Why birmingham Essay Example For Students

Why birmingham Essay In the midst of racial tensions, a conscious decision was made to make Birmingham, Alabama the target to aid the civil rights movement. Why? Because the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had a deeply organized center there, because of the impulsive police commissioner, and because the Ku Klux Klan had one of its most violent chapters located in Birmingham. These reasons in addition to forty percent of the citys population being black (Hampton and Fayer, 124) contributed to the careful selection of Birmingham to aid in the hard struggle of the civil rights movement. The SCLC was particularly well-organized in Birmingham. With a budget of roughly one-million dollars, and divided in to different departments such as the Citizenship Education Department and the Department of Operation Breadbasket, the SCLCs organization was compared to that of General Motors by Reverend Wyatt Walker in 1963 (qtd by Morris, 253). The organization staged such acts as instituting economic boyco tts opposing businesses that discriminated against blacks. In addition to money and organization, the SCLC also had experience on their side. The people who headed the separate departments had taken part in many of the civil rights protests.(Morris, 253). Possessing all of these traits, the SCLC proved to be a strong force in the progress of the civil rights movement. We will write a custom essay on Why birmingham specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Another reason that Birmingham was chosen was because they had a racist, impetuous police commissioner by the name of Eugene Bull Connor (Morris,252). He was easy to infuriate and his violent responses to the non-violent protests served as good publicity to expose the injustice that minorities endured at the time. During a Freedom Ride in 1961, a riot broke out between protesters and those against the movement. The police were slow to arrive, according to Connor, because it was Mothers Day (Fairclough, 112). Blatant apathy towards the many violent and unjust acts that occurred during this time proved Eugene Bull Connor to be ignorant enough to fall into the SCLCs intricate plan for equality in the south. A third reason for the choice was the fact that one of the KKKs most violent klaverns was located in Birmingham. One of its members, Robert Chambliss, took part in bombings so often that he was known as Dynamite Bob. Chambliss and his fellow Klan members undoubtedly helped Birmingham become known as Bombingham (Hampton and Fayer, 124). The Klans ominous presence in the city was a brutal reminder that things had to change. These and many other reasons contributed to the selection of Birmingham, Alabama as the mark for the advancement of the civil rights movement. Without these factors, the effort to change the south from an ignorant and racist sector to the integrated south that we see today may have been impossible to achieve, and future efforts to progress this ongoing movement would seem a nagging impossibility. Bibliography:Fairclough, Adam. To Redeem the Soul of America. Athens: University ofGeorgia, 1987. Hampton, Henry, and Steve Fayer. Voices of Freedom. NY: Bantam Books,1990. Morris, Alan. The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement. NY: The Free Press, 1986.

Gatsby a story of lust, deceit and no romantic love Essays

Gatsby a story of lust, deceit and no romantic love Essays Gatsby a story of lust, deceit and no romantic love Paper Gatsby a story of lust, deceit and no romantic love Paper Gatsby is one of the wealthiest people In America and is completely Infatuated with Daisy Fay; someone he met, and deceived, five years ago. She Is only a figment of his imagination which he has constantly [Click] (decked) out with every bright feather that drifted his way (152). His idea of Daisy is a chimera, a green light on the wrong side of the bay. Slide 4] Gatsby deceives himself into thinking that by devoting his life to getting filthy rich, he can win back Daisy from Tom, whose freedom with money (is) a matter for reproach (1 1 He refuses to see that Daisy has mumbled short of his dreams (92) and instead clings onto his colossal postulation of Daisy. [Slide 5] Very simply and understated, Daisy Is materialistic and loves being the centre of attention. She cries over Gatsby shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel (89), not out of love but because of the wealth she could have had with someone else. Daisy Is In love with the idea of who Gatsby Is and how religiously he has thought about her, just like Gatsby is only In love with the perfect Idea of Daisy. Although they begin an adulterous affair, Daisy is only trying to get back at Tom and is presumably many past sprees (125). Gatsby wants to have the girl everyman desired before the war, and Daisy wants to experience something new, after all shes [Click] been everywhere and seen everything and done everything (24). Their relationship exists only for each others personal gain. Of course, Daisy is ashamed when she realizes she has had an affair with a gangster but only for the sake of her image. Even in the end, the girl of his dreams has the ability to prevent his death but does nothing, further showing that she never truly loved Gatsby In any romantic way. Based on just as much lust and deceit is the relationship between Tom and Daisy. Toms old wealth is exactly what Daisy looks for in a man and Daisys popularity with other men Is like a prize Tom has won Or bought. : They (are) careless people who (smash) up things and creatures and then (retreat) back Into their money or their vast carelessness And let other people clean up the mess they (have) made (170). [Slide 1 OFF money [Click] and Tom, the most obvious example being after murdering Myrtle. Ironically she describes Tom as revolting (125) and seems to despise him. She has deceived herself into thinking that image is the most important thing money can buy which makes it impossible for her to divorce Tom as it is frowned upon. Their relationship is based [Click] on no romantic love and consists of no respect as Tom makes no attempt to be discreet about his affair. It is the comfort of their wealth and selfishness to their own image that keeps them together, not romantic love. Disparaged by Tom, Myrtle Wilson, his current mistress is treated with less respect than Daisy. When she disobeys him, he smacks her on the snout without a second Hough. [Slide 7] She doesnt mind as all she wants is to pose as and be a part of the upper class. [Click] She desperately believes that Tom loves her, when really he only lusts for her. Her sister, Catherine, is convinced that its really his wife thats keeping them apart, shes a catholic and they dont believe in divorce (36). To contradict this, nothing is ever said about Daisy being a Catholic; her loose and nonreligious life style challenges the claim. Tom deceives Myrtle; he would never leave Daisy for someone who would Jeopardize his image. Slide 8] On the surface, it seems that Tom leads the perfect life and Myrtle wants to use him to rise up; the same way she used George to climb Just a little bit. Myrtle marries George because (she) thought he was a gentleman(37) and that he knew something about breeding (37), not out of love. Their relationship is based on Georges desire to have control over something in his life. When Myrtle begins to escape his control he decides that the best course of action is to lock her up; clearly showing that he does not really love Myrtle in any romantic sense but instead uses re for his own needs. No relationship in The Great Gatsby features any allusion to or imitation of romantic love. Each character builds relationships from lust and deceit. They do so in order to get whatever it is they desire and are ultimately parasites as they use all they want without giving anything back. [Click] [Click] The fact that The Great Gatsby elucidates how miserable life is for characters on opposite ends of wealth and status perhaps demonstrates Fitzgerald negative view on life and society. A society full of parasites s bound to run itself into the ground.