Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” tackles the issue of violence, segregation, and discrimination amongst African Americans in the 1960s. During this time period of turmoil and change, African Americans fought to remove remnants of racial inequalities from slavery in return for new civil liberties. Throughout Randall’s poem, the mother of the young girl stresses that she should not participate in the Freedom March because she fears that her daughter will be unsafe. Randall ends the poem with an image of the mother searching for her daughter within the rubble of a bombing. Many people attempt to forget the acts of segregation and violence towards African Americans during the Jim Crow Era, such as the acts expressed in “Ballad of Birmingham”.
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Seemingly simple activities during the day proved to be unsafe for civilians living during the sixties. Going to church or even riding the bus became feared due to the level of violence within communities. Groups like the freedom riders soon feared for their lives when facing “violence and beatings” upon “arriv[ing] at Southern bus terminals” (Ware 1089). Randall describes the extremity of violence prevailing in the South when mentioning that even churches were not safe from terrorism. The mother in the poem tells her daughter that she should not participate in the Freedom March, and instead attend church. The narrator emphasizes how the mother thought of church as a place where her daughter would be safe: “The mother even smiled to know her child / Was in the sacred placed” (Randall, line 22). Ironically, the church, a supposedly safe place, became a war scene when bombed. Hearing the “explosion, / Her eyes grew wet and wild” for she knew that her daughter may be injured (Randall, lines 25-26). His attitude and bluntness when writing about the bombing displays his utter disapproval of the violent actions. These events emphasize the severity of violence present in the community. Civilians should not have to fear for their lives when leaving the house or planning everyday …show more content…
Randall begins the poem by introducing what appears to be a peaceful march protesting the discriminations against the black community. Many of these protests, though peaceful, were combatted with violence and hatred. The poet expresses this hatred through the bombing of the church described in the final lines of the poem. Many of these acts of violence are often overlooked or downplayed in the mainstream media, “Yet scholars in African American history contend that civil rights movement discourse, especially from the news media, is restricted and simplified” (McElroy 336). To put a stop to this simplification, Randall personalizes the events by describing the lives of a mother and daughter as well as the effects of racism against the two. The daughter suggests, “Mother dear, may I go downtown / Instead of out to play, / And march the streets of Birmingham / In a Freedom March today” (Randall, lines 1-4). The Freedom March drastically contrasts the immoral bombing of a church in the city of Birmingham. This not only stresses the effect of hatred on the African American community but the immoral actions of the whites collectively. A plethora of people experienced the effects of the civil rights movement and immoral
Seemingly simple activities during the day proved to be unsafe for civilians living during the sixties. Going to church or even riding the bus became feared due to the level of violence within communities. Groups like the freedom riders soon feared for their lives when facing “violence and beatings” upon “arriv[ing] at Southern bus terminals” (Ware 1089). Randall describes the extremity of violence prevailing in the South when mentioning that even churches were not safe from terrorism. The mother in the poem tells her daughter that she should not participate in the Freedom March, and instead attend church. The narrator emphasizes how the mother thought of church as a place where her daughter would be safe: “The mother even smiled to know her child / Was in the sacred placed” (Randall, line 22). Ironically, the church, a supposedly safe place, became a war scene when bombed. Hearing the “explosion, / Her eyes grew wet and wild” for she knew that her daughter may be injured (Randall, lines 25-26). His attitude and bluntness when writing about the bombing displays his utter disapproval of the violent actions. These events emphasize the severity of violence present in the community. Civilians should not have to fear for their lives when leaving the house or planning everyday …show more content…
Randall begins the poem by introducing what appears to be a peaceful march protesting the discriminations against the black community. Many of these protests, though peaceful, were combatted with violence and hatred. The poet expresses this hatred through the bombing of the church described in the final lines of the poem. Many of these acts of violence are often overlooked or downplayed in the mainstream media, “Yet scholars in African American history contend that civil rights movement discourse, especially from the news media, is restricted and simplified” (McElroy 336). To put a stop to this simplification, Randall personalizes the events by describing the lives of a mother and daughter as well as the effects of racism against the two. The daughter suggests, “Mother dear, may I go downtown / Instead of out to play, / And march the streets of Birmingham / In a Freedom March today” (Randall, lines 1-4). The Freedom March drastically contrasts the immoral bombing of a church in the city of Birmingham. This not only stresses the effect of hatred on the African American community but the immoral actions of the whites collectively. A plethora of people experienced the effects of the civil rights movement and immoral