Birmingham Manifesto

The Birmingham Manifesto is a statement of principles that was drafted by Fred Shuttlesworth and Nelson Smith for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights on April 3, 1963 at the outset of the planned Birmingham Campaign of mass demonstrations aimed at winning the repeal of Birmingham's segregation laws and establishing integrated hiring policies among merchants and in city government. The document outlined the movement's justification for civil disobedience and direct action as the last resort for establishing justice. The document spelled out the demands of the movement:

• Immediate desegregation of lunch counters, restrooms and drinking fountains in downtown department and variety stores.
• The hiring of Negroes as clerks or office workers in Birmingham businesses
• Establishment of a bi-racial committee to work out a schedule for desegregation in other areas of life.

The document pledged that boycotts and sit-in demonstrations would continue until those demands were satisfied. The manifesto was distributed in the form of handbills on the day after the 1963 Birmingham mayoral election. The document was largely ignored by the press, which helped foster the mistaken impression in Birmingham as well as in the U. S. Justice Department that movement leaders were unfocussed and were stirring people up without stated aims.

Excerpts

The patience of an oppressed people cannot endure forever. The Negro citizens of Birmingham for the last several years have hoped in vain for some evidence of good faith resolution of our just grievances [...] We have been segregated racially, exploited economically, and dominated politically. Under the leadership of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, we sought relief by petition for the repeal of city ordinances requiring segregation and the institution of a merit hiring policy in city employment.

We believe in the American Dream of democracy, in the Jeffersonian doctrine that "all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these being life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Twice since September we have deferred our direct action thrust in order that a change in city government would not be made in the hysteria of a community crisis. We act today in full concert with our Hebraic-Christian tradition, the law of morality, and the Constitution of our nation. The absence of justice and progress in Birmingham demands that we make a moral witness to give our community a chance to survive.

We appeal to the citizenry of Birmingham, Negro and white, to join us in this witness for decency, morality, self-respect and human dignity. Your individual and corporate support can hasten the day of "liberty and justice for all." This is Birmingham's moment of truth in which every citizen can play his part in her larger destiny.

References

• Eskew, Glenn T. (1997) But for Birmingham: The Local and National Movements in the Civil Rights Struggle." Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807846678