Letter from the Birmingham jail

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Feinberg, Joel and Jules Coleman. The Philosophy of Law, 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007.

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231 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. • Letter from Birmingham Jail 22 Letter from Birmingham Jail MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city my present activities "unwise and untimely.” Sel- dom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have lit- tle time for anything other than such correspon- dence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I April 16, 1963 boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelated- ness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere feel that you are men of genuine good will and is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a sin- want to try to answer your statement in what I gle garment of destiny. Whatever affects one hope will be patient and reasonable terms. directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can I think I should indicate why I am here in we afford to live with the narrow, provincial Birmingham, since you have been influenced by "outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the view which argues against “outsiders coming the United States can never be considered an out- in.” I have the honor of serving as president of sider anywhere within its bounds. the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, You deplore the demonstrations taking place an organization operating in every southern in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We say, fails to express a similar concern for the con- have some eighty-five affiliated organizations ditions that brought about the demonstrations. across the South, and one of them is the Alabama I am sure that none of you would want to rest Christian Movement for Human Rights. Fre- content with the superficial kind of social analysis quently we share staff, educational and financial that deals merely with effects and does not grap- resources with our affiliates. Several months ago ple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was In any nonviolent campaign there are four invited here. I am here because I have organiza- basic steps: collection of the facts to deter- because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and car- ried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the mine whether injustices exist; negotiation, self- purification; and direct action. We have gone tional ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United Reprinted by arrangement with the heirs to the estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., c/o Writer's House as agent for the proprietor (New York, NY ). Copyright 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., copyright renewed 1991 Coretta Scott King. • Is There a Moral Obligation to Obey the Law Mush resistance to LOHIY hum tension that a longer be than individuals. may sound MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. • Letter from Birmingham Jail 233 232 CHAPTER 7 Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more Funtown is closed to colored children, and see until the day after the run-off so that the demon- run-off, we decided again to postpone action gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both seg. ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. strations could not be used to cloud the issues. regationists, dedicated to maintenance of the sta- in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treat- Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor tus quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be distort her personality by developing an uncon- ment in the courts. There have been more reasonable enough to see the futility of massive defeated, and to this end we endured postpone. scious bitterness toward white people; when you unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches ment after postponement. Having aided in this desegregation. But he will not see have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son in Birmingham than in any other city in the community need, we felt that our direct-action this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the program could be delayed no longer. My friends, I must say to you that we have not case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro lead- treat colored people so mean?”, when you take a You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why made a single gain in civil rights without deter- cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a the latter consistently refused to engage in good- mined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, night after night in the uncomfortable corners of faith negotiation. better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom your automobile because no motel will accept Then, last September, came the opportunity may direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to cre- give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals you; when you are humiliated day in and day out to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic see the moral light and voluntarily give up their by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; community. In the course of the negotiations, ate such a crisis and foster such a unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has when your first name becomes "nigger," your certain promises were made by the merchants tiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral for example, to remove the stores' humiliating middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are), and your last name becomes “John," and racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the We know through painful experience that Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of dramatize the issue that it can no ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part your wife and mother are never given the freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppres- the Alabama Christian Movement for Human of the work of the nonviolent-resister respected title “Mrs."; when you are harried by sor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstra- rather shocking. But I must confess that I am day and haunted by night by the fact that you Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action tions. As the weeks and months went by, we real- not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, campaign that was "well timed” in the view of ized that we were the victims of a broken opposed violent tension, but there is a type of con- never quite knowing what to expect next, and those who have not suffered unduly from the dis- structive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for are plagued with inner fears and outer resent- the others remained. ease of segregation. For years now I have heard As in so many past experiences, our hopes growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to the word "Wait!” It rings in the ear of every ments; when you are forever fighting a degenerat- had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disap- create a tension in the mind so that individuals ing sense of “nobodiness”-then you will Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait" has could rise from the bondage of myths and half- pointment settled upon us. We had no alternative almost always meant “Never.” We must come understand why we find it difficult to wait. truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis except to prepare for direct action, whereby we to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, There comes a time when the cup of endurance would present our very bodies as a means of lay- and objective appraisal, so must we see the need that "justice too long delayed is justice denied.” runs over, and men are no longer willing to be ing our case before the conscience of the local for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension We have waited for more than 340 years for plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, and the national community. Mindful of the dif- in society that will help men rise from the dark our constitutional and God-given rights. The you can understand our legitimate and unavoid- ficulties involved, we decided to undertake a pro- depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike able impatience. cess of self-purification. We began a series of heights of understanding and brotherhood. speed toward gaining political independence, but You express a great deal of anxiety over our workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly The purpose of our direct-action program is we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legit- asked ourselves: "Are you able to accept blows to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps imate concern. Since we so diligently urge people without retaliating?” “Are you able to endure inevitably open the door to