Social Stratification in the Deep South

Today was a really interesting and moving day, centered on the era of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The first part of the day involved a free hour where we were supposed to explore Kelly Ingram Park and the 16^th Street Baptist Church. I was very disappointed to hear that the church was closed for some reason, but the extra time spent in the park was really valuable. Kelly Ingram Park is where the children who were marching for civil rights during May 1963 were combated with fire hoses and vicious dogs. The park consisted of a “freedom walk” which circled around the park and featured various statues and sculptures commemorating the events. I felt it was really important to take the time and look at the statues to realize what had really happened on the very ground we were standing. It was hard to imagine the turmoil that went on over 40 years ago as we stood in this peaceful park; yet the statues cast a darker perspective on everything. There were two sculptures that left a huge impression on me. The first depicted the dogs used by police to halt the protesters, and the dogs were so realistic and terrifying that it literally sent chills down my spine to think about one of them coming after me. The next statue or sculpture of sorts that was really interesting to me had a bunch of children, and on the other side of the walkway were bars from a jail cell. Above the bars, the words “segregation is a sin” were imprinted, but the really curious thing about these words is that they were upside down. I don’t know what the significance of them being upside down was, but it really made you stop and think about the whole situation. My personal interpretation for this was that these protesting kids turned the civil rights movement upside down in sorts. It is easy to see the parallel because children, who normally have no say, were in this case the ones with the power who were causing problems for police, crowding the jails, and forcing action.

After taking in the park, we ate lunch at a soul food restaurant a couple blocks down the street, and then moved on to what I thought was the highlight of the day. We met in the Civil Rights Museum to listen to Helen Shores Lee, Barbara Shores, and Peggy Heidi tell us about what it was like growing up in Birmingham during that era. They told a lot of stories and really gave great insight into what it was like growing up that time as either a white or black child. The Shores sisters spoke about their house being bombed twice within a week and a half. Thank goodness nobody was hurt. These stories really put you into a different mindset about the whole civil rights movement because it is one thing to watch a documentary and read about what happened, but it is completely different when real live people are sitting in front of you telling their story. This was definitely the highlight of the day for me, as everything those ladies had to say and share with us was meaningful. I am on this trip to learn about these types of issues, and this was the first time that I really felt like had an understanding of the situation rather than just an appreciation of what happened. There was much more to the afternoon we spent with these ladies, as Ms. Heidi took us on a bus tour of Dynamite Hill, and we were able to stop in and visit the house where her grandmother used to live. We also saw the house that Angela Davis grew up in across the street, and stopped by the first elementary school to be integrated in Birmingham, where crosses were burned on a regular basis.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours, and then our night time activities included eating dinner at a famous barbecue place with a Wake Forest alum from Birmingham, and a nice group reflection on the day. I really felt like our reflection time was a great way to end the day because it allowed the students to meet with Marcus and discuss what we felt was important about the day. Our group dynamic really seems to come out during these reflections, and it’s great to be able to talk about the different ways things affected different people, and to bring in multiple perspectives. Tomorrow we will finally get to go inside the 16^th Street Baptist Church when we attend service there, and I am really looking forward to that. It should be a really interesting cultural and religious experience. I’m expecting it to be completely different from the Catholic masses I’m used to attending, and I can’t wait to see if this is true.