Ralph Abernathy (center) and the Rev. He also referred to the broader scope of history, when "'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never. 1. The image burnished into national memory is the Dr. King of I Have a Dream, delivered more than 50 years ago in Washington, D.C. The Set-Up. King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, including hundreds of schoolchildren. 7). The United Auto Workers paid Kings $160,000 bail, and he was released from jail on April 20. 9 Moving Reactions to Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 Assassination, How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations. But their positions were more nuanced than that, said Samford professor Jonathan Bass, whose 2001 book, Blessed are the Peacemakers, focuses on the writing of Kings letter and the personal stories of the eight clergy King addressed. Kings letter, with its criticism of the white clergy opposition, made them look as if they were opposed to the civil rights movement. First of all, King needed a way to continue the fight. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter, but if not at that moment then when would it have been done. There was no argument with the goals. As such, much of the letter takes the form of responding to objections to the actions of the Civil Rights activists. "[23] King's discussion of extremism implicitly responded to numerous "moderate" objections to the ongoing movement, such as US President Dwight D. Eisenhower's claim that he could not meet with civil rights leaders because doing so would require him to meet with the Ku Klux Klan. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. The letter gained more popularity as summer went on, and was reprinted in the July 1963 edition of The Progressive under the headline "Tears of Love" and the August 1963 edition[37] of The Atlantic Monthly under the headline "The Negro Is Your Brother". "We will see all the facets of King that we know, but now we have the badass King and the sarcastic King, and we have the King who is not afraid to tell white people, 'This is how angry I am at you,' " Rieder says. The letter was written in response to his "fellow clergymen," stating that Dr. King's present activities was "unwise and untimely." The peaceful protest in Birmingham was perceived as being extreme. Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. 6,690 ratings, 4.72 average rating, 655 reviews Letter from the Birmingham Jail Quotes Showing 1-30 of 33 "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. [10] An ally smuggled in a newspaper from April 12, which contained "A Call for Unity", a statement by eight white Alabama clergymen against King and his methods. The other, all now deceased, members of the eight clergy addressed by King in his letter were Rabbi Milton Grafman of Temple Emanu-El; Catholic Bishop Joseph A. Durick; Methodist Bishop Nolan Harmon, Episcopal Bishop Charles C.J. Dr. Many of us are shaped by our race, faith, ideological, geographic, cultural, or other marinades. Martin Luther King Jr. began writing the "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" in the margins of newspapers, on scraps of paper, paper towels and slips of yellow legal paper smuggled into . I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman. For me, this is a statement of unity. A court had ordered that King could not hold protests in Birmingham. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. '"[18] Along similar lines, King also lamented the "myth concerning time" by which white moderates assumed that progress toward equal rights was inevitable and so assertive activism was unnecessary. [27] Regarding the Black community, King wrote that we need not follow "the 'do-nothingism' of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the Black nationalist. 10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.For Martin Luther King Jr., Nonviolent Protest Never Meant Wait and SeeThe Fight for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Martin Luther King Jr. is jailed; writes "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-king-jr-writes-letter-from-a-birmingham-jail. Fred Shuttlesworth, defied an injunction against protesting on Good Friday in 1963. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. The "letter of Birmingham Jail" was written by Martin Luther King on April 16, 1963. On April 16, King began writing his "Letter From Birmingham Jail," directed at those eight clergy who were considered moderate religious leaders. On April 12, Good Friday, King and dozens of his fellow protestors were arrested for continuing to demonstrate in the face of an injunction obtained by Commissioner of Public Safety Theophilus Eugene Bull Connor. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The eight clergy have been pilloried in history for their stance. They got a ton of hate mail from segregationists. What was Martin Luther Kings family life like? [2] Another part of the letter that I want to highlight is this statement - Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue. He is explaining why his non-violent actions were needed to break the inertia of inaction and produce negotiations. During his incarceration, Dr. King wrote his indelible "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" with a stubby pencil on the margins of a newspaper. An editor at The New York Times Magazine, Harvey Shapiro, asked King to write his letter for publication in the magazine, but the Times chose not to publish it. They were arrested and held in solitary confinement in the Birmingham jail where King wrote his famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail." (Courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives) Charles Avery Jr. was 18 in 1963, when he participated in anti-segregation demonstrations in Birmingham. You have reached your limit of free articles. Climate