negotiation. I there- easy for those who have never felt the stinging to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 the ordeal of jail?” We decided to schedule our fore concur with you in your call for negotiation. darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you outlawing segregation in the public schools, at direct-action program for the Easter season, real- Too long has our beloved Southland been have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us izing that except for Christmas, this is the main bogged down in a tragic effort to live in mono fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers consciously to break laws. One may well ask: shopping period of the year. Knowing that a logue rather than dialogue. at whim; when you have seen hate-filled police- “How can you advocate breaking some laws strong economic-withdrawal program would be One of the basic points in your statement is the by-product of direct action, we felt that this men curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact would be the best time to bring pressure to that the action that I and my associates have and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your bear on the merchants for the needed change. taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an asked: "Why didn't you give the new city admin- airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an afluent Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's istration time to act?” The only answer that I mayoral election was coming up in March, and society; when you suddenly find your tongue a can give to this query is that the new Birmingham twisted and your speech stammering as you seek after election day. When we discovered that the administration must be prodded about as much as to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull” the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert just been advertised on television, and see tears Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to welling up in her eyes when she is told that it is that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral respon sibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code can't go to the public amusement park that has without a per- assembly and protest. ality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and dam- ages the personality. It gives the segregator a I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate false sense of superiority and the segregated a terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an “I-it” relationship for an a right rejection. est respect for law. alaw Belf is Just agrees that the MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. • Letter from Birmingham Jail 235 but the application gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I condemning Socrates because his unswerving Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust 234 CHAPTER 7. Is There a Moral Obligation to Obey the Law? commitment to truth and his philosophical inqui- in its application. For instance, I have been have almost reached the regrettable conclusion ries precipitated the act by the misguided populace that the Negro's great stumbling block in his that squares with the moral law or the law of stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's arrested on a charge of parading in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this God. An unjust law is a code that is out of har- Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white like condemning Jesus because his unique God- ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. mony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is mit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to a human law that is not rooted in eternal and is used to maintain segregation and to deny citi- to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? natural law. Any law that uplifts human personal- the absence of tension to a positive peace which zens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful We must come to see that, as the federal courts ity is just. Any law that degrades human person- have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can- individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic con- not agree with your methods of direct action"; stitutional rights because the quest may precipitate who paternalistically believes he can set the time- violence. Society must protect the robbed and false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One table for another man's freedom; who lives by a punish the robber. who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lov- mythical concept of time and who constantly I had also hoped that the white moderate advises the Negro to wait for a more convenient would reject the myth concerning time in relation “I thou" relationship and ends up relegating ingly, and with a willingness to accept the pen- to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a season." Shallow understanding from people of persons to the status of things. Hence segrega - alty. I submit that an individual who breaks law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who good will is more frustrating than absolute mis- letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: tion is not only politically, economically, and understanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm “All Christians know that the colored people sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community acceptance is much more bewildering than out- will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possi- sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. over its injustice, is in reality expressing the high- Is not segregation an existential expression of ble that you are in too great a religious hurry. It I had hoped that the white moderate would man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, has taken Christianity almost two thousand years Of course, there is nothing new about this understand that law and order exist for the pur- his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ pose of establishing justice and that when they men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sub- limely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and take time to come to earth.” Such an attitude fail in this purpose they become the dangerously Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge structured dams that block the flow of social stems from a tragic misconception of time, from them to disobey segregation ordinances, for Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar , on the ground that a higher moral law was at they are morally wrong. the strangely irrational notion that there is some- progress. I had hoped that the white moderate thing in the very flow of time that will inevitably would understand that the present tension in Let us consider a more concrete example of stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Chris- just and unjust laws. An unjust law is cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can code tians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the South is a necessary phase of the transition that a numerical or power majority group com- the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather be used either destructively or constructively. from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the pels a minority group to obey but does not than submit to certain unjust laws of the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a More and more I feel that the people of ill will make binding on itself. This is difference made Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom substantive and positive peace, in which all men have used time much more effectively than have legal. By the same token, a just law is a code is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil will respect the dignity and worth of human per- the people of good will. We will have to repent that a majority compels a minority to follow disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston sonality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent in this generation not merely for the hateful and that it is willing to follow itself. This is same- Tea Party represented a massive act of civil direct action are not the creators of tension. We words and actions of the bad people but for the ness made legal. disobedience. merely bring to the surface the hidden tension appalling silence of the good people. Human Let me give another explanation. A law is We should never forget that everything Adolf that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability: unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a Hitler did in Germany was "legal” and everything where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil it comes through the tireless efforts of men will- result of being denied the right to vote, had no the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary that can never be cured so long as it is covered ing to be co-workers