A New Strategy: All-Out Attack

The ACMHR adopted nonviolent direct action as its preferred method of attacking racial segregation, breaking from the traditional Black middle-class leadership that had focused on petitions and lawsuits. Under Rev. Shuttlesworth's leadership, the organization pursued legal issues while waging an all-out attack on segregated accommodations, transportation, schools, and discrimination in hiring, targeting many issues at once rather than a single issue at a time. Even before the ACMHR formed, Rev. Shuttlesworth had aggressively advocated nonviolent direct action to end racial segregation. The organization renewed his call to integrate Birmingham's buses and to hire Black police officers as a way to confront rampant police brutality against Black citizens. When the request for Black police officers was denied, the ACMHR legally challenged the Birmingham Personnel Board's practice of restricting civil service examinations to Whites only. The Board then lifted its ban and allowed Blacks to take the exam, but none received a job, showing how much work remained.

Birmingham, Alabama · United States