birmingham, alabama, was a segregated city in the early 1960s. this meant that black and white people had to be kept apart. there were a variety of schools, restaurants, drinking fountains, and housing options available to them. jim crow laws were even passed that authorized and enforced segregation. in most situations, amenities for black people, such as schools, were inferior to those for white people. several african-american leaders agreed to organize a huge protest to bring the issue of segregation in birmingham to the attention of the rest of the country.