Children's Crusade (1963)

The Children's Crusade, or Children's March, was a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, May 2–5, 1963, during the Birmingham campaign. Initiated and organized by Rev. James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. Many children left their schools and were arrested, set free, and then arrested again the next day. The marches were stopped by the head of police, Bull Connor, who brought fire hoses to ward off the children, and set police dogs after the children. This event compelled President John F. Kennedy to publicly support federal civil rights legislation, and eventually led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Children's Crusade
Part of the Birmingham campaign
in the Civil Rights Movement
DateMay 2 – 5, 1963
Location
Birmingham, Alabama
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
SCLC member Commissioner of Public Safety

Malcolm X was opposed to the event because he thought it would expose the children to violence. He said: "Real men don't put their children on the firing line"[1]

Thesis

On May 2, 1963, the children of Birmingham, Alabama overcame the cultural fear that was embedded in Southern society since slavery. Thousands of children gathered at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in place of their parents, who under Alabama law and social oppression, faced harsh penalties such as loss of their jobs and jail time if they protested the racist and unjust segregation laws of Alabama.

In response to the mass arrests of the children, Commissioner of Public Safety, Bull Connor, finally ordered police to use police dogs, high-pressure fire hoses, batons, and arrest these children if "deemed" necessary. Despite this harsh treatment, children still participated in the marches. On May 5, protestors marched to the city jail where many young people were being held and continued practicing their tactics of non-violent demonstrations. Subsequently, the publicity the event garnered broke the barrier to equality and social justice sought after for so many years by civil rights activists, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act was underway.

A dwindling movement

Although the Civil Rights Movement had been active under Dr. Martin Luther King's leadership, little progress was being made. After some major legal victories, the movement was beginning to stagnate. President Kennedy refused to support a Civil Rights bill and Dr. King was running out of options. He looked to Birmingham where African Americans lived segregated and in fear as second class citizens. In January 1963, Dr. King arrived to organize nonviolent protests such as marches and sit-ins. The goal; get a reaction from the racist officials that would not only spotlight the injustice of the south but gain national attention and support.

The plan failed as authorities adopted his nonviolent approach. Drastic measures were then taken by SCLC's James Bevel before Dr. King abandoned Birmingham. Children would march instead. During the march the real south showed its ugly side, giving Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement the jolt and leverage it needed to accomplish its ultimate goal. "Around the world, people heard the stories and saw the photographs of what was happening in Birmingham." - Cynthia Levinson "I think we were the pivotal point that caused some changes to take place in society. I think the nation was so outraged by how children were being treated in a nonviolent movement until it touched the hearts of people who otherwise might not have noticed what was going on." Janice Kelsey

Federal Response

Before the Children's March, federal response was limited in an effort to balance federal authority and state rights. The Children's March played a pivotal role when it came to truly ending segregation. The media coverage of the injustices of southern law and culture brought the plight of Southern African Americans to the national stage. After additional measures were taken, President Kennedy could not avoid the issue, and on June 11, 1963 presented his intentions to establish new federal civil rights legislation and ended segregation in Birmingham.

"This is not a sectional issue…Nor is this a partisan issue…This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone...We are confronted primarily with a moral issue." President Kennedy, June 11, 1963

"Deep in America, because your skin is dark, you cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public. If he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want than - then who among us can be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?" President John F. Kennedy, 1963

Aftermath

After the march, the Civil Rights Movement regained momentum. But on September 15, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four African American girls. One month later, Dr. King led the March on Washington where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. A month after that, President Kennedy was assassinated. It was President Lyndon B. Johnson who saw the controversial Civil Rights Act through the following year, a victory for the Civil Rights Movement made possible because of the children of Birmingham.

The children who died in the church bombing were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Robertson, all 14, and Denise McNair, 11.[2]

See also

References
  1. Manis, Andrew (1999). A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, p. 370. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-585-35440-5
  2. Manis, Andrew M. (29 October 2001). A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Google Books: University of Alabama Press. p. 370. ISBN 978-0817311568.

Further reading

Reading

Folk music
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