The Children's Crusade was the name bestowed upon a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 2, May 3, May 4, and May 5, 1963, during the American Civil Rights Movement's Birmingham Campaign. Initiated and organized by Rev. James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. Many children left their schools in order to be arrested, set free, and then to get arrested again the next day. The marches were stopped due to the head of police "Bull Connor" who brought fire hoses to ward off the children and set police dogs after the children.
Malcolm X was opposed to the event because he thought it might expose the children to violence. He said, "Real men don't put their children on the firing line.”
A pivotal civil rights campaign was fought in Birmingham, the most segregated city in the US. Fire hoses and dogs were used to prevent them from meeting the Mayor. The students remained non violent. This is a cause of the 1964 Civil Right Act.
Famous quotes containing the words children and/or crusade:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“This Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing.”
—Harold Wilson, Lord Riveaulx (1916–1995)