4 Little Girls

Of all the crimes committed in the name of white supremacy, one of the most heinous is the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963. Four girls were killed as they changed into their choir robes in the church basement before Sunday services. Their deaths galvanized the civil rights movement, and they became martyrs for the cause.

Spike Lee had long wanted to make a film about the bombing, first as a narrative film then as a documentary. He finally secured the permission of the father of one the victims, and the subsequent film, 4 Little Girls, released in 1997, is something of a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking.

The film is well-paced, and covers everything one needs to know. The families of each of the four girls are interviewed, most prominent Chris and Maxine McNair, parents of Denise McNair. We also hear from those who were on the front lines of the civil rights movement, especially Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who was in Birmingham.

Lee covers the background of Birmingham, and how it was a viciously racist city. Howell Raines, a New York Times editor, grew up there. He knew something was wrong when he saw pictures of a black man being beaten. No one was arrested, but he knew one of the men in the photo.

Birmingham became a flash point when Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference staged marches. Many children were involved, taking off of school. They, along with adults, were seen being assaulted by fire hoses and German shepherds, ordered by police commissioner Bull Connor, one of the most odious figures in the segregationist South. Perhaps it was the inclusion of children that incited the bombers to strike where they knew children would be.

The four girls were mangled by the blast. It is heart wrenching to hear Maxine McNair describe identifying her daughter's body, which had a chunk of brick embedded in her skull. We see very quick images of the post-mortem photographs--just enough to disgust us without overwhelming us.

The film then covers the investigation. No arrests were made until 1977, when Birmingham was now in a new era. Attorney General William Baxley tried Robert Chambliss, who was known as "Dynamite Bob," and whom Raines described as the most pathological racist he had ever met. In a touch and go trial, Chambliss' own niece provided the testimony which put him in jail for life.

Lee proves skillful as a documentarian, albeit not an objective one. He interviews Arthur Hanes, Chambliss' attorney, who says that Birmingham was a nice place for families to grow up in the 1950s. Lee quickly cuts to Klan marches and photos of lynchings. Hanes later puts his foot in his mouth again when he says that fire hoses weren't that bad.

Another interview shows former Governor George Wallace, who was inaugurated on the promise of "Segregation forever," in his old age, muttering almost incoherently about how his best friend, presumably a caregiver, is a black man.

This is an extremely moving film, and of course any sane person will be outraged, but beyond that it is technically terrific, with use of image and music. Lee doesn't hesitate to use photos of the girls to invoke pathos, but also introduces logos and ethos as well, to give a rounded portrait of the incident as part of the time period and setting it took place in.
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Incidentally, after the film was released, two more bombers were tried and convicted. One is still alive, sentenced to life in prison.