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Sit-ins at restaurants elicited hateful response from the public which showed the irrationality of racism.
Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Alabama launched Project C (the Birmingham Campaign) in spring of 1963. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth and others, this was a series of protests, marches, and sit-ins to protest and bring attention to the segregation and racism in America. In order to bring attention to the economic disparity black people faced, they intended to boycott businesses to impact them economically and therefore pressure business owners to employ and serve people of all races, and end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, schools, and stores. Marches were also intended to provoke mass arrest to showcase the reluctance to recognize the problem of racism. By just the first day of marching, 700 people were arrested. After five days, 2500 protesters were jailed, 2000 of them were young people. Hoses and dogs were set on protesters which Americans saw on the news. Peaceful protests were met with violent reaction from police which would create some of the most iconic pictures of the Civil Rights Movement and later the end of legal segregation, showing the power of the media.
The campaign ended after 38 days after local officials and business owners agreed to remove racist signs from bathrooms & drinking fountains, segregated lunch counters, employ a plan to help black people find jobs, and release jailed protesters, after pressure from JFK and others. The president started to push for a new Civil Rights law. Desegregation was met with violent reactions such as bombings which gave Birmingham the nickname “Bombington." This campaign proved that hurting people economically will make them pay attention, and showcased the significance and impact of the media.
The images of police brutality during the protests shocked the world and gained a lot of sympathy for the civil rights movement, including persuading Kennedy that there was a need for change.
Birmingham is an example of how media can affect a movement. People began supporting the civil rights movement after they saw the pictures of dogs and hoses being turned on people peacefully protesting. The number of television sets increased by around 60 million in 15 years, and more people were able to visually experience the news and see what was happening. Because the protestors expected violence as a response to their peaceful protests, and there strategy was getting media coverage, It shows that violence gets the most attention and makes people care. It led to popular support for civil rights legislation and the spread of protests to other cities when riots occurred after the order of desegregation, JFK was convinced to propose legislation which became the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Some argue that the civil rights movement was ultimately a failure and never actually ended. Though we have made great strides in the past couple of decades, it is impossible to erase centuries of institutionalized racism instantaneously. Some people believe we live in a post-racial society and deny the existence of racial inequality in our country, but today people continue to protest against discrimination based on race. Recent protests in Ferguson, New York, and Baltimore have attracted international attention and started a discussion on the ongoing problem of racial profiling and discrimination. Protestors today remember the civil rights movement of the 1960s with movements such as boycotting Black Friday and protesting in businesses in order to impact people economically in order for them to pay attention. History seems to repeat itself as militarized police throw tear gas at protestors. Riots that have started after peaceful protests have gained the most attention in the news and affects the way people think about the movements, which reflects the power of the media and its control over how you perceive things. Some riots are a product of the chaos that occurs after peaceful protests and others are a result of people tired of not being heard and recognized. It supports the fact that violence unfortunately gets the most attention. However, the recent protests prove that with active participation from many different people, we will start to see change for the better.