change impacts are accelerating and the economic gap is widening. Both King and one of his top aides, the Rev. When King spent his nine days in the Birmingham jail, it was one of the most rigidly segregated cities in the South, although African Americans made up 40 percent of the population. While rapidly intensifying hurricanes, record warm months or years, or deluges in New York City make headlines, these extreme events are not breaking news to climate scientists. [21] King stated that it is not morally wrong to disobey a law that pertains to one group of people differently from another. King started writing the letter from his jail cell, then polished and rewrote it in subsequent drafts, addressing it as an open letter to the eight Birmingham clergy. From the Birmingham jail where he was imprisoned for his participation in demonstrations, King wrote a letter in reply. He was arrested for defying an injunction issued by a judge suppressing their rights to protest. They protest because it causes tension, and tension causes change. . You can't see the cells where King and thousands of blacks were held. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was writing the letter in order to defend his organization's nonviolent strategies. Answered over 90d ago. Ralph D. Abernathy, were promptly thrown into jail.. "Alone in jail, King plunges down into a kind of depression and panic combined," says Jonathan Rieder, a sociology professor at Barnard College who has written a new book on the letter called Gospel of Freedom. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. And it still is," Baggett says. Pastor Wyatt Tee Walker and his secretary Willie Pearl Mackey then began compiling and editing the literary jigsaw puzzle. That night King told the congregation he had no faith in the city's newly elected leader, Albert Boutwell, either. Altogether, King's letter was a powerful defense of the motivations, tactics, and goals of the Birmingham campaign and the Civil Rights Movement more generally. The recent public displays of nonviolence by the police were in stark contrast to their typical treatment of Black people and, as public relations, helped "to preserve the evil system of segregation". The Clergy of Birmingham believed that Martin Luther King's use of non-violent protests was a bad idea because it considered unwise and was done at the completely wrong time. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. In this letter, Dr. King sought to provide a moral lesson for his presence, asserting that he had come to Birmingham for the course of fighting injustice. I would agree with St. Augustine that 'an unjust law is no law at all.'" I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. The 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon mission is celebrated July 20, 1999. [14] Referring to his belief that all communities and states were interrelated, King wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963, Kings campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. From the Gado Modern Color series. For example, students at Miles College boycotted local downtown stores for eight weeks, which resulted in a decrease in sales by 40% and two stores desegregating their water fountains. In the letter, written following public criticism by fellow clergymen, King argues that the protests are indeed necessary to bring about change. Baggett says the violence and brutality of the police here focused the country on what needed to change and ultimately led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his letter from the Birmingham jail cell in response to criticisms made by a group clergymen who claimed that, while they agreed with King's ultimate aims. Like racism of Kings day (and now), certain groups of people disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change - the poor, elderly, children, and communities of color. As we approach another Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday, I have been reflecting on one of his most important writings, the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Dr. King wrote this epic letter on April 16th, 1963 as a political prisoner. They called King an "extremist" and told blacks they should be patient. The universal appeal of Dr. Kings letter lies in the hope it provides the disinherited of the earth, the millions of voiceless poor who populate the planet from the garbage dumps of Calcutta to the AIDS villages of Haiti. King writes in Why We Can't Wait: "Begun on the margins of the newspaper in which the statement appeared while I was in jail, the letter was continued on scraps of writing paper supplied by a friendly Black trusty, and concluded on a pad my attorneys were eventually permitted to leave me. King met with President John F. Kennedy on October 16, 1961, to address the concerns of discrimination in the south and the lack of action the government is taking. He explains that there are four steps . An intensely disciplined Christian, Dr. King was able to mold a modern manifesto of nonviolent resistance out of the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi. King was in jail for about a week before being released on bond, and it was clear that TIMEs editors werent the only group that thought he had made a misstep in Birmingham. As an activist challenging an entrenched social system, he argued on legal, political, and historical grounds. Today one would be hard-pressed to find an African novelist or poet, including Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, who had not been spurred to denounce authoritarianism by Kings notion that it was morally essential to become a bold protagonist for justice. Ralph Abernathy, left, and Rev. The time for justice is always now. In addition, King is also in Birmingham because he feels compelled to respond to injustice wherever he finds it. Dr. King was arrested and sