Ballad of Birmingham Themes
Innocence
In "Ballad of Birmingham," Dudley Randall gives us a young girl who would rather march in a protest against racism or sing in the church choir than go out to play. (You can't get much more innocent...
Race
"Ballad of Birmingham" focuses on an era in American history that many Americans wish could be erased: the Jim Crow era, when segregation based on race was legally enforced in the South. As a resul...
Violence
Violence plays a major part in the "Ballad of Birmingham." The young girl in the poem wants to join in the marches downtown, but the threat of police retaliation against protestors is too much for...