salem Press 223). After 1865,
black students were allowed to attend schools in the South, but were often
taught by white teachers from the North that did not provide the same quality
of education they would provide to white students (Salem Press 223).
Discrimination continued even after slavery was abolished. However, the
passages of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1867 attempted “to eliminate
legal discrimination against newly freed slaves” (Salem Press 198). These
measures were counteracted by the black codes that reverted back to the
treatment the black population received when they were slaves by creating a
poll tax, literacy tests, and intimidation to prevent black people from voting,
even though it was their constitutional right to do so.
In 1876, during the Reconstruction era
after the Civil War, federal troops left the South, but discrimination against
blacks did not. This population suffered from deliberate violence against them
racially and sexually, economic inequality, and lack of voting opportunity.
Basically, the white population was doing everything in their power to make the
black population “as lowly as the slaves their parents had been” (Ezra 59).
Despite this low standard of living and rights, the Southern black population
counteracted by creating schools and churches and they were becoming teachers,
preachers, lawyers, and doctors. These educated people were working with the
white population that was “fearful of the free black presence while at the same
time seeking…full rights and privileges of citizenship” (Ezra 60).
Unfortunately, there was a large percentage of the black population that
remained in a low socioeconomic class because they were laborers, farmers, and
domestic workers. This led to poverty for many black families because of these
low-paying jobs and the lack of available opportunities for higher-paying jobs
(Ezra 64).
Southern
white people created the Jim Crow laws in the 1880s and 1890s, which created
“separate but equal” legal separation and a lack of access to various
opportunities, which is termed “de facto segregation.” De facto segregation was
the norm and caused the black population to be segregated in residential areas
separate from the white population (Ezra 1-2). The Jim Crow laws meant that
facilities and services were equally provided to both races, but separately, in
theory (Salem Press 198). These laws caused segregation of various public
places, including restaurants, workplaces, and public parks, among others.
Specific cities and states passed their own versions of the laws. For example,
in Mobile, Alabama, there was a curfew for black people enacted in 1909 (Salem
Press 342). Lynching was also common during the late 19th century
and early 20th century, which was considered Negrophobia and
oftentimes, there would be no actual offense by the black person (Salem Press
540). In the early 1900s, black Americans also dealt with the Ku Klux Klan,
among other racist groups, a lack of voting rights, and segregation in
residential areas, educational facilities, employment, armed forces, and public
areas (Ezra 64).
Prior to and during World War II, there
were massive migrations of black people to cities in the West, North, and South
(Hall 1239). In the North, black men usually were forced to work in factories
and black women were usually hired in domestic jobs. Black migrants found themselves
relegated to discrimination reminiscent of the slave-owning days and de facto
segregation. The intent of these policies prevented black people from having
good careers, educational opportunities, and decent residential options,
creating large racial barriers (Hall 1240). Economic inequality was exasperated
by the two-track welfare system, which helped families with one full-time
worker and a wife who did not earn an income and stayed at home with the
children. Many black families were ineligible because oftentimes, both the
husband and wife had to work in order to have a chance at making enough money
to keep their family economically afloat. In 1935, unemployment insurance was
not provided to domestic and agricultural workers, which was how low-wage black
families earned their income. Because of this, “55 percent of all African
American workers and 87 percent of all wage-earning African American women were
excluded from one of the chief benefits of the New Deal” (Hall 1241). This
caused embarrassment for the black people that relied on other welfare options,
which caused further stigmatization against them. In terms of housing, much of
the white middle class moved into the suburbs, leaving behind a large black
population in the cities. Highway building choices and zoning boards
purposefully caused white people to be wary of black migrants, which decreased
monetary investments in black neighborhoods. Banks would not grant mortgages to
black people and businesses relocated to suburban areas. This move to suburbia
caused segregation in city schools and black migrant students were placed in
schools that did not have the prosperity supported by local taxes and equal
educational opportunities (Hall 1241-1242).
