Birmingham riots of 1963

Why they were rioting

In the Birmingham riot, the people rioting were trying to achieve racial equality and they wanted all the same rights that white men had. The main goal of the entire Birmingham campaign was to draw attention of the rest of the country and the world to the problems and injustices that black people were facing.

What lead to this happening?

The main cause for the riot was that a group of KKK members and racist police officers coordinated bombings directed towards the leaders of the Birmingham campaign

Who was involved?

The main leaders of each side were Martin Luther King Jr, and Bull conner, he was the commissioner of public safety in Birmingham and he was the man behind the attack dogs and firehose attacks. There were also many police officers, civilians, protesters, and even children involved in the riot.

Obstacles they had to overcome

The protesters had to overcome police brutality, getting attacked by police dogs, and getting sprayed by firehoses. They overcame all these problems by sending young children into the rioting zone with hopes that the racist people with hoses and dogs wouldn't attack young kids.

Lasting impact of the event

The government stepped in and that showed the Alabama people that racism is illegal and also it brought a lot of attention to the issues that black people were facing because of the television coverage of the riot.

Modern inequality

Baltimore riots

The riots in Baltimore were caused by the killing of black people buy white cops and in response to the white cops having no consequences for the killings, many people in Baltimore, MA started to riot and vandalize storefronts and other businesses. These riots were usually voilent because the protesters started cars on fire and looting. The riots lasted from April 29th- May 3rd. As a result of these riots, sports teams such as the Baltimore Ravens, and the Oriels had to postpone team activities and games because of the danger of the riots.

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