Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement

¶ … Sir

It is unfortunate that your venture to Birmingham has caused you to lose your freedom and you are presently confined to jail. With respect to your "unwise and untimely" arrival in Birmingham, I must concur that revolution is never timely, nor do those in power ever consider it wise.

The subject of revolt and revolution has long been a consideration, and while many have dreamed of a utopian society, it is unreasonable to ever expect a perfect society of absolute equality. Our nation was created on the basis of revolution, one in which we were oppressed by a phantom government, who imposed rule without taking into consideration the reaction of those inhabiting the original thirteen colonies.

The topic of slavery has forever been a sensitive subject, Europe coming to their senses and abolishing the dehumanizing trade long before us. It was Sir Thomas Hobbes that argued against slavery and supported any and all revolt on their part because slaves had been stripped of their natural rights and forced into an eternity of labor. Had slaves been given the choice to give up their natural rights, they did so in full conscience and would not have the right to speak up against the cruelty they had to endure. Hobbes argued that each man was entitled to Liberty, do to with it what he pleased, and to use his own power to preserve it. Liberty, according to Hobbes, is only attainable through the absence of external impediments that will take away a man's power to do what he would, but does not prevent him from using the power he has left according to his judgment and reason. Hobbes also contends that though rights may be renounced, they cannot be taken away by someone else.

Furthermore, Rousseau argues that there are differences in inequality; inequality bestowed through physical difference and moral and/or political inequality. It is the moral and political inequalities that are called into question in your current state of incarceration. Moral and political inequality is established by the common consent of mankind in which the weak are protected and the strong are punished. The weak are those that fear the power your will attain once you have been awarded fair and equal rights. The strong have been punished through oppression. Ignorance begets fear and fear, ignorance. We cannot remain stagnant and do nothing. You have stated that throughout Alabama, extensive efforts have been made to prevent the Negro from exercising their right to vote, a right that has been established by the Constitution and furthermore, made concrete through the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.

How can we expect to move forward if we are still stuck in the past, not only admitting to having participated in our dark past, but also wearing our past mistakes and discrimination on our sleeves as it were a badge of honor. It has long been said that if we cannot learn from our past, then we are doomed to repeat. But what if we refuse to acknowledge our past? How can we move forward if we are too comfortable living in the past?

Oppression, though it has been present throughout the world at various points in time, ultimately fails as the oppressed rise against their oppressors. We have seen the tragedy of violence against humanity, and yet we are unable and unwilling to learn from man's past mistakes. How many will have to suffer before it is too late?

You are correct to point out the difference between just and unjust laws. Law should be equally followed and enforced. It is law for all or none at all. How far will we go before we realize the inequality and unfairness of our actions? Just laws are agreed to be all, socially, contractually, and morally. How can we preach love and acceptance for all, if we cannot accept everyone as equals? In Germany, people were discriminated not for the color of their skin, but for the way they chose to praise the Lord. How long must we stand aside and do nothing before we realize that it not the color of our skin that separates us, put the ideologies instilled within us that create these differences. We cannot try to hide behind our ideologies any longer. We cannot afford to. How can we create progress if we are in an infinite state of regress?