The Disaster in Birmingham, 1963

Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall

Thesis: Through the use of several rhetorical strategies, this ballad emphasizes the emotional distress of a segregated south and the adversity it has yet to overcome. 

-          Symbolism

·           “And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, / And white shoes on her feet” (Ballad of Birmingham, 19-20). Displays the innocence (white coloring) of the child in respect to the innocence of the segregated African-American community.

·         “For I fear those guns will fire” (Ballad of Birmingham, 14). Could be taken literally as for bullets being fired onto a group of protesters, or metaphorically for the gun shots of discrimination fired upon a young Black child.

-          Parallelism

·         “And march the streets of Birmingham” (3 and 11). Combines two separate stanzas to achieve the same sense of protest and cooperation when marching the streets.

·         “‘No, baby, no, you may not go” (5 and 13). Similar to the above example where the two separate stanzas seem to be united; it is safer to be away from the protesting streets, even when danger is lurking anywhere.

-          Situational Irony

·         “And clubs and hoses, guns and jails / Aren’t good for a little child” (7-8). It seems that the danger is truly in the streets of Birmingham, yet the tragic end of the story comes from the sanctity of a church.

·         “The mother smiled to know her child / Was in a sacred place” (21-22). Shows the challenges a discriminatory south must overcome to achieve peace with the belief that a even place of worship is not safe from mayhem.