Everyone in America deserves civil rights. But, about 50 years ago, not everyone was treated with the respect they deserved. If most people in America had believed in civil rights, then the horrible crimes of this era would not have been committed. The 16th Street Birmingham Bombing was one of these horrid incidents. The Birmingham Bombings showed Americans that segregation is wrong and it needs to come to an end by all means necesary.
The 16th Street Birmingham Bombing was done by none other than the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), one of the most historic terrorist groups. In the event, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins (all 14 years old), and Denise McNair (11) were all killed during the blast. KKK members Robert Chambliss, Herman Cash, Thomas Blanton, and Bobby Chery set the dynamite that ended these little girls lives. Chambliss was tried for murder and possession of dynamite but was found not guilty of the murder charge. He was found guilty for possesion of dynamite and sentenced 6 months of prison. Chambliss was fined $100 for his crime. Essentially, he got away with the murder of four young and
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After the trials of the four murderers had been held, people started to realize that they were treating African Americans horribly. Much time had passed before people realized they needed to do something about this racial prejudice. About a year later, the Civil Rights Act was passed by congress stating that it “ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin…” (History.com) The act helped vanquish segregation in cities forever, yet it still did not fully do the job. The assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. followed in years after the law was made and showed that people still broke the rules and people still treated African-Americans with rotten