This history of black Americans leading
up to the Birmingham Campaign shows why the climate was as tense as it was in
1963. The city was amiss with police brutality, legal discrimination against
blacks, racist signs in the windows of stores, and there were bombings of the
homes and churches that black people resided and worshipped (King 1). There
were no black people in positions of power, including the police and fire
department, and they could not hold jobs in retail, banks, stores, and public
transportation. Black people were forced to work menial jobs in steel mills,
households, or work in their segregated neighborhood and unemployment was a
common tribulation they faced (Garrow 166). The campaign was protesting the
centuries of discrimination they had been plagued with, as well as the strict
segregation laws that affected every aspect of their lives in Birmingham. The
specific moment in the process of the protest development that will be
considered is the “period of inception,” which is when a sentiment of some sort
becomes public when people become interested and involved (Griffin 11). For
this specific movement, the nonviolent protests were planned in advance before
the inception date, which was April 3rd, 1963. The tactics used were
organized lunch counter sit-ins, marches, kneel-ins by black people at white
churches, and boycotts. The campaign was purposefully nonviolent because it was
known that these protests would be met with violence, putting media attention
on Birmingham and allowing the nation to see what was happening to the black
American population.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the
main leaders of the modern civil rights movement and a prominent activist in
the Birmingham Campaign. He represented religious values and the collective
action of the black population during the civil rights movement. He was the
face of the millions of black Americans that did not have the means or
opportunities to stand up for themselves. He was also well respected because he
was a polished minister that was spiritual and mindful. Even though he was not the
sole person who helped in the catalysis of this civil rights era, he is the one
most people associated and still associate with that time period (Ezra 60). The
efforts of many were most visibly in the various Southern civil rights
organizations that were founded, including the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC). The SCLC was the group that organized the Birmingham
Campaign. These types of organizations, including the SCLC, drew upon American
democratic principles and morality that stemmed from religion. They
particularly represented “rural and urban blacks, high school and college
students, and women” because these were the most marginalized populations (Ezra
60). The SCLC leaders were one of the reasons the Birmingham Campaign was as
successful as it was, and the rhetoric of this movement and its leaders is what
ultimately led to its success.
The people involved in the Birmingham
Campaign used rhetoric to make their voices heard, which until that point had
been silenced. The Birmingham Campaign can be considered a social movement,
which is an effort to create legal and social developments and changes, usually
outside the realm of what is considered normal and common practice (Jasper 24).
This movement is also “sustained,” meaning it is not one singular event, such
as a one-day protest, but multiple events. Since the Birmingham Campaign lasted
from April 3rd-May 10th, 1963, it was a sustained
movement that progressed through organization and social networks (Jasper 24).
In America, there was a development of social movements in the 1830s that
brought personal choices to light and made them public protests and national
issues. This included slavery, which was considered a sin, and reformers that
based their protests on morality would protest against these people who were
committing these evil sins (Jasper 45). The Birmingham Campaign is also a
citizenship movement, which works “at gaining entry into the political system,”
with the political system being basic rights and desegregation in the city
(Jasper 118). The civil rights that the Birmingham Campaign was protesting had
“to do with the state’s coercive interference in the lives of citizens,” since
every facet of the black citizen’s lives were controlled by officials in charge
(Jasper 119).
The name of a phenomenon is important
because it is the lens through which meaning and purpose is conveyed and is
important in addressing an issue. Naming a protest group or movement as a whole
is crucial because it highlights the purpose, identity, and morality and
defines those who are actively participating in the protest (Jasper 77). The
Birmingham Campaign was dubbed “Project C,” with the “C” standing for
confrontation. This name came from Wyatt Tee Walker, who was a Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) founder and executive director. He also
was actively involved in organizing the Birmingham protests and worked with
Fred Shuttlesworth, who was also a founder of the SCLC and a minister. In order
to maintain secrecy during the planning of these demonstrations, the planners
communicated with code words in case their phone calls were being monitored
(Garrow 175). Even though Project C stood for confrontation, Walker and
Shuttlesworth’s plan was to have nonviolent action because they knew the protests
would be counteracted with violence and media attention would be heightened.
