bull connor

Who was 'Bull' Connor?

Name: Theophilus Eugene 'Bull' Connor

Born: July 11 1897, Selma, USA

Died: March 10 1973, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Cause of death: Multiple strokes

Political Party: Democratic party

Nationality: American

Occupation: Commissioner of Public Safety,

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham in 1963

>Was one of the most racially divided cities in the United States.

>60 percent of the population were white.

>The average income for blacks in the city was less than half that of whites.

>Birmingham had no black police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, bank workers or store cashiers.

>The unemployment rate for blacks was two and a half times higher than for whites.

>Was nicknamed 'Bombingham' because of the many bombing attacks against civil rights protesters.

How did Bull Connor and the southern white racists contribute to the struggle for black equality?

Although Bull Connor did not intend to contribute to the end of white supremacy, his bold views and belief that violence was the answer caused the world to see the harsh and unfair truth about racism in America. He made a big impact on the civil rights movement and in a short time after his time as public safety officer in Birmingham, segregation was eventually outlawed. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court banned segregation in public schools, in August 1957 blacks were allowed to vote, and finally by 1968, blacks and whites were equal.

What tactics did the protestors use?

Protesters against racism in America decided that non violent protest was the way to change peoples views. Their tactics were...

>To manipulate Bull Connor and his followers to make them look bad.

>To use children and other vulnerable people as targets for violence and abuse.

>To not fight back when they were attacked so people would have sympathy for them.

>To try and get images of harm being done to innocent protesters in the press and on the news.

'Bull' Connor

Laurie Pritchett

Laurie Pritchett was the public safety officer in Albany, Georgia at almost the same time as Bull Connor. However he took a different approach to protesters. Instead of fighting fire with fire he was successful in enforcing segregation by making sure that the protesters didn't make a scene and making sure his officers didn't look bad. This meant that the protesters didn't get any publicity and no one had any sympathy for them. The protesters got restless and therefore got bored and moved on.

He therefore was successful in doing what Bull Connor had been aiming to do, and keeping his city segregated.

How did he and the southern white racists contribute to the struggle for black equality?

How did the world view him?

Him, his actions and his ideas were seen to other serious white supremacists as empowered and a good way of keeping order in their country. However, to people whose views were not as certain, he came across as being harsh and unfair. People who were undecided about their views on racism were embarrassed by his drastic and blatantly racist actions, and this highlighted to the rest of the world how unfair racial segregation was. Because of the way the protesters manipulated Connor, it made the world believe more strongly that he was a villain who would target weak victims to make himself look better and it magnified the seriousness and unfairness of the situation.

His beliefs...

'Bull' Connor believed in segregation and white supremacy. In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. launched a series of non-violent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. 'Bull' was a police chief and ordered his police force to break up the demonstrations violently using fire hoses, police dogs and batons. This was because he disagreed with the idea of racial equality, and believed that violence was the only way to stop his country becoming racially integrated.