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:
“Your children don’t have equal talents now and they won’t have equal opportunities later in life. You may be able to divide resources equally in childhood, but your best efforts won’t succeed in shielding them from personal or physical crises. . . . Your heart will be broken a thousand times if you really expect to equalize your children’s happiness by striving to love them equally.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)
“This Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing.”
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