This attention would show the entire nation, who may not otherwise know what is
occurring, the plight of the segregated black people in the South (Bass 96).
The “Project C” name represents the nonviolent confrontation black people were
employing to enact change, which showed their purpose, identity, and morality
of treating everyone as equals, no matter their race.
Nonviolent resistance was the main tactic
used in the movement, and the “nonviolent” word choice was a deliberate tactic
used by the organizers to outline their rhetorical goals. “Nonviolence” showed
outside observers, as well as the movement participants, that they were not
there to cause any harm, but simply to let their voices and words make an
impact and create change. Nonviolence, which was used throughout the civil
rights movement, “is a central method for expressing political dissent…to bring
about political change” and is protected by the First Amendment (Salem Press
465-466). The civil rights movement used nonviolence inspired by Mohandas
Gandhi, specifically using boycotts, marches, and sit-ins to make a statement
about desegregation. This was an effective legal tactic because the government
was unsure about how to specifically prosecute these actions, and oftentimes
those arrested would later be found innocent of crime (Salem Press 466).
Nonviolence, typically used in democratic societies, centers on values of
morality and the fact that it is unethical to hurt people, and believes change
can only happen with love and peacefulness. This tactic will, in theory, cause
elite people in charge to change legislation and policies, such as ending
segregation and discrimination against black people (Salem Press 467).
“Character work” is an important
part of any protest “because characters tell us what emotions we are supposed
to feel about them” (Jasper 92). Though a character seems like they would only
be found in a fictional story, characters can be actual people and contribute
more strongly to a protest’s purpose because observers are better able to
empathize with an actual human that has feelings and problems. In terms of
rhetoric, “characters suggest a role for the audience: stop being a victim, and
start acting like a hero” (Jasper 92). In the Birmingham Campaign, there were
four types of characters: the benevolent heroes and victims and the malevolent
villains and outside agitators (Jasper 92). The heroes were the leaders of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), including Martin Luther King,
Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth, among others, who were directly involved in the
planning and taking action with the various demonstrations. The victims, and
identity articulated by the Birmingham Campaign, were the black people affected
by segregation in their everyday lives, from where they lived to where they
worshipped. The villains were the governmental leaders of Birmingham that
created and upheld the segregation and discrimination laws. The villains and
outside agitators included the Birmingham Police Department, which attacked the
nonviolent demonstrators with fire hoses and police canines and caused national
attention to be focused on the mistreatment of the black people of Birmingham.
The Birmingham Campaign also
influenced the rhetoric of the federal government and President Kennedy,
because it shifted their focus towards the circumstances black Americans were
facing and made it a national issue. During 1961, before the events in
Birmingham in 1963, the focus of President Kennedy’s statements to the nation
was foreign policy and the economy. In early 1962, the story was much the same,
with only a small mention of civil rights in his State of the Union address. As
civil rights movements began to gain momentum and the federal government was
hearing their demands, President Kennedy began speaking more about actual ways
in which to lessen discrimination, starting in late 1962. Some of the
legislation he passed included equal housing opportunities for all races and
focused on the voting literacy tests that were created as a disadvantage to
black people. He also allowed the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities
to lessen discrimination in hiring practices and the workplace. He was working
to end the “discrimination and segregation which deprive many Americans of
equal opportunity in the exercise of their unalienable rights to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness” (Andrews and Gaby 514). These powerful words
spoken by the President showed the nation that black Americans were being
denied the same rights their white counterparts were given. He uses the phrase
“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” which originated from the
Declaration of Independence and is a powerful phrase that humanizes those who
had been oppressed for so many years. Unfortunately, though these powerful
words were spoken, there was still a lack of national legislation by 1963
(Andrews and Gaby 514). After the Birmingham Campaign, though, President
Kennedy delivered an impassioned speech on June 11, 1963 where the rhetoric
made clear he was intent on passing a civil rights bill, signaling “an
important transition that launched efforts to pass a substantial civil rights
bill” (Andrews and Gaby 515). This transition stemmed directly from the events
that occurred in Birmingham and President Kennedy’s rhetoric clearly changed
from 1961, where there were passive comments about civil rights, to
post-Birmingham 1963. In this same June 11th speech, Kennedy
discussed how what occurred in Birmingham and black equality struggles “have so
increased the cries for equality that no city or state or legislative body can
prudently choose to ignore them” (Andrews and Gaby 516). President Kennedy’s
speeches were powerful tools that showed the influence Birmingham had on the
movement, and his words brought these long-standing issues to government
attention. Another powerful tool that was used in the Birmingham Campaign was
visual rhetoric, specifically photographs, which showed the discrimination
black people were facing even when attempting to make their voices heard.
