U.S. Rep Gregory W. Meeks Statement on the Awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to Honor the Four Girls Killed in the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
April 25, 2013
U.S. Rep Gregory W. Meeks Statement on the Awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to Honor the Four Girls Killed in the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05) issued the following statement on the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to honor Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, the four girls who were killed 50 years ago in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963:
“I am proud to support H.R. 360, which calls upon Congress to awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, one of our nation's highest honors, to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley, the four girls who were killed on September 15, 1963 in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The names of these four girls, dressed in their Sunday best, were added to the long list of victims of the violence that opponents of racial equality deployed in a desperate but ultimately futile attempt to use force, intimidation, and terrorism to halt the forward march of the civil rights movement. Indeed, the depravity of the Ku Klux Klan bombing a place worship, killing these four girls, not only galvanized the civil rights movement; it also shocked the nation and drew worldwide condemnation. A year later Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the year after that the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Although there is still much to be done to create an America in which each citizen is judged not by the color of their skin but the content of his or her character, much has changed in the direction of inclusion and equal opportunity in the 50 years that have lapsed since Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were robbed of their chance to enjoy and contribute to this remarkable progress. I urge passage of H.R. 360 and hope the posthumous awarding of Congressional Gold Medal to these little girls will bring an additional measure of comfort to their families and serve as an enduring reminder that America must never forget Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. ” [End]