The letter of Martin Luther King is a reaction to the condemnation of him and his followers for a protest in Birmingham, Alabama. This condemnation was published in the newspaper, brought to King into prison where he was put for the violation of a court ban on the Birmingham rallies, marches, and pickets, issued on the 10th of April during protests of blacks (held from April 3).
Languishing in his prison cell, King produced one of the most remarkable documents in the history of American thought. The number of local white priests who were friendly to King’s long-term objectives disagreed with his short-term tactics. They made a public statement calling the King-led demonstrations “unwise and untimely" and opposed King’s civil disobedience “no matter how peaceful those actions are from a technical point of view.”
King’s reply was “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” He wrote it on a newspaper page fields. The words were written by King next to the advertisement of pest control and garden club news– according to King’s assistant who smuggled the newspaper out of jail. On the margins, there was a powerful condemnation of inaction in the face of injustice, words, which displayed an extraordinary faith in the victory of freedom in America.
Martin responded with the words of eternal and universal truth to the accusations of white pastors. King, who was accused in the fact that he was a stranger fomenting tension in Birmingham, said that in the face of oppression are no strangers. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. What affects one thing directly, affects everything indirectly” (King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail).
As for the tension: “There is a certain constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” Martin added: “For those who didn’t suffer from the disease of segregation, any direct action ever seems well timed. The phrase “we have to wait” almost always means “never.” No man can set the terms of the freedom of another person” (King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail).
While acknowledging that he and his followers had indeed violated the prohibition of the District Court, King cited held by Saint Augustine distinction between just and unjust laws. He argued the one who breaks an unjust law to awaken the conscience of society “in reality is expressing the highest respect for law,” under the condition that he acts “openly, lovingly and with a willingness to accept the punishment” (King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail).
Writing from his cell King was an example for the others. Being in this jail cell, Martin believed that the freedom in the United States would definitely have to win, without any doubts: “I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle We will achieve this goal – freedom because the essential goal of America is freedom our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.” Martin concluded: “Someday the South will recognize its real heroes” (King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail).
Martin Luther King was definitely one of the greatest orators and men in the history of mankind. He had the courage to openly go against the system and withstand millions of enemies with only naked hands– without weapons and violence. Despite the provocations and aggressive reaction of the government and many other enemies of his ideas he never changed his principle of “peaceful protest.” He was able to lead people only with words and managed to achieve his main goal (although only after his death) – by the end, the racial segregation in the United States was destroyed. His letter only confirms the strength of his personality and spirit; he didn’t give up even in jail and continued to defend his ideas.
On March 28, 1968, King headed a protest march in Memphis (Tennessee). Its purpose was to support the striking workers. On the 3rd of April Martin gave a powerful speech. “We have a difficult time, but it doesn’t matter because I have been on top of the mountain, I looked ahead and saw the Promised Land. Maybe, I won’t reach it with you, but I want you to know that we – people – will achieve it.” At the next day, he stood on the balcony in Memphis hotel and was wounded by a sniper. His assassin, James Earl Ray, got 99 years in prison. Officially, it was recognized that he was a lone assassin, but debates still remain that King was killed in a conspiracy.
The death of Martin Luther King Jr. marked the end of one era and the beginning of another new one. And this time with interest gets accustomed to the dream of King, reaching for it, inviting America and the whole world to boldly go and meet his fate.
Nonviolence wasn’t a panacea for all ills in the philosophy of Martin Luther King. It was only a mean, which was compatible with the purpose – the creation of a society, in which each person can maintain a sense of self-esteem. In the last week of his life, Martin was thinking about the future a lot; he wasn’t absolute optimist. His optimism rather could be called a martyr because he was firmly rooted in the soil of reality– King knew that there wouldn’t be any easy victories. He didn’t have any guarantees of achieving the final victory. Now we have to continue his work, fighting for his ideas and for his dream, in order to enable them to rise and shine with renewed power.
Works cited
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2016.
