1. Birmingham 1963 (And the KKK)
English 12 African Heritage

2. Birmingham Alabama in the 60s
KKK stronghold
America’s “most racist” city (MLK)
What is the KKK?

3. 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.

4. The KKK uses terrorism, violence, and lynching to intimidate and oppress African Americans, Jews as well other racial and religious minorities.

5. 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, They made up the name by combining the Greek "kyklos" (circle) with "clan.” 5

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. Birth of a Nation
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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Lynching Mobs Hanging, burning, beating to death Mob justice
1880s – 1970s – Nearly 3500 lynchings of African Americans
Without Sanctuary

13. Without Sanctuary Postcards of lynchings Not accessible in school
James Allen
Youtube Video (Warning: Images are GRAPHIC)

14. 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.“

15. Campaign Slogan Segregation now, Segregation tomorrow,
Segregation forever!

16. 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

17. Birmingham 1960s Bull Connor Chief of Police Violent Racist
Adults were too afraid of him to protest
Hoses
Dogs
Bombings

18. 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”

19. 16th 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.

20. 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.

21. 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 six-month jail sentence for having the dynamite.

22. 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