Church Bombed in 1963 Gets Landmark Status
The church where four black girls died in a racist bombing in 1963 was designated as a National Historic Landmark, with Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales recalling their memory amid a string of recent attacks against churches in Alabama.
Speaking at the pulpit of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Gonzales likened the deadly bombing of the old brick building to a series of arsons that have hit 10 rural Baptist churches since Feb. 3.
Gonzales said the fires were a reminder “there is still work to be done” in ensuring equal justice and fighting discrimination.
He called the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church “a catalyst for the cause of justice” as he referred to the children killed when a Ku Klux Klan bomb went off at the church.
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