Black History Month Remembrance

Similar Tragedy but Different Responses


On the morning of September 15, 1963, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Virgil Ware looked forward to a day of celebration and fun. A day in which singing for the church choir and riding bicycles were normal activities for children their age. These five individuals will forever be linked because of the events that took place. Their lives had many similarities and differences.

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Virgil Ware were all young black children. They all were born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. And finally, they all were tragically killed on September 15, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The year of 1963 was very significant in that the United States was in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. The civil rights activists believed that all American citizens should be treated equal no matter what race they were. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with this assessment.

At 10:22 a.m. that morning, while attending the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were killed by a dynamite bomb set by Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert “Dynamite” Chamliss, and Herman Cash. At 4:45 p.m. that afternoon, while riding his bicycle, Virgil Ware was killed when two white youths shot him in the chest and cheek.

The individuals responsible for bombing the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert “Dynamite” Chamliss, were convicted in 1977, 2001, and 2003 respectively. Another former Klansman, Herman Cash, died without being charged.

The individuals responsible for shooting Virgil Ware was Larry Joe Sims and Michael Lee Parley. They both were sixteen years of age at the time. Each individual was charged with first-degree murder, but an all white jury convicted them of a lesser charge. The trail judge, Wallace Gibson, suspended their sentence and gave them two years probation.

As one can see, September 15, 1963 was very similar for each of these individuals, but there were stark differences in the way they are remembered. While the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley are frequently recalled through newspaper articles and movies, information on Virgil Ware’s life is rarely seen. This is sad considering that collectively, these 5 individuals changed they way the world viewed the Civil Rights Movement.

Written by COWBOY4EVER

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/churches/archives1.htm