The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his debut on the scene of the African-American civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. As young African American minister of the racist and bigoted United States south, King used the built-in prestige of an American clergyman to wage an embittered war against southern segregation and Jim Crow laws.
Dr. King’s fight for right had a profound impact on whites as well as blacks. In fact, anyone who limits the work of Dr. King to just helping black people, minimizes his contribution to America. He is responsible for the return of non-hypocritical sensibility to white America. His open letter is proof of that.
His impact on African Americans is undeniable; young blacks who wouldn’t be born for years to come would look to him as a symbol of freedom or triumph over odds against black people. In a sense he made America more just and true to her constitutional postulations of commitments to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Dr. King wrote a famous open letter known as “Letter from the Birmingham jail.” This letter was a response to criticisms against his non-violent protests. The criticism came from white clergy. They jointly sent correspondence to King calling him an “outsider” and accused him of “causing trouble.” King’s response evoked more intense response but further spurred the fight against injustice toward African Americans in the South. Martin Luther King was one of the most impactful people of the last century and this letter was one of the most impactful points of his civil rights career. Let’s first take a look at the intensity around King in general.
Dr. King challenged the postulation of “separate but equal,” a philosophical attempt at preserving the racist way of life in the south. As King grew in popularity and success, the intensity in the battle for justice for the African American rose to greater heights. Churches were bombed, lesser-known African American civil rights leaders were assassinated.
As a result of this intensity, the African American struggle against segregation in the south would gain international attention. National newspapers would post Dr. King’s picture on their front pages for a good portion of the next decade. This inadvertent help did all but catapult the African American as a global symbol in the struggle of oppression and freedom.
King had a profound impact on society in his day. Mostly, because he dedicated his entire (albeit short) life to eradicating injustice wherever he could find it in the United States. His first battles as a twenty-something minister were fought against people insistent on unjust laws based on encrusted and obsolete customs. These laws had been challenged previous to King’s arrival but the young minister brought fresh insights and a true knack for leadership to the battle. One such battle and success was that of what is known is the “negro bus boycotts” of the mid 1950’s.
These boycotts were organized by King and his constituents. African Americans of Montgomery, prior to the victories of the boycott, were forced to sit on the back of buses or required to move when a seat was demanded by a white person. A protest was sparked when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the demand of a white person wanting her seat. As expected, she was arrested and carried off to jail. Unbeknownst to the authorities, Rosa’s “rebellion” was a part of a strategic move to spark the famous bus boycotts.
Cases ensued, legal battles were fought, others were arrested but the protesters won out in the end. One newspaper clipping demonstrates the intensity of the times as bomb blasts went off, late-night curfews were drawn and perpetrators were publicly threatened with the death sentence. The Montgomery Advertiser, in a January issue of 1957, posted several articles warning about bombings of unoccupied homes and churches.
Where does Dr. King come in on this? The integrationist minister was at the center of the intensity as his campaigns for righteousness were highly publicized and successful. As the power structure of the south was being visibly deconstructed the pundits of such customs felt threatened and weakened. The traditional means of holding African Americans in tow were extremely risky. There would be no town lynching or open roasting of a black person as in times prior to this because this was deemed too much of a publicity risk. One thing that the article reveals is an attempt by the authorities to put up a stern image of warning against the terrorists. (They never used that word for those people; but that is precisely what they were.)
The authorities sought to impose curfews and advertised strong language against these attacks; calling them deplorable. Why did they put on this heir (whether genuine or feigned at this point in the struggle)? After the Supreme Court decision to end segregation in 1954 was put forward it became culturally dangerous for authorities to be openly hostile to African American efforts for justice.
Not all communities adhered to the new code of ethics in regard to African American protests against segregation. Several municipalities, and quite openly, announced their intention to keep the flame of custom and unregenerate law going regardless of injustice and brutality. In traversing the annals of history, we come across Bull Conner. Here was a household name for both blacks and whites during the beginnings of the post-segregation era. In 1963, Bull Conner responded to desegregation attempts by African Americans by unleashing dogs and water blasts from high-pressured fire hoses on women and small children. This example of embarrassingly brutish and ignorant behavior was recorded live. Homes throughout America and other Western countries looked on in horror as children viciously attacked by un-muzzled police dogs or up-ended head-over-heal at heights seven to eight feet in the air.
