Why would children be unusually effective as civil rights protesters
In 1962, Governor Ross Barnett of Mississippi tried to prevent a black man, James Meredith, from enrolling in the University of Mississippi. Violence erupted on campus as angry mobs protested desegregation of the university. President John Kennedy had to send troops to stop the violence and allow Meredith to enroll.
In April 1963, Martin Luther King was jailed while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. While in jail, King wrote "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," which explained his reasons and tactics for seeking civil rights for black Southerners. Black Birmingham school children also joined in the protest in the so-called "Children's Crusade." Dozens of children were arrested, until the city's jails were overflowing. Local police chief Eugene "Bull" Connor ordered his officers to attack protesters with German Shepherds and to blast protesters with fire hoses. Many Americans were shocked when they viewed these events on television. They did not approve of such violent resistance to the civil rights movement.