This photograph above summarizes the
events that occurred in the Birmingham Campaign, which was taken by white
journalist Charles Moore and was first published in Life magazine in May 1963 (Moore). Moore was considered the
photographer of the Civil Rights Movement and his photos were often published
throughout the 1960s, since he protested Jim Crow discrimination through
photography (O’Neill). The image shows black high school students being sprayed
with a high-pressure fire hose during what was supposed to be a nonviolent
protest in Birmingham, AL. The tactics of nonviolent protest that these
students, and other protestors, used were lunch counter sit-ins, boycotts of
stores and merchants, and marches at City Hall (“The Birmingham Campaign”).
Unfortunately, the police department found any act of protest against their
authority as a threat and acted accordingly, as the photograph clearly shows.
This photograph encapsulates numerous
aspects of the civil rights movement in one image that was distributed widely
and seen across America. This is a powerful piece of visual rhetoric because Moore
photographed young black students that were well dressed and were submitted to
treatment that was unjust and humiliating. Viewing this photograph is
disturbing because people can easily sympathize with these young adults because
they are clearly in pain and one of the students is trying to protect the other
with his body. The identities articulated through this photograph are the
African American people in the United States that were affected by segregation
laws, as well as the young black students that wanted to be a voice of change
for their race. Project C, with the nonviolent sit-ins and boycotts, was this
segregated population’s way of protesting the way of life that was the norm.
This protest was one of many during the civil rights movement, but it was
pivotal because of the violent interactions that occurred between the black
population and the police. This photograph depicts the relationship between the
black population and the Birmingham Police Department, who counteracted the
nonviolent protests with tactics such as fire hoses and police dogs, attempting
to silence the voices that were trying so hard to be heard. This image is a
powerful representation of how high tensions were during this time and how much
opposition the Birmingham protestors faced, even from the police who were
supposed to protect the citizens of the city, as it was their duty. The
publishing of this photograph, among others, in Life magazine allowed people who were not near Birmingham to see
what was occurring. The protestors paid the ultimate sacrifice by physically
putting themselves in harm’s way using body rhetoric, which is intimidating
since the law enforcement officers were powerful figures. Though the protestors
were often faced with this type of opposition, the photography captured and
published across the country opened up a dialogue and showed the federal
government, including President John F. Kennedy, that action needed to be taken
and segregation was no longer to be ignored.
The moment in the movement that this
photograph is displaying occurred during early May 1963. At this time in the
movement, James Bevel, a member of the SCLC and an organizer of the movement,
decided to recruit a younger population to participate in the various
demonstrations. His reasoning for this decision “was that young people
represented an untapped source of freedom fighters without the prohibitive
responsibilities of older activists” ("Birmingham Campaign (1963)").
On May 2nd, 1963, over 1,000 black students planned a march, and
many were arrested. The following day, when more students attempted to march
again, the police and fire departments were told to stop the protestors with
force. After this direction from the public safety commissioner, Eugene “Bull”
Connor, the following days were filled with protestors being attacked with fire
hoses and police dogs, as well as beaten by the police officers. These
occurrences were nationally broadcasted via newspapers and television, and the
image from Charles Brown was one of these ("Birmingham Campaign (1963)").