with God, and without this part in enacting or devising the law. Who can was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort but must be opened with all its ugliness to hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically that, had I lived in Germany at the time, a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure forces of social stagnation. We must use time cre- elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious atively, in the knowledge that the time is always methods are used to prevent Negroes from would have aided and comforted my Jewish creates, to the light of human conscience and the ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes consti- where certain principles dear to the Christian In your statement you assert that our actions, tute a majority of the population, not a single obeying that country's anti religious laws. faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate dis- even though peaceful, must be condemned Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under because they precipitate violence. But is this a such circumstances be considered democratically I must make two honest confessions to you, logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money pre- structured my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been cipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like up the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure air of national opinion before it can be cured. the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts 236 CHAPTER * Is There a Moral Obligation to Obey the Law? 237 can be gained. Consciously or prom recognizes this of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; per- haps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passion- ate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer > something without has reminded him that it as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two oppos has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with ing forces in the Negro community. One is a his black brothers of Africa and his brown and force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes yellow brothers of Asia, South America, and the who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving drained of self respect and sense of "somebod with a sense of great urgency toward the iness" that they have adjusted to segregation, and ised land of racial justice. If one in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, vital urge that has engulfed the Negro commu. because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit nity, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has by segregation, have become insensitive to the many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, problems of the masses. The other force is one and he must release them. So let him march; let of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall, let close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are him go on freedom rides and try to understand springing up across the nation, the largest and why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim expression through violence; this is not a threat movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration but a fact of history. So I have not said to my peo over the continued existence of racial discrimina- tion, this movement is made up of people who ple: "Get rid of your discontent. Rather, I have have lost faith in America, who have absolutely tried to say that this normal and healthy discon- repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded tent can be channeled into the creative outlet of that the white man is an incorrigible "devil." nonviolent direct action. And now this approach I have tried to stand between these two is being termed extremist, forces, saying that we need emulate neither the But though I was initially disappointed at “do-nothingism” of the complacent nor the being categorized as an extremist, as I continued hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For to think about the matter I gradually gained a there is the more excellent way of love and non- measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not violent protest. I am grateful to God that, Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, through the influence of the Negro church, the bless them that curse you, do good to them way of nonviolence became an integral part of that hate you, and pray for them which despite our struggle. fully use you, and persecute you.” Was not If this philosophy had not emerged, by now Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll many streets of the South would, I am con- down like waters and righteousness like an ever- vinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the "rabble-rousers" and "outside agitators" those marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do other- if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, wise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: "I millions of Negroes will, out of frustration will stay in jail to the end of my days before I and despair, seek solace and security in black- nationalist ideologies--a development that make a butchery of my conscience." And Abra- would inevitably lead to a frightening racial slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson ham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half nightmare. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed all men are created equal....” So the question forever. The yearning for freedom eventually is not whether we will be extremists, but what manifests itself, and that is what has happened kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extrem ists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for cminded him of his birthright of freedom, and the preservation of injustice or for the extension MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. • Letter from Birmingham Jail with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nur- tured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings, and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen. When I was suddenly catapulted into the lead- ership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been out- right opponents, refusing to understand the free- dom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious have the vision to see that injustice must be than courageous and have remained silent behind rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows. action. I am thankful, however, that some of our In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to white brothers in the South have grasped the Birmingham with the hope that the white reli- meaning of this social revolution and committed gious leadership of this community would see themselves to it. They are still all too few in quan- the justice of our cause and, with deep moral con- tity, but they are big in quality. Some-such as cern, would serve as the channel through which Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, our just grievances could reach the power struc- James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden, and Sarah ture. I had hoped that each of you would under- Patton Boyle-have written about our struggle stand. But again I have been disappointed. in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have I have heard numerous southern religious marched with us down nameless streets of the leaders admonish their worshippers to comply South. They have languished in filthy, roach- with a desegregation decision because it is the infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality law, but I have longed to hear white ministers of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger-lov- declare: "Follow this decree because integration ers.” Unlike so many of their moderate brothers is morally right and because the Negro is your and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of brother.” In the midst of blatant injustices the moment and sensed the need for powerful inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white "action" antidotes to combat the disease of churchmen stand on the sidelines and mouth segregation pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. Let me take note of my other major disap- In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our pointment. I have been so greatly disappointed nation of racial and economic injustice, I have with the white church and its leadership. Of heard many ministers say: "Those are social course, there are some notable exceptions. I am issues, with which the gospel has no real con- not unmindful of the fact that each of you has cern.” And I have watched many churches com- taken some significant stands on this issue. I com- mit themselves to a completely otherworldly mend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian religion which makes a strange, un Biblical dis- stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes tinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular. I have traveled the length and breadth of Ala- bama, Mississippi, and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago. But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed OUR echoing demands. 