16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Research Paper

Thousands of acts of white supremacy that targeted blacks all around the world. But there was only one act of white supremacy that catapulted the Civil Rights Movement to a new chapter. The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing was the spark that ignited a nation to bring an end to segregation and racism and brought the Civil Rights Movement to a new era. Martin Luther King Jr. stated “The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force that will bring new light to this dark city.” Martin was correct with his statement. Many people such as Martin were outraged by the bombing and protested as well as bringing about change in the United States. The Huffington post stated,“Racism is the most powerful force that can completely erase the humanity of human beings,” Dorothy Roberts, a law and sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, told The Huffington Post. “It’s a perverse sickening combination of very deeply embedded assumptions and experiences, but also the stake that people have in their privileges.” There are many instances where this has shown throughout history.

On Sunday, September 15, 1963, there was an explosion that killed 4 girls and injured 22 others at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama (“Vigilance and Victory”). In spite of the deaths, this act of white supremacy was the one that united the nation to combat segregation and discrimination. The 4 KKK members who had induced such pain and sorrow in many Americans were Thomas Edwin Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry. (“16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, Wikipedia”). These four men intended to slow down the progression of the Civil Rights Movement, but rather sprung it ahead into the creation of the Civil Rights Act which desegregated many public areas.