Birmingham Blessings - Part 3 of 3

We have been trying to help the boys understand the struggle for Civil Rights in our country through the different places we have visited in Dearborn, Atlanta and Tuskegee.  In Birmingham we were able to go to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  This was the first time that the concepts really started to sink in for Gherkin.  We had to address the fact that children are a part of the KKK.  We discussed why someone might donate KKK regalia anonymously.  We discussed the discrepancy in budgets in schools that continues to today.  I think all of us were pretty loaded down by the time we got toward the end of the museum and many of us were not even able to finish reading all the exhibits.

"Separate but Equal" Classrooms c. 1953

Budget

$100 per student vs $50 per student.  

Pictures on the walls

George Washington and Eisenhower vs. Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas

 Lots of discussion about deciding to be involved in the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested.

 The Freedom Riders

 The Institute sits on a corner with a park and the 16th Street Baptist church which has been bombed on 3 occasions including the death of 4 young girls. We had not been taught in school about the jailing of children during one of the marches and it was difficult to have to explain to Gherkin how the Sheriff turned water hoses and dogs on the children.  A very important learning experience for us all but also very challenging.