September 7, 1968: Miss America Protest

05/02/17 • 5 min

In the early 1920s women began to have a safe place outside the home. They were given more rights, not abused in the workplace, and were able to express themselves more freely. They stood up for what was right and in August of 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified; they were granted the right to vote. With this came responsibility, respect and much more freedom than they previously had. Also, the Miss America Organization started what is now a household name, the Miss America Pageant. It started as a way for the Atlantic City Boardwalk to hold tourism past Labor Day. It attracted many, from women wanting to participate in it, to people of all ages coming to watch. This Pageant was a product of its time, due to the previous decades of transformation for women in society. For many it was a time of expansion in social, political, and cultural activities for women. Not only did women in the workplace grow by 25%, but they began to express themselves more freely. They stopped following the Victorian norms that were pushed on them since birth. They became more modern by smoking cigarettes, dancing, and becoming more sexually liberated. They stopped wearing the normal clothing, and began to dress in clothing that allowed them to be active and were more comfortable. With their newfound liberations, they began to be sexual icons. With this came women wanting to show off what they had, making pageants a way to do so. Almost 100 years later, the Miss America Pageant is still a name that everyone knows. It is televised across the country and is a way for women to show their humanitarian ways, but mostly, their good looks. However, not everyone is the biggest fan. It emphasizes the idea that there is only one type of ideal women, and that anyone who does not follow those beauty standards is not equal. Many find the system flawed by how year after year there is a scary similarity between each year’s winners. Feminists have been questioning their system for years, the first public protest in 1968. On September 7th in 1968 the Atlantic City Boardwalk became flooded with angry women who found the pageant system flawed. They had girdles, curlers, and copies of popular magazines that over sexualized women. They called these “instruments of women-torture” and threw them into a plastic bin with the words “Freedom Trash Can” scrawled on it. Many onlookers heckled them, making fun of them for standing up for what they believed in. This protest brought a national spotlight to the Women’s Liberation Movement. Unlike previous riots against women’s oppression, this one came unknowingly to the public. It ran alongside the ongoing Miss America pageant, and it became a story that viewers heard loud and clear. Many women at home could understand and support these brave women for performing an unannounced protest right at the base of the issue, the actual pageant. Signs scattered the pier reading “Lets judge ourselves as people” or “Welcome to the Miss America cattle auction” or even “If you want meat, just go to the butcher”. Women of the time wanted to be seen as real people, not items. Even though they were standing up for their beliefs, feminists of the time were given a bad reputation. Carol Hanish led the protest and put the idea out to everyone. She later recalled that, “‘Bra-burner’ became a put-down term for feminists of my generation. The risqué implication of the term made the action embarrassing even to some feminists”. She believed that if there wasn’t such a negative connotation to being a feminist, nearly all women would have rushed to join.

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April 16th, 1963: "A Letter from Birmingham" is released

