Multiple Stories in We've Got a Job Answers

Arnetta and Wash both participated in the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, but their different backgrounds caused them to experience the event in unique ways. Arnetta, coming from a relatively privileged middle-class background, viewed the march through the lens of disciplined, nonviolent training and organized religious community. She was focused on the technicalities of the protest and the strength found in her peer group. In contrast, Wash came from a much poorer neighborhood and saw the march as a chance to directly confront the police who had harassed him throughout his childhood. While Arnetta felt a sense of social and moral duty, Wash felt a sense of personal liberation and a release of pent-up anger. Ultimately, Arnetta’s experience was defined by structured activism, while Wash’s was defined by the raw empowerment of standing up to his oppressors.