238 CHAPTER 7 . Is There a Moral Obligation to Obey the Law? of the average community is consoled by the beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing church's silent--and often even vocal-sanction heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines But the judgment of God is upon the church of her massive religious education buildings. Over of things as they are. and over I have found myself asking: "What kind as never before. If today's church does not recap- of people worship here? Who is their God? ture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will Where were their voices when the lips of Governor lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, Barnett dripped with words of interposition and and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with nullification: Where were they when Governor no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? I meet young people whose disappointment with Where were their voices of support when bruised the church has turned into outright disgust. and weary Negro men and women decided to Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the the bright hills of creative protest?” status quo to save our nation and the world: Per- Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity haps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true of the church. But be assured that my tears ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I have been tears of love. There can be no deep dis- appointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I am thankful to God that some noble souls from love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am the ranks of organized religion have broken loose in the rather unique position of being the son, from the paralyzing chains of conformity and the grandson, and the great-grandson of preach- joined us as active partners in the struggle for free ers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. dom. They have left their secure congregations and But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. that body through social neglect and through They have gone down the highways of the South fear of being nonconformists. on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have There was a time when the church was very gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed powerful-in the time when the early Christians from their churches, have lost the support of rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have what they believed. In those days the church was acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger not merely a thermometer that recorded the than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning thermostat that transformed the mores of society. of the gospel in these troubled times. They have Whenever the early Christians entered a town, carved a tunnel of hope through the dark moun- the people in power became disturbed and imme- tain of disappointment. diately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." I hope the church as a whole will meet the But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the that they were “a colony of heaven," called to church does not come to the aid of justice, I obey God rather than man. Small in number, about the outcome of our struggle in Birming- have no despair about the future. I have no fear they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimi- ham, even if our motives are at present misunder- dated.” By their effort and example they brought Birmingham and all over the nation, because stood. We will reach the goal of freedom in an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and glad- iatorial contests. the goal of America is freedom. Abused and Things are different now. So often the con- scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied temporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archde- landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the fender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of by the presence of the church, the power structure the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. • Letter from Birmingham Jail 239 two centuries our forebears labored in this coun- I wish you had commended the Negro sit- try without wages; they made cotton king; they inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, built the homes of their masters while suffering and their amazing discipline in the midst of gross injustice and shameful humiliation--and great provocation. One day the South will recog- Fet out of a bottomless vitality they continued o thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruel- nize its real heroes. They will be the James Mere ties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition diths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and dom because the sacred heritage of our nation with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes and the eternal will of God are embodied in our the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy- Before closing I feel impelled to mention one two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, other point in your statement that has troubled who rose up with a sense of dignity and with me profoundly. You warmly commended the Bir- her people decided not to ride segregated buses, mingham police force for keeping "order" and and who responded with ungrammatical profun- "preventing violence.” I doubt you would have dity to one who inquired about her weariness: so warmly commended the police force if you “My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into will be the young high school and college stu- unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you dents, the young ministers of the gospel, and a would so quickly commend the policemen if host of their elders, courageously and nonvio- you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you lently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience's sake. One day the were to watch them push and curse old Negro South will know that when these disinherited women and young Negro girls; if you were to children of God sat down at lunch counters, see them slap and kick old Negro men and they were in reality standing up for what is best young boys; if you were to observe them, as in the American dream and for the most sacred they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby together. I cannot join you in your praise of the bringing our nation back to those great wells of Birmingham police department. democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution It is true that the police have exercised a and the Declaration of Independence. degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your pre- rather "nonviolently” in public. But for what pur- pose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. cious time. I can assure you that it would have Over the past few years I have consistently been much shorter if I had been writing from a preached that nonviolence demands that the comfortable desk, but what else can one do means we use must be as pure as the ends we when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong write long letters, think long thoughts, and pray to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But long prayers? now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or per- even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his police- haps men have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest trea- Son: To do the right deed for the wrong reason." If I have said anything in this letter that over- states the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indi- cates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an
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Letter from the Birmingham Jail– Outline
Thesis statement: In 1963, the civil right revolution was at its peak, and the government
of the United States was not happy with the activities of the civil right movement.
1. Summary and Analysis
A. The court, therefore, issued an order that illegalized demonstrations by civil rights
groups.
B. On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Junior led demonstrations in Brigham
against the court order which he felts was unjust.
C. The letter from Birmingham city jail, therefore, was King's response to the
newspaper publication he came across that day which condemned the protests
D. King presents his disappointments with the southern clergymen and the white
moderators who believed in his cause but expressed their dislike for the tension
that the protest trigged.
E. At the beginning of his letter, King informs the clergy that he receives a lot of
criticism and that he together with his fellow activist does not have time to listen
to their critics
F. King questions how the c...


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