In “Ballad of Birmingham,” the mother’s fears are motivated by her knowledge that there are forces who believe in violent responses to nonviolent protest, and that there are forces who believe that nonviolence—no matter what—is the best response to racism. The tragic consequence of those two opposing views is that there will be casualties such as the little girl.

The mother’s firm, negative response to her child’s request to march comes out of a protective urge. Marching is no fit activity for a child, she argues, because the violence and abuse that her daughter might be subject to “[a]ren’t good for a little child” (Line 8). The mother assumes, based on past history, that even the children’s youth will be no protection against violent responses to efforts to end racist practices like segregation. For the mother, protecting her child trumps any social protest against laws rooted in racism. Her decision shows that she simply doesn’t believe in a proactive response to racism, at least not one in which her child is involved.

Ironically, the church where the mother sends her daughter—the 16th Street Baptist Church—is historically one from which protestors began their marches and a place where protestors received training in nonviolent protest.