M2 A3 Letters from Birmingham

Running head: Letters from Birmingham

LASA 1- Letters from Birmingham

Mariana Reyes Valbuena

Argosy University

In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama was considered one of the most segregated cities in the United States. At that time, African Americans were considered people of second class, and where protesting against racists and people believing in the superiority of one race among other. During the spring of 1963 the Civil Rights Movement launched Project C which consisted on a series of non-violent acts to protest against segregation. Unfortunately, the movement was attacked by the Police and m people supporting the segregation status quo leading to thousands of protestors in jail, injured by the water hose or bitten by dogs.

The Judeo- Christian ethics established that we are all the same, and that we should all threat others the same way than one wish to be threatened. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Georgia and the southern states of the country, where since 1890’s African Americans were denied of their constitutional right to vote, faced housing, employment and education discriminations, and were refused access in public spaces such as restaurants or parks. The Civil Rights Movements was fighting for a more equal society, aligned with the Judeo- Christian ethics through nonviolent actions.

Segregation was a common injustice in the South on the United States, reinforced by racist extremist as Eugene “Bull” Conner or the KKK. The injustice in Birmingham was tied to all the communities in the South, because all these communities submitted the same injustice. If this was allowed in one, it would continue all over the region. In order to stop it, one community needed to show that they were tired of it, and that they were supportive of a change. Birmingham became an example for everyone because it brought national and international attention, and paved the way to the Civil Right Act in 1964.

For King every nonviolent campaign has to star by...