In the mid-twentieth century, Birmingham, Alabama was known as the key that opened the door to the civil rights movement. For a long time in American history, racial inequality has created numerous controversies between citizens of different cultures. In the South, there were countless racial viewpoints, leading to brutality and inequality. In August 1963, Martin Luther King's famous “I Have a Dream” speech spoke to many citizens during the historic march. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The March on Washington was a mass protest that allowed approximately 250,000 people to gather at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and hear Martin Luther King's call to end racial inequality. Located in Birmingham, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was recognized as the first place of worship for African Americans. Throughout the 1960s, the church held numerous organizational meetings with many prominent African American intellectuals including W. E. B. Du Bois and Mary McLeod Bethune. (“Sixteenth Street Baptist Church” Encyclopedia of Alabama). During the mid-20th century, the Sixteen Street Baptist Church was a turning point for many civil rights extremists. Local communities felt that everyone needed equality and decided that an agreement was the only solution. The extremists negotiated an agreement with the local jurisdiction to begin the unification of the schools; the agreement caused countless numbers of people to become enraged, leading to an attack. The attack was initially intended to disturb African American extremists who hoped to end segregation; instead, the attack caused exactly the opposite. Birmingham was also the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. The influence of the Ku Klux Klan had a powerful effect on society during the mid-20th century. Many African American families could not go to the library, the park, or even walk to school. In some cases, many children's books have been banned from sale due to racial issues. Problems of brutality against Birmingham's black community were not unusual, but the deliberate bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church took that violence to a new level. In the early 20th century, the church was a platform for African American society and the civil rights movement in Birmingham. The church hosted a large number of assemblies and became the corporate headquarters for many anti-segregation protests. Serving as the corporate office for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the church became the central site of racial tension and white hatred of the civil rights movement. The tension culminated around 10.30am on Sunday 15 September 1963, when the church was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was not only a gathering place for civil rights meetings, but also a place of worship. Churches are meant to be safe havens; they are places free of brutality and considered peaceful. African Americans thought the church was a safe place; in reality the violence happened here. On September 15, 1963, the lives of many families changed forever. Sunday morning, before the service, a bomb exploded killing four innocent girls. Ku Klux Klan members killed Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. There were a total of at least twenty people injured as a result of the bombing. However, imagine knowing a few minutes before everyone else that an explosion was about to occur. Carolyn McKinstry was a fifteen-year-old secretary who answeredon the phone a few minutes before the explosion. McKinstry said that morning was like a typical Sunday, except for the phone call he received. She said: “When I got to the office, the phone was ringing and the caller on the other end of the phone said, “tremble. “It was a man calling, but he hung up as quickly as he said” (Joiner, Lottie L. “4 Little Girls: The Bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church”). McKinstry stated that the four girls had taken approximately fifteen enters into the church when the bomb explodes. The building collapsed as people searched for their family members. Absolute chaos has haunted many survivors for nearly fifty-five years, emotional and shocking image of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing Sarah Collins Rudolph was a survivor, who lost her sister in the bombing. He was twelve years old when his older sister, Addie Mae, died in the explosion just standing there bleeding," recalls Rudolph, at 62. "And someone came and they picked me up, carried me out through the hole and they put me in [an] ambulance" (Oct, Tanya. "Long Forgotten, 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor Speaks"). Rudolph was hit by glass, causing her to lose her sight from right eye. She was hospitalized for months and was told to leave everything behind, but it wasn't that easy. The investigation into the attack took a long time. Many people came to work on the case, but the investigation were difficult due to the lack of evidence. Most of the evidence had been destroyed along with the church. Eventually, the FBI discovered that the bombers were four members of the Ku Klux Klan. The members' names were Thoman Edwin Blanton, Jr. , Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss and Bobby Frank Cherry. Unfortunately, the case was closed in 1968 and the men were never arrested. In 1971, William Baxley, a new attorney general of Alabama, decided to reopen the case in search of old evidence. The attorney general's efforts helped convict the group's leader, Robert Chambliss, who was sent to prison in 1977 ("The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing"). In 2002 Bobby Cherry died, but Thomas Blanton and Herman Cash were both found guilty. The tragedies that occurred in Birmingham, Alabama not only left the city shocked, but left many people defenseless. Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was not the first attack on a church. Between 1947 and 1965 approximately nineteen attacks involved places of worship or ministers' houses. “Birmingham had earned the nickname “Bombingham” in recognition of the fifty bombings of black homes and places of worship since 1947” (Thorne, TK p. 12). The scars that the survivors received were not only visible, but also mental and financial. Many people have pushed for the idea of ​​creating a foundation from the city to help families and survivors. However, many survivors have been left out of many occasions honoring the tragedy at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. There are many citizens of Birmingham who do not know some of the stories of the survivors. The church bombing not only gave everyone a mental picture, but also reminded everyone how tragic Birmingham once was. The church served as a foundation for the civil rights area and as a reminder to citizens of indifferent feelings. Community anger and disgust over the killing of four young women, in a house of worship, helped support civil rights legislation. The attack was originally intended to disturb activists.