Eleventh Commandment Flyer

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Eleventh Commandment Flyer

Organizers of a 1962 selective buying campaign created and posted flyers with the slogan "The Eleventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Stay Out of Downtown Birmingham." This flyer represents collaboration among students at Miles College, Daniel Payne College, and the Booker T. Washington Business College. The student-led campaign encouraged African Americans to boycott stores and restaurants that discriminated against them.

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Background Essay

By the early 1960s, the Civil Rights movement had gained nationalmomentum, but Birmingham, Alabama, remained one of the most segregatedcities in the South. Although African Americans made up more than 40percent of the population, segregation ordinances prohibited them fromsharing any public facility with whites, from movie theaters torestaurants. Mass meetings and demonstrations had mobilized the blackcommunity, but also activated white resistance. In 1961, civil rightsleader Fred Shuttlesworth filed and won a lawsuit to desegregate thecity's 67 public parks. Police commissioner Eugene "Bull"Connor retaliated by closing the city's parks.

In 1962, as part of a school project, Miles College student Frank Dukesconducted research through the Chamber of Commerce to track the buyingpower of Birmingham's black population. In an average week, AfricanAmericans spent $4 million in downtown stores. However, many storesrefused to hire African Americans, let them try on clothes, or servethem at their lunch counters. Inspired by student protests in othercities and supported by Miles College president Dr. Lucius Pitts, Dukesand fellow students organized a selective buying campaign that targetedrestaurants and stores in downtown Birmingham that discriminated againstAfrican Americans.

Hundreds of African Americans signed a petition demanding equaltreatment and fair hiring practices, and the students presented it tothe city commissioners. Connor responded with racial epithets andinvited the students to leave Birmingham altogether. Because many of thestudents technically didn't live in Birmingham, initially the businessowners didn't take them seriously.

The students then met with black women and asked them to boycott thestores until the demands were met. Despite segregation, weekend shoppingin downtown stores represented an important cultural ritual forBirmingham's black population, and it was hard for many AfricanAmericans to forego those trips. Eventually the entire black communityparticipated, using buying power to leverage for equal rights. Inaddition to boycotting, black women used their networks to distributeflyers and raise bail money for demonstrators who got arrested. Biblicalterms on flyers reflected both the central role of the church in theblack community and the seriousness of the campaign.

The boycott lasted for several weeks. Because stores operated on a 12 to15 percent profit margin, and black dollars made up 25 percent of thegross revenue, the boycott created an economic crisis and forced whitebusiness owners to listen to the students' demands. The boycott resultedin the removal of "colored" signs in stores, helped set thestage for the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern ChristianLeadership Conference's Birmingham campaign, and ultimately led to thedesegregation of Birmingham.