While the World Watched: Chapters 6–11

by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
In 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed a church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four African-American girls. In this memoir, survivor Carolyn Maull McKinstry recounts the bombing and life in the South under Jim Crow laws.

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: Introduction–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–18, Chapter 19–Barack Obama's Letter
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. hypocrisy
    pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not have
    They have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern Dixiecrats and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing northern Republicans.
  2. sanctuary
    a consecrated place where sacred objects are kept
    It was sometime later that I heard Dr. King’s speech:
    This afternoon, we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God.
  3. perpetrate
    perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    These children—unoffending, innocent, and beautiful—were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.
  4. impetus
    a force that makes something happen
    The wanton, brutal crime [the church bombing] sickened Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line and gave new impetus to the drive for civil-rights legislation.
  5. epitomize
    embody the essential characteristics of
    As nothing else had done—or perhaps could do—it epitomized the ugliness of racial conflict.
  6. retaliate
    make a counterattack and return like for like
    We must not become bitter, nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence.
  7. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    Violence, bombs, and death permeated our lives in those Civil Rights days in Birmingham.
  8. epitaph
    an inscription in memory of a buried person
    And no greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and what they were doing when they died.
  9. paraphrase
    express the same message in different words
    And today, as I stand over the remains of these beautiful, darling girls, I paraphrase the words of Shakespeare: Good night, sweet princesses. Good night, those who symbolize a new day. And may the flight of angels take thee to thy eternal rest. God bless you.
  10. memorandum
    a written proposal or reminder
    When the FBI concluded their interviews, they sent a memorandum to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover stating the results of their investigation.
  11. unconscionable
    lacking a sense of right conduct
    Those few terrifying moments of the blast said what we have been trying to say to the nation for years, that there exists in Alabama the most unconscionable disregard for man and God on the part of some.
  12. outraged
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Outraged over the violent, brutal murder of her son, she ordered the undertakers to leave Emmett’s body just as she had received it and to hold an open-casket funeral.
  13. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    Such was the plight of black Americans in the United States South at that time.
  14. exhume
    dig up for reburial or for medical investigation
    Finally, on May 10, 2004, the Justice Department reopened the investigation into the murder of Emmett Till, and his body was exhumed, identified, and examined.
  15. intimidate
    compel or deter by or as if by threats
    In an attempt to reestablish the lines that separated black and white communities and to intimidate black residents who crossed over into white neighborhoods, they bombed black homes, businesses, and churches.
  16. smoldering
    showing scarcely suppressed anger
    He wrote that Birmingham was a smoldering volcano of racial tension, “a community of fear.”
  17. cognizant
    having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization
    Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states.
  18. superficial
    of little substance or significance
    I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.
  19. libel
    a false and malicious publication
    It also led to a six-million-dollar libel suit against the New York Times—a suit resolved in 1964 in the Times' favor.
  20. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.
  21. forebear
    a person from whom you are descended
    It is very appropriate then that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and time again through history.
  22. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
    I didn’t have the maturity or perspective then to know that things can be changed in a society, that segregation wouldn’t last forever even though Wallace said it would.
  23. amalgamate
    bring or combine together or with something else
    This is the great freedom of our American founding fathers .. . but if we amalgamate into the one unit as advocated by the communist philosophers ... then the enrichment of our lives ... the freedom for our development... is gone forever.
  24. moratorium
    suspension of an ongoing activity
    On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations.
  25. humiliation
    state of disgrace or loss of self-respect
    For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation--and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop.
  26. diversity
    noticeable variety
    He told us that God himself had created the diversity of the universe and that his plan was for unity, not separateness.
  27. credentials
    a document attesting to the truth of certain stated facts
    I never thought about Dr. King’s credentials, such as his PhD from Boston University.
  28. humility
    a lack of arrogance or false pride
    There was no anger or arrogance in his voice, only genuine humility.
  29. accomplish
    achieve with effort
    “Some of us may have to die to accomplish this [equal rights].”
  30. internalize
    incorporate within oneself; make subjective or personal
    When we sang those songs, we believed them, we internalized them, and we were ready to act on them.
  31. escalate
    increase in extent or intensity
    This was no longer just a threat; things had escalated to a horrifying new level.
  32. pummel
    strike, usually with the fist
    I watched in horror while the pressured water sent them flying through the air, knocking them down and pummeling them across the street.
  33. harassment
    the act of tormenting by persistent attacks and criticism
    Even when it was time for a child to be released, the harassment wasn’t over.
  34. complacency
    the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
    The shocking images seen all over the world drove people out of their complacency and spurred them to put pressure on leaders in our city.
  35. reimburse
    pay back for some expense incurred
    In 2009 the city also decided to reimburse all the fines charged to black citizens who had participated in D-day.
Created on Tue Dec 02 20:17:54 EST 2014 (updated Tue Apr 09 16:26:01 EDT 2019)

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