![]() ![]() He also attacks moderates, more directly than he had before, for their cries of patience. In other words, the robber or villain should always be punished, not the victim for having given the villain something to attack (177). He cites the clergymen's statement, which argues that the actions of the SCLC “precipitate violence.” However, he likens this attack to blaming “a robbed man” because he had money to steal, or “condemning Jesus” because his faith angered others. The protestors only bring this tension and injustice to the surface. He is disappointed that moderates do not realize that the black man does not cause tension, but rather reveals society’s underlying tension by taking direct action against injustice. He believes this moderation is worse that outright “ill will” (176-177). By preaching patience and valuing “order” over “justice,” moderates have ensured the continuation of segregation. King makes “two honest confessions.” He first confesses that he has been “disappointed with the white moderate,” who he believes has been the largest obstacle to integration and black freedom. To that end, this version of his epoch-making letter is offered to the public. We will all be wiser and better if we take the time to learn from this remarkable scholar, passionate preacher, social change agent and embodiment of his people. “One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Toward the end of this historic letter, Dr. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were her.” Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. “…I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle…We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. King trusted the American nation for the outcome of the great challenge of the civil rights movement. Hopes for brotherhood as a result of the establishment of civil rights.ĭr.True heroism in the face of the police efforts for order and the demonstrators’ efforts for justice.The blessings of the American heritage of liberty in terms of the black American.A discussion of extremism in the struggle for racial justice.Disappointment with white moderates and the white church communities.The method of determining whether a law is just. ![]() The defense of his direct action strategy.The form of the message is both an apology in the classic sense of a defense of the propriety of one’s criticized or wrongly judged actions, and a jeremiad, or a bitter complaint against conduct that is unworthy of a group of people with whom one is associated. King discovers that there is a special persuasiveness and emotional power in a prison epistle reverberating in the context of an unjust arrest for a just cause. King not only here reflects the power and conviction that characterized his great Protestant namesake, but like the Apostle Paul, Dr. For Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, displays the power and rhetoric of a reformer’s sermon. The Letter from Birmingham JailĪlthough this text was produced as a letter intended for reading, the reader would benefit, along with others, to hear it read aloud. King received The Nobel Peace Prize the following year in 1964 for his leadership of the civil rights cause in America. His arrest in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963 gave him the opportunity to produce this brilliantly persuasive and spiritually moving epistle. As an ordained African-American Baptist Pastor, a trained theologian, a student of social forces and movements, he was well prepared to write a manifesto for the civil rights movement. died on Apas a martyr for the civil rights cause to which he had pledged his life. Sourced from Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC About Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also a great student of and believer in the founding principles of America. King a gifted thinker, he was an exceptional theologian and historian. ![]() In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, Providence Forum reprinted the letter with biblical and historical annotations which highlight the fact that not only was Dr. ![]()
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