A Great Day in Birmingham

    On this field trip, I learned that discovering what happened so close to where I live really wasn't boring at all. I've never been one to love museums or like to read all the billions of words plastered on the wall, but I thought this museum was really cool. I discovered the difference between white and colored people in a way that I've never seen before, and I also learned that when I turn 20 I should be moved out of my parents house in 30 days. Visiting the church where four precious girls were killed by a bomb, made it easier to realize how real all of this was. Visiting the park where riots took place, and walking down streets that were once segregated, not only did I hear about it, but I saw it. Being able to stand in the places where all of these things unfolded gave me chills. I learned that white southerners are somewhat ashamed of what happened in Birmingham. I remember when looking at the costume of a KKK member, the card below read that the costume had been given anonymously. When seeing this, I could only think that maybe the person who donated that wanted to remain anonymous because they were ashamed of what they or their family members had done.
      I have never been one to think that the Civil Rights movement affected my family at all, but after visiting this museum, I realized that my grandparents and father were living in Birmingham in this time period. That's crazy to me!!! I know that my grandfather was unbelievably racist in his younger years, but I never understood why, but now i do. The time in which he grew up, was an awful time and a time where he had been taught nothing else. It's weird to even think that my dad was alive for some of this movement.
     I think this trip to Birmingham was very important and helpful in understanding perspectives from both sides of the civil rights movement. It was interesting the see the reasoning behind the harsh actions of the whites, but I understand that they thought they were justified back then, but that doesnt make it right. After this trip, I sympathize more with the black community in this time period than I ever have, and I owe that to this trip to Birmingham. I understand things can easily be googled or seen on the internet, but its nothing like seeing it in color and in person. To see where a bomb had once taken four lives, and to see a place where hundreds of people were drenched with fire hoses in the most painful way. This trip was awesome and very useful in learning more about this Civil Rights Movement.