The Pros And Cons Of Racism

Stereotypes, discrimination, inequality, and prejudice, all words to describe the harsh reality of racism. Racism by definition, “is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one 's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others” (“Racism”). In other words, racism comes into play when one race feels as if they are superior to another for certain reasons or just love the mindset that they are above another for no specific reason. The southern part of the United States has long been home to racism due to its past of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement …show more content…
Their main purpose was to suppress newly freed slaves, and protest the Republican’s party plan for reconstruction in the south. Their group gained national recognition for their different tactics of inciting fear in African Americans who were trying to better themselves from what they once were. They were infamous for murders, lynchings, terrorist acts, and most of the time, these criminals were left innocent with no one blinking an eye. The Klan would eventually die off for a while, rarely making its presence known, but then in the 1950’s the Klan made its reappearance with the civil rights movement reaching new heights and extreme progress. They had a strong influence on the south and were able to gain thousands of followers by claiming that African Americans and other minorities would become superior and take away everything they believed they had worked for. Although this idea might seem not to be plausible by many, the Klan had a way of persuading their audiences to join their group with displays of irrational fears and propaganda. When the civil rights era passed and new rights were passed for minorities, the Klan died off once again, to this day they are not as widespread, but their presence is still known. According to The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Klan is estimated to be at a membership number of 3,000. Although they claim to have around 5,000 members (qtd. in …show more content…
After the incident, the FBI started their investigations. A memo that was sent in 1965 to Edgar J. Hoover named four men as prime suspects of the bombing: Thomas Blanton, Robert Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash. After many years of investigations, trials, and interviews, three of the four suspects were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Cash died in 1994. These four men all had something in common, they were all part of the Cahaba River Group, a splinter group of the Eastview Klavern #13 chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. This chapter was also responsible for the 1961 attacks on the Freedom Riders at the Trailways bus station in Birmingham. It is evident that this bombing was not just a sign of terrorism, but a sign of violent racism in the south. Other bombings took place in different African American churches in the south, but this one was an iconic tragedy in during the civil rights era. Four young girls were killed because of the color of their skin. Innocent, loving girls who came to what they thought was the safest place in the world were killed in an unjust manner because of certain people’s hatred for people who didn’t look the same as they did, or had a different skin color then they did. This bombing was a sad event that took place and made it obvious racism was in the south, no matter where you were. (“16th Street