1963 Childrens Crusade and today

[fredtoast]

From 1957 through 1963 there were 21 bombings of black owned properties or black run businesses in Birmingham Alabama.  These repeated acts of violence eventually fueled protests and children were on the forefront.

In spring of 1963 Dr Martin Luther King organized a series of protests in Birmingham. There were some small demonstrations in front of certain segregated businesses but the final and largest phase was the "childrens march" or "Childrens Crusade". Adults would lose jobs and suffer severe fines if they were arrested. So the plan was to fill the Birmingham jails with children in order to draw national attention to their plight. On May 2 children all over the city left school and began marching from the 16th Street Baptist Church to City Hall to speak to the Mayor. By the end of the day 959 children, some as young as six years old were arrested. Over the course of the protest hundreds more would be arrested and spend up to a week in jail

The second day of the Crusade was a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. That was the day Birmingham Sheriff Bull Conner used high pressured water hoses and attack dogs on children. Photos of children getting attacked by dogs and having their cloths torn off by fire hoses spread not just across the country, but around the world. The nation was shocked and embarrassed. Dr. Kings movement suddenly had a huge following all over the country. Up to that point President Kennedy had not moved on Civil Rights because the southern states were so strongly Democrat. But with nationwide support for the movement he was forced into action. In June he gave a speech outlining the proposed Civil rights legislation. By July of the next year the Civil rights Act was passed into law.

Children protesting is nothing new.

[Dill]

(03-15-2018, 10:46 PM)fredtoast Wrote: From 1957 through 1963 there were 21 bombings of black owned properties or black run businesses in Birmingham Alabama.  These repeated acts of violence eventually fueled protests and children were on the forefront.

In spring of 1963 Dr Martin Luther King organized a series of protests in Birmingham. There were some small demonstrations in front of certain segregated businesses but the final and largest phase was the "childrens march" or "Childrens Crusade". Adults would lose jobs and suffer severe fines if they were arrested. So the plan was to fill the Birmingham jails with children in order to draw national attention to their plight. On May 2 children all over the city left school and began marching from the 16th Street Baptist Church to City Hall to speak to the Mayor. By the end of the day 959 children, some as young as six years old were arrested. Over the course of the protest hundreds more would be arrested and spend up to a week in jail

The second day of the Crusade was a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. That was the day Birmingham Sheriff Bull Conner used high pressured water hoses and attack dogs on children. Photos of children getting attacked by dogs and having their cloths torn off by fire hoses spread not just across the country, but around the world. The nation was shocked and embarrassed. Dr. Kings movement suddenly had a huge following all over the country. Up to that point President Kennedy had not moved on Civil Rights because the southern states were so strongly Democrat. But with nationwide support for the movement he was forced into action. In June he gave a speech outlining the proposed Civil rights legislation. By July of the next year the Civil rights Act was passed into law.

Children protesting is nothing new.

I am guessing that King was accused of deploying children as political pawns.

[*michaelsean*]

(03-16-2018, 01:01 AM)Dill Wrote: I am guessing that King was accused of deploying children as political pawns.

Quote:Adults would lose jobs and suffer severe fines if they were arrested. So the plan was to fill the Birmingham jails with children in order to draw national attention to their plight.

Yeah he pretty much did. 

[GMDino]

(03-16-2018, 01:01 AM)Dill Wrote: I am guessing that King was accused of deploying children as political pawns.

Clearly he was manipulating them.  

[fredtoast]

(03-16-2018, 01:01 AM)Dill Wrote: I am guessing that King was accused of deploying children as political pawns.

Yhe story is that at first he did not want to use children, but he just was not able to get a large enough number of adults who could afford to go to jail, pay fines, and lose their jobs.  Children actually volunteered and wanted to help.  They knew what was going on and they were outraged.  In fact many argued that the most damaging effect of segregation was on children's education.  The inferior education at the all black schools was exacerbating the lack of opportunity for blacks when they became adults.  Public education is probably the one greatest tool in giving equal opportunity to everyone.

I don't know if it was his plan from the beginning or if he was forced to use children, but the kids were not being manipulated in any way. They were not "used" anymore than any adult protestor who would have gotten arrested.

There are tons of stories out there from the children themselves (told as adults).  Many of them disobeyed their parents in order to take part in the protests.

[fredtoast]

(03-16-2018, 08:53 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Yeah he pretty much did. 

A "pawn" is considered helpless and used against its own will.

That was not the case here at all.

[*michaelsean*]

(03-16-2018, 10:35 AM)fredtoast Wrote: A "pawn" is considered helpless and used against its own will.

That was not the case here at all.

I'm not making a judgment, and I don't that I agree with your definition, but they are children and we allow that they aren't fully able to make decisions.  Some were 6.  

[fredtoast]

(03-16-2018, 10:39 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I'm not making a judgment, and I don't that I agree with your definition, but they are children and we allow that they aren't fully able to make decisions. 

Many of them defied their parents in order to take part in the protest.  A six year old may not have understood all of the details, but most of these children were 100% capable of making their own decisions.  They new they were not allowed all the privileges of white kids.  They knew they were getting an inferior education.  

[*michaelsean*]

(03-16-2018, 11:23 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Many of them defied their parents in order to take part in the protest.  A six year old may not have understood all of the details, but most of these children were 100% capable of making their own decisions.  They new they were not allowed all the privileges of white kids.  They knew they were getting an inferior education.  

I think we just disagree on what a political pawn is, if not the use of it here.  I have no problem with what was done.

[Belsnickel]

(03-16-2018, 11:28 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I think we just disagree on what a political pawn is, if not the use of it here.  I have no problem with what was done.

Yeah, I am in the same boat. Pawns have their own agency in my mind, and plenty of people get used as pawns that have their own power in a system.

[Dill]

(03-16-2018, 10:00 AM)GMDino Wrote: Clearly he was manipulating them.  

They were all manipulated.

It is well known that King himself was a pawn of he Communist party, using racial grievance to tear down America.
Or why else would J. Edgar be surveilling him?

So the children were pawns of pawns, part of a vast plot to make America look bad, directed from Moscow.

Today we see again that our American system is under attack, and probably still from Moscow, as liberals use our children to manipulate us into giving up our guns, leaving the country defenseless.

Not to worry though! The liberal Kennedys and Johnsons are gone.

Today we have a president who will stand up to Moscow.