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You carefully outline the four steps to your non-violent approach of ending segregation: determining the existence of injustice, attempting to negotiate, purifying and preparing individually and as a group, and finally engaging in peaceful direct action. The case you make for these points is strong, and the evidence in Birmingham supporting this pattern of behavior on your part, and on the part of our enemies as well, is equally apparent. I do not understand, then, why you insist that the same methodologies that have proven ineffective in the past will somehow work with continued pressure. Your insistence on this non-violent approach is no better than the constant cries of "Wait!" which you claim -- correctly -- echo so painfully in the ears of the so-called Negro men, women, and children who have yearned for freedom for centuries.
Another rising leader of the so-called Negro, Malcolm X, has insisted that "Truth will open our eyes and enable us to see the white wolf as he really is." Your letter touches on many of the points that reveal this truth, especially when you note that the white moderate is actually one of the most dangerous forces at work in the country today. Theirs is a race of oppression that will not ever remove their jaws from about our throats unless they are thrown away at knife point. You have noted the refusal of the white race to grant us the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities that their own laws demanded be granted to us....
Such behavior can only be considered evil and wolf-like. Evil and wolf-like creatures, again as you yourself note, are unlikely to change if they are not forced to. There is no force in your demonstrations, your sit-ins, and your speeches. Though your words have a great power of people's minds, they have no effect on the wolves bodies, and the ranks of that race still line up against us with their teeth bared.
I admire your constancy and the directness of your argument. I am disappointed only in that you have been unable to cast the last of the scales from off of your eyes to see the full truth, the naked and undressed truth. Though your eyes have penetrated deeper into the history and entrenchment of the situation than many, they have not yet plumbed the depths of racial oppression and degradation in this country. When they do, you will find in me a stalwart ally in the revolution that must necessarily come if the so-called Negro is ever to be free on this soil.
References
Du Bois, W.E.B. (1906). "Harper's ferry Speech." Accessed 17 September 2009. http://www.africanamericanstudies.buffalo.edu/ANNOUNCE/niagaramovement/harpers/harperspeech.html
King, M.L. (1963). "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Accessed 17 September 2009. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
X, Malcolm. (1963). "The Black Revolution." Accessed 17 September 2009. http://www.malcolm-x.org/speeches/spc_06__63.htm
Letter Birmingham Response to the Letter from Birmingham Jail It is difficult to imagine being in the position Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in when he wrote this letter. Though it was far from the only time he was arrested during his campaigning for civil rights, the "Birmingham Campaign" that led to this arrest was one of the larger movements of civil disobedience that King helped to lead, and the weight
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dear Sir: My name is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am currently imprisoned in a Birmingham Jail as a result of accusations of inciting a riot. On the eve of October 14th of this year, 1958 I lead a peaceful demonstration protesting unfair wages and poor working conditions of the poor people in the city of Birmingham. I would like to
King also makes another point in this passage that directly refutes something another minister told him. He says that this particular minister told him to be patient and wait for the right time. King points out that time itself never did anything; it is "neutral" as he puts it. It is people's actions that make things happen, King asserts, and though it still takes time and perseverance to accomplish things,
Letter from the Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr., and "A Letter from the Clergy" by some leading spiritual clergy in Birmingham, Alabama. Specifically, it will summarize the two letters. Both of these letters provide compelling reasons for what the authors believe in, and they are both very persuasive and convincing in their own way. The clergymen believe that King's actions, in creating a march that led to many
"In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty." In that argument, the author also draws a comparison with those most committed to maintaining segregation; presumably, he was referring to those who physically attacked and sometimes killed both African-Americans and
Well crafted sentence explaining how the two text evidences show your point of analysis: In his use of metaphors, King poetically dramatizes the length of time African-Americans have struggled for full civil equality, in response to the white ministers' demand that he be patient, moderate, and not 'push' Southern whites to change too quickly. Third Point of Analysis: King, to address the specific allegations of the white ministers uses rhetorical questions