An eyewitness account describes how fire engines arrived at the scene, which
was the 16th St. Baptist Church, and set up their fire hoses. These
fire hoses had “the powerful water stripping bark off trees and tearing bricks
from the walls as the firemen knocked Negroes down” (Holt 796). These hoses
were used to attack anyone that was African American, regardless of whether or
not they were actually participating in the protest. The eyewitness also noted
how the violence that had occurred in these demonstrations, up until the point
when fire hoses were used, was from the police officers, not the demonstrators
(Holt 799-800). This photograph showed the nonviolent protesting of young black
high school students being oppressed, yet again, but this time in a deplorable
manner.
This artifact displays the identities
articulated in this protest and how these protestors were challenged. Before
this movement, the black population in general, but especially in Birmingham,
was a voiceless group that did not have equal rights compared to their white
counterparts. The Birmingham Campaign brought these people to the forefront of
America’s minds, and this was enhanced by the media attention that came to the
protests. Media attention was high because of the dangerous situation that was
unraveling in Birmingham as women, men, and even children were challenged with
force (“The Birmingham Campaign”).
Visuals, especially photographs, are
a powerful tool to make a statement, and this picture evokes a variety of
emotions, since these students look helpless and in pain. The rhetorical
aspects of this photograph employ pathos and kairos. Pathos is the first aspect
that comes to mind when viewing this photograph. When this image was published,
it undoubtedly stirred up various emotions from those viewing it. One of the
emotions evoked is empathy, because most human beings have the capacity to
empathize with people in dire and painful situations, such as this one. Anyone
viewing this photograph can picture themselves being sprayed with a powerful
fire hose and the amount of anguish that would cause, which brings up emotions
of pity and great sadness that a human being would be subjected to this
inhumane treatment. Another emotion is anger towards the law enforcement that
is abusing their authority to prey on those who cannot defend themselves. The
organizers of this protest were Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human
Rights (ACMHR), and they wanted a direct action protest that was specifically
nonviolent. In fact, those who participated in the protest were taught the
philosophies of nonviolence, and how to have a nonviolent march
("Birmingham Campaign (1963)"). With this notion of nonviolence in
mind, the image becomes even more powerful and invokes even more anger towards
those who were suppressing this movement. Kairos was employed by the effective
timeliness of the Birmingham Campaign in the context of the entire black civil
rights struggle. 1963 was a time when segregation was pervasive, especially in
Birmingham. Black people had been subjected to discrimination and segregation
for years and it was finally the time to put an end to all the hurt and
discrimination. The Birmingham Campaign had the right support from
organizations and leaders, including the SCLC and Martin Luther King Jr., which
allowed the movement to take off. It ultimately caused great change, including
legislative changes that affected the nation with the passage of The Civil
Rights Act of 1964. The nation was ready for change and it was finally time for
black people to have the rights they had deserved for so many years.
The Birmingham Campaign was a
challenging protest that still proved to be a successful historical movement. As
stated before, the Birmingham Campaign was considered a turning point in the
civil rights movement and was as successful as it was because of the tactics
used and the articulation of a particular identity. The organizers purposefully
taught the protestors nonviolent tactics because they knew they would be met
with violence by the police department and media attention would be focused on
Birmingham, making this a national issue. This would show the entire nation the
mistreatment of black Americans by the government and government officials,
which would hopefully inspire change at the national level. The identity that
was articulated through this protest was black Americans that were affected by
segregation and not given the same rights as their white counterparts. Though the
protestors in Birmingham were a small handful of this entire population, they
represented this larger group and strived to be the voices of change for the
entire nation. The Birmingham Campaign proved to be effective in regard to
national change, which was shown when President Kennedy began focusing his
attention on black equality struggles. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 was directly influenced by the events that occurred in Birmingham, which
shows how effective the protest was at inspiring change. The Birmingham
Campaign demonstrates that with effective leadership and organization, as well
as a clear identity, change can occur even when it seems impossible. The
Birmingham Campaign is an inspiring protest that will surely continue to influence
history for years to come.
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