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Essay On Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing

1140 Words5 Pages

1963 Church Bombing

“We've got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don't fight racism with racism. We're gonna fight racism with solidarity” (Fred Hampton). The day of the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a day where fire was fought with fire. According to the article, “Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing.", a black man was murdered by an officer who believed that the black man was apart of an uprising for civil rights. (“Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing." n.pag.). The 16th Street Church bombing shows the effects of segregation and racism, the lack of boundaries, the significance of churches, what the KKK believes in and the extent of …show more content…

According to “The role of the Black church in the Civil Rights Movement” by Vicki Phipps, the church was important because after slavery, black people could go there and feel safe. “People can only be enslaved for just so long before they find the hope inside to rise up for justice” (Phipps n.pag.). For a while the Civil Rights leaders did not have a place to meet and discuss things. The black community eventually migrated towards the Churches to plan their next move. “...the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, served as an organizing center for rallies and marches for racial desegregation…” (“Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing"). During the civil rights movement, the black community did not have much to depend on. “Oppression, rejection and segregation leave a human being with no one to turn to, but God” (Vicki Phipps n.pag.). With nothing to rely on African Americans use the church as their safe haven and a place of convenience. The church was more than a place to have meetings, it was a place where they could relax and talk to God. The African American church was so important that if anything happened, it would take the civil rights movement to a new

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