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D-350 (Rev. 5-8-81) (Mount Clipping in Space Below) TT tee (Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD BIRMINGHAM, AL. O/1¢/a2 9/16/93 Edition: THURSDAY waic. Title: "BAPBOMB" Character: City marks 30th anniversary of church vombin By William C. Singleton TI Post-Herald Reporter Birmingham leaders paused yesterday to remember the four girls killed in a ra- cially motivated bombing at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church 30 vears ago. Blacks and whites, politicians and vot- ers met at the downtown church at 1530 Sixth Ave North for an interfaith unity service and breakfast. Gov. Jim Folsom ard other politicians and community lead- ers attended. Birmingham-area civil rights leader Abraham Woods challenged the state to reopen the case and bring to the “bar of justice” those involved in the crime. Ku Klux Klansman Robert Chambliss was convicted in 1977 of murder in the church bombing that killed Addie Mae Collins. Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley. all 14. and Denise McNair, 11. Several other people are believed to have been in- volved in the bombing Chambliss died in prison in 1985 Rev. Sixteenth Christopher Harniin. Street's current pastor, said members of the church have no desire to reopen the case. Woods said, however. that “maybe the rest of you are ready to push it under the rug. “But I'm not ready to do that.” He challenged Folsom to back such a push. Afterwards, Folsom, who was ap- plauded for removing the Confederate flag from atop the state Capitol, said he fa- vored reopening the case. But Folsom also said the decision is up to Attorney General Jimmy Evans Church bells tolled around the city at 10:22 a.m., the time of the church explo- sion. Officials recalled the bombing and how it reshaped the way Birmingham resi- dents viewed racial discrimination. Birmingham City Councilman Eddie Blankenship pointed to the renevation of Kelly Ingram Park, which features sym- bols of the civil rights era, and the new Birmingham Civil Rights Institute as tes- Copy Sent To FBIRQ: taments to the importance of remem- bering the city’s past. Folsom said the state needs to cast off those negative images and meve forward to building understanding between all Ala- bamians. Rodney Max, a representative of the Co- alition Against Hate Crimes, said the ha- tred that led to the killing of the four girls still exists. He pointed to the April 18. ting af a hom 1992, slaying of a homeless black man by white skinheads. “We all must play a role in defeating this menace of hate,” he said. Lawton Higgs, co-chairman for the AA at+ Metro Area Justice Interfaith Committee, a group committed to racial reconcilation among clergy, said he was once blind and deaf to the hurt caused by the bombing. ‘T did not see the pain, I did not hear the cry,” he said. But the minister who seeks to start an integrated church downtown said, “God has used the suffering of this city to open my eyes. .. God has used the suffering of this city to open the eyes of many.” 15 7- 352 -sF/-13?