Martin Luther King held a peaceful, nonviolent protest in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. It is commonly referred to as the Birmingham movement. Because of King’s harmonious approach to the issue, he gained supporters for it quickly, and, although peaceful, his protests posed a high risk for its volunteers. Previous to the Birmingham movement, hundreds were arrested for participating in stand-ins. A temporary anti-protest injunction was passed by the Supreme Court on April 10th, 1963, at regard of officials of Birmingham’s request. It required petitioners to acquire a permit in order to hold mass events on the streets. Most people felt as if the injunction attacked their basic rights. It was discriminatory and it restricted freedom of speech without reason. The law was unjust and unconstitutional. The majority of protesters intended to violate the law and hold parades without permits. Despite the danger of leading a protest, King felt that it was necessary to take a faithful leap. He led one thousand african american people into the business district of the city. On April 12th, 1963, King was arrested for violating Alabama’s law forbidding public parades. He remained in The Birmingham City Jail for eleven days. Following his release on bail, a letter from a birmingham jail was written and released on April 16th, 1963. King outlined the injustices in the city and the extreme actions taken following the nonviolent campaign. He defended his nonviolent campaign to resist racism for everybody. It was published in various articles such as The American Friends Service Committee and Christianity and Crisis, as well as fifty thousand copies printed as pamphlets. The city charged him for being impatient, and he responded by claiming that when they felt the sense of ‘nobodiness’ that he felt, they would understand why he could not wait. He also called the laws unjust and unconstitutional, and claimed that human progress happens over time with hard work and sacrifice. He compared himself to other great extremists, such as Jesus and Abraham Lincoln. King’s letter led many down a path of revolution. Just over a week after King’s arrest and release on bail, one thousand more african american students attempted to march into downtown Birmingham. Hundreds were arrested on site, and hundreds more gathered the following day. Police officers beat protesters violently with clubs and hoses. Violence created an uproar when four young girls died in a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church. These images appeared on the news, triggering international outrage. King responded by instilling courage into volunteers and their families. He said that participants were not just achieving a job for themselves and America, but for all of mankind. His letter helped reignite the Birmingham movement and campaign. It helped African American citizens gain the recognition and attention that they needed, while acting as a source of courage in the face of brutality. Overall, MLK’s ‘Letter From a Birmingham Jail’ was extremely influential in the progression of African American’s in a racially unjust society.

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1963: The Birmingham Campaign

The Birmingham Campaign: During the early 1960s, segregation was at an all time high in the south, especially in Alabama. Times were very difficult for African Americans as they were seen as the inferior race. They were segregated from restaurants, bathrooms, water fountains and they had specific neighborhoods to live in. Furthermore, African American students were forced to attend different schools which were often not as good. Blacks were forbidden to be seen with whites. Birmingham Alabama was a city known for the extreme racism. The KKK dominated this city and years before, this group castrated an African American, forced a library to remove a book because it contained a black and white rabbit together and sought to end black music on radios. Martin Luther King Jr. said that Birmingham was “the worst big city in race relations in the United States.” The African Americans had enough with the extremities the whites were doing, so they sought change. The Birmingham Campaign was a movement in 1963 that worked to desegregate the public facilities in Birmingham, Alabama. These movements were run by Martin Luther King Jr, James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth and many others.The first protest in Birmingham was when Shuttlesworth pressured business employees to allow employment be open to all ethnicities and to put a stop to the segregated public facilities. However, this failed and the SCLC, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, agreed to help them. Soon a group began, which was called the Project C. Project C was a series of sit-ins, boycotts and nonviolent protests. The goal of Project C was to be on media and see why black people needed justice in the South. This was a success. People from across the country were changing views on the discrimination in the south as they saw everything that was happening. After being arrested so many times, King was sent to jail due to the protest he was apart of. While King was in jail, he wrote a letter explaining why he was in jail. "I am here because injustice is here," he wrote. "I would agree with Saint Augustine that 'an unjust law is no law at all.'" His words were powerful and motivating towards the other African American citizens in Birmingham. King and many others were willing to go to jail to fight for the rights they deserve. The Birmingham Campaign began to become very low on adult volunteers so James Bevel decided to recruit students to become the main focus of the campaign. He trained students in from elementary school to college in order for them to be able to participate in nonviolent protests and peaceful walks. However, this failed as it ended it thousands of arrests and children sitting in jail. Having children participate in these movements proved how passionated people were about the rights they deserved. On may 11th, things turned violent; a bomb went off at the Gaston Motel where King was previously stayed. Thankfully he had left earlier that day. In addition, another bomb exploded at King’s younger brother’s, A.D King, house. These two bomb attacks affected the protesters greatly and they become violent as well. They rioted through the city, burning building and cars and attacking police officers. Soldiers from the US army were forced to come to control the terror and violence. The Birmingham Campaign was a model of nonviolent directed actions to attract attention on the media to the rest of the country in order for others to see the problems occurring. Stores were desegregated, opportunities for African Americans improved and a biracial committee was set up in Birmingham to help fix the troubled community. This campaign ultimately paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.