Washington, D. C. - The Civil Rights Act of 1871, was the third (and final) enforcement act of the Reconstruction Era. It was to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
This act was meant to stop the Ku Klux Klan, White League, and other white supremacists. They attacked duly elected officers of the United States. This act made it a crime that included fines, jail time, and possible civil action.
None of the enforcement acts were ever used to protect Black Americans, despite their intent. The United States Supreme Court stopped any chance of that in the case of United States v. Cruikshank.
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Civil Rights Act of 1871
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Columbine, Colorado - The greatest high school mass murder was committed by Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold.
Harris and Klebold sought to kill all the Black American students at the school. They only found and killed one, Isaiah Shoels, aged 18. The two (2) murdered eleven (11) others.
At 12:08 p.m., the two killed themselves. This was the birthday of Adolf Hitler.
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Birmingham, Alabama - The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) planned protests of racial segregation. These protests were led by Martin Luther King, James Bevel, and Fred Shuttlesworth. King called Birmingham the most segregated city in the country.
As the protests continued, volunteers ran low. It was decided to include children. They came from elementary, middle, and high school.
The Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene 'Bull' Connor acted against the children. Connor sent high pressure water hoses and attack dogs at the children. Hundreds of children and adults were arrested.
40% of Birmingham's population were Black Americans. Yet, none worked for the Birmingham Police Department.
Images of this period showed the harsh brutality of segregation in the South. Whites attacked defenseless and huddled children, because of skin color. The children were no threat to anyone.
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