What sparked such unheard of brutality? Perhaps the success of Dr. Martin Luther King sparked it. As pundits of segregation saw the foundations of Jim Crow cracking, they fought to maintain a place of cultural superiority. But the children, with their mothers and fathers, took example from King and fought on.
King’s impact on whites stretched beyond the visible agitation of bigoted white people. He also had a profound impact on white people sympathetic to the movement of African Americans as well as whites who were younger and more moldable. One such individual was an elderly man who goes by the name Bart Barnes. Mr. Barnes is actually a contract reporter to for the Washington Post.
He was a green (his literary self-portrait) reporter assigned to the march of 1968 to interview individual participants and watch out for any outbreaks of riots amongst unruly blacks. To his (and national doomsayers) surprise, he found different. Here is what he had to say: “The crowd, it turned out, was peaceful, orderly, respectful and courteous” That was the effect of people gathered and marching for a common goal and clear vision. They marched behind one man and that was Dr. King. Later in the day, the reporter would find himself taking ease under a tree after good-day’s work. Caught up in his own peaceful and orderly state, he was stirred by the words of Dr. King.
His impression of Dr. King speaks to his youth and pliability as a white person. He’s an example of the “other” white response to the movement. “I don’t know when the speeches startedbut when they did I listened but then began to tune them out.” This statement reflects normal youth behavior but it also identifies a general interest in what the blacks had to say in those days. Perhaps the interest was born of watching the heinous incidents against African American women and children by Bull Connor and the church bombers.
The then young reporter fades as is hinted. But soon he is aroused by one of the best speakers he had ever heard. “The rhythm, the tone, and the cadence of his oratory was [sic] compelling”; and further, “This guys is really good. He speaks like a master violinist plays a Stradivarius.” Dr. King’s compelling speech moved more hearts than just the African Americans who adored him.
One other significant influence that Dr. King had on American society was his effect on African Americans in stemming the tide of violent revolution. King took note from other great men of the day by introducing non-violent protest to challenge political and social injustices. Because he was respected and had pressed through to significant victory, young African Americans could conceive of progress without violence.
Conflicts had arisen in the movement. Challenges to Dr. King’s ways were voiced by some but because of his prominence as the premier (though unofficial) leader of the civil rights movement, he was the clear choice of both young and old. He emboldened the African American and sympathetic whites to rise to the challenges to justice and dare to triumph and change the ills of a generation.
One could speculate that he spurred much of the peace movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Another quick jaunt down the annals of history reveals that protests and peaceful demonstration became the way of the American dissident. While the concept was written into the U.S. constitution, the triumphs of Martin helped to fuel confidence for these types of demonstrations.
As for the letter, it alone would have lasting impact on generations of blacks to come and speak volumes about black people to America. The letter itself was a showcase of the viability of the black movement for change in the south. The white clergymen’s “call for unity” reflected much of the white power structure’s idea that the people that they called “negroes” should wait until others decided when they should be free. Martin tapped them for that hypocracy.
The Northwest Arkansas Times was one newspaper that poignantly restated King’s challenge to white America. It says, “This is an eloquent plea for direction by white moderates to take action for more Negro rights.” Subsequently, “moderate whites” were caught between the push for equality for African Americans and hot challenges from segregation supporting conservatives. Another newspaper, the Corona Daily Independent, posted a cartoon that expressed the perceived brutality of the far right conservative. The picture is quite graphic and thus difficult to describe without rudeness. We’ll skip that. The letter was an appeal to all people to join in the fight for freedom. Any whites were pulled from both sides. Martin’s letter had the effect of prodding sympathetic into action and provoking antagonists into action as well.
Overall, the letter depicts a resilient and bold spirit in the face of staunch and menacing opposition. Dr. King’s letter was recently auctioned off quite a sum of money. This speaks to value that it has amongst all who value freedom today.
References
Unknown, Corona Daily Independent (1964). Retrieved from: Library Online Archives
Barnes, Bart 1963 March on Washington, A Reporters View (2011) Washington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/reporters-view-of-1963-march/2011/08/23/gIQA0T16YJ_blog.html
B.R.D Direct Action By Whites An Answer to Negro Dilemma (1964). Northwest Arkansas Times. Retrieved from: Library Online Archives
Tames, George New York Times Martin Luther King (2012) Retrieved from: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/k/martin_luther_jr_king/index.html
King, Martin L. Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) Retrieved from: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/resources/article/annotated_letter_from_birmingham/
Unknown (unknown) Outline of the Letter. Retrieved from: http://www.mlkonline.net/jail.html
