4 Little Girls: The most tragic casualties of war
depicts one of the most bitter tragedies of the civil rights movement, but Lee refuses to let the film become a story of defeat and victimization. He sets the tone early on in the film when an old Reverend at the church describes his reaction to a previous bombing. When told by a policeman, and known Klansman, that if it were him, he would leave town as soon as possible, the minister replies, "Oh you see, you're not me...The battle has just begun and I'll be around for the duration." He could have been speaking for the entire movement, and after the murder of the four girls, their voices only grew louder.
The bombing served as a wake-up call to white America, and by using that attention to effect real change, the community was able to reclaim their lost children, if only symbolically. Even the family members refused to be defeated by hatred and sorrow. While she confesses to moments of anger, Carole Robertson's mother does not hate those who murdered her young daughter. She will not allow their darkness to infect her life, and by resisting those destructive feelings, she triumphs.
Lee ends the film reflecting on the many black churches that have been burned in the 1990s, but he again returns to a message of empowerment and enduring determination. Actor and known activist Ossie Davis states it simply, "You can burn them down, but not as fast as we can build them up again." Racism isn't a thing of the past, and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church is not ancient history, but the film also emphasizes the strength that is derived from such adversity and the progress that has been made. Still, even as the young victims are depicted as martyrs of the civil rights movement, their deaths provoking decisive change in the treatment of African Americans, Lee doesn't lose sight of their very individual significance. They are symbols of equality and sacrifice, but even more importantly, they are four little girls whose families will never stop missing them.
For more information on the subject of the film, go to: http://www.4littlegirls.com/
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