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4 Little Girls As Depicted In Spike Lee's Films

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On September 15, 1963, various Ku Klux Klan members bombed a church on 16th Birmingham in Alabama. This crime was committed to protest against black people fighting for their rights in America. The bombing of the church killed 4 little girls named Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins which caused an uproar all across America. The 4 little girls and their story should live on to remind people of the freedom people of color have come from tragedies such as the church bombing in Birmingham. Spike Lee’s enthralling documentary, 4 Little Girls, commemorates the death of 4 innocent little girls and how their tragic death helped spark a huge change for people of color in America, Lee’s conveys this through various …show more content…

The people interviewed in the documentary relay that being a black person was a mortifying experience in the southern section of North America. In 1957, Howell Raines witnessed Fred Shuttlesworth getting beaten with chains by a group of white men (Lee, 1997, 43:22). Once the police arrived and claimed they couldn’t find the criminals, Howell Raines claimed in his interview to have recognized one of the perpetrators. Raines informed Lee that the perpetrator was always at a local restaurant called “Jack Cash’s Barbeque” and Howell “...knew the police hung out at Jack Cash's barbecue and I knew they were lying” (Lee, 1997, 43:51). Many loved ones of the girls expressed their feelings towards having to explain racist issues to their kids. Parents struggle with explaining racism to children, and feel “That couldn't have been any less painful than seeing her with a rock smashed into her head” (Lee, 1997, 23:17). These stories are told by people who have actually witnessed and endured these harrowing times. These perspectives help provide an idea as to why the 16th street church bombing was so life changing in the worst way, but, not without leaving a substantial impact on the black

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The shock of the explosion becomes the first of many incidents against the black community that Davis experiences, impacting her own prejudices against white people, “White people’s hatred of us was neither natural nor eternal. She knew that whenever I answered the telephone and called to her, ‘Mommy, a white lady wants to talk to you,’ I was doing more than describing than the curious drawl. Every time I said ‘white lady’ or ‘white man’ anger clung to my words” (Davis 79). Davis’ experiences with the bombing of a member of her local community changed her view of white people and moved her towards her eventual activism and work to help other black people in her community. Anger clings to Davis as she continues to see how the world seems to be stacked against her, just because of the color of her skin, and the institutions she once followed seem to be doing less to protect her rights, naturally leading to the exploration of new ideas and movements to find community and

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