The Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham

Building off of my other post, which focuses on my experience at the civil rights museum in Jackson, this post will talk about my experience at the civil rights institute in Birmingham and the area surrounding it. While I was disappointed with the ending of the civil rights museum in Jackson, I felt that the civil rights institute in Birmingham presented a somewhat better ending. While Jackson’s museum ended very abruptly, the institute in Birmingham switched from talking about civil rights in the U.S. to talking about international struggles in places like Yugoslavia, China, Russia, Berlin and Iraq. It attempted to tie the message of the civil rights movement with that of other oppressed groups struggling for civil rights and their lives. This broadened the overall message of the institute, making the civil rights movement a part of a larger struggle, similar to what King did in a number of his speeches. This way of approaching an ending to a civil rights museum is a double edged sword, however. While it does broaden the American civil rights movement, it ignores any events that are happening in the U.S. after the 1970s, and instead places the struggle for freedom elsewhere. This exclusion of modern domestic issues and events can create perpetuate a false narrative that civil rights in the U.S. is over, and that the only places where minority oppression is occurring is in locations outside of the U.S., namely countries that the U.S. has somewhat strained ties to such as China, Russia and the Middle East.

Initially, I did not realize the significance of the location of the civil rights institute in Birmingham. The institute is located directly across the street from the 16^th street Baptist church, the site of numerous civil rights gatherings as well as the target of racial terrorism that claimed the lives of four young girls. The institute takes special note of this, and includes a section dedicated to the prosecution of the individuals responsible for that act of terrorism. On the other side of the street from the institute is a park, with statues dedicated to the four girls, presenting a lasting reminder of the legacy of racism and terrorism in the city. The park also houses a number of other statues, some depicting children being sprayed with fire hoses, while others depict children being attacked by police dogs. I felt that this was one of the best ways that a city can address its past. By publicly acknowledging what has happened, a city can remember and hopefully not repeat the horrors of the past.