He decides to own the label, and points out that Jesus could be regarded as an extremist because, out of step with the worldview of his time, he championed love of ones enemies. she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. Google Classroom. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. together. King wrote this open letter in April 1963 while he was imprisoned in the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama. composing what we now know as A Letter from Birmingham Jail. In his letter, Dr. Kings park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when Writing Prompt: Pick a term from the Glossary of Non-violence, pg 99-101. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. for peace, watch helplessly as an innocent child develops and unconscious bitterness. Dr. King All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. blasting protesters with fire hoses and attacking them with police dogs. King likens this to the tension in the individual human mind which Socrates, the great classical philosopher, fostered through his teachings. By putting the issue in terms of something everyone understands, while An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. As with the extremist label, Kings position here may take us by surprise, but he backs up his argument carefully and provides clear reasons for his stance. Here, King shares an experience attempting to connect with moral leadership and fatherhood Also, an imitation of St. Paul, who also wrote from prison, and inspired generations of Christians. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. I'm not sure on the specifics of King's arrest, but he was arrested because he was a large, central leader in the nonviolent protest. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. emotional wave of debate to sweep over the country. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean? Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. On the edges of that very newspaper, Dr. King began What did a clergyman do to get arrested? I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department. They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." The letter is dated 16 April 1963. MLK was arrested on April 12, 1963 in Birmingham. You may be confusing the industrial city of Birmingham in the UK with the city of Birmingham, Alabama in the USA. So instead of the view that law and justice are synonymous, Letter from Birmingham Jail is a powerful argument for obeying a higher moral law rather than manmade laws which suit those in power. Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." But what you have to understand is that segregation was so deeply ingrained into the culture of the American South that anyone who spoke out against it could find themselves in serious danger. (12). This is sameness made legal. The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. And yet little by little, it becomes clear that Dr. King intends this statement for a much larger audience. Throughout the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the repetition of the words "willing" and "disappointment" are often present. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me. We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. Let me give another explanation. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. what effects did this letter have on the constitution? This is difference made legal. Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. The purpose of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is to address and argue each point made by the. This device helps the audience clarify a distinctive difference between the two statements that might be overlooked in another circumstance. I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" ", We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." Extremism doesnt have to mean one is a violent revolutionary: it can simply denote extreme views that one holds. When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. that bypasses logic, affecting the emotions of his audience. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. not talking to a group; he is talking to you. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. It was here, sitting in a bleak barred cell Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. What did a clergyman do to get arrested? Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. Anaphora - repetition of a word or words at the beginnings of successive lines, clauses, phrases, etc. A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. about it. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. He also asserts that he believes the greatest stumbling-block to progress is not the far-right white supremacist but the white moderate who are wedded to the idea of order in the belief that order is inherently right. More frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of will! 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