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CNN Sunday Morning

Defense Will Continue Presenting Case in Church Bombing Trial Tomorrow

Aired May 19, 2002 - 11:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Defense attorneys will continue their case tomorrow in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1963 church bombing case. Four young black girls died in the bombing, one at the central event in the civil rights movement. CNN's Brian Cabell visited the church 39 years after that deadly attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About a mile from the courthouse where Bobby Frank Cherry stands trial for bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church, the church itself stands tall and sturdy. No outward signs of the devastation of 39 years ago.

Inside the children's choir practices, boys and girls the same age as the four who were killed in 1963. Yes, these kids all know about the girls who came before them and the Ku Klux Klansmen who took their lives.

TIFFANY DAVIS: They wanted to destroy something that the blacks love to do, like to come to church and pray for glory and they just wanted to destroy it.

CABELL: They didn't succeed of course, because the children and the adults still worship here in downtown Birmingham. Arthur Price is the new pastor. He started in January. He sees a dual role for the church, teaching the faith to the 300 members of the congregation and teaching history to visitors.

ARTHUR PRICE, PASTOR, 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH: As long as people come to this city and they want to know what happened, we have the story to tell and we will continue to tell that story.

CABELL: More than 50,000 out-of-towners come each year to hear the story. These children from an all White school in northern Alabama have come to learn.

BRITTANY TYNES, 8TH GRADER: It was really sad hearing about the four girls getting bombed out and dying from it.

CABELL: They stare at photographs of civil rights protests and beatings that tell a shameful story.

MARCUS POSEY, 8TH GRADER: The blacks were segregated and how they didn't have the rights that White people did.

CABELL: They gaze at the section of the church that was blown up and they wonder why.

HALLIE HILL, STUDENT: I think that you should love everyone because there are some people that are racist and I don't think that's right because God says to love everyone.

CABELL: Alabama has changed dramatically since 1963, of course. Many of the wrongs have been righted. But life at the 16th Street Baptist Church after all these years is still about faith and understanding.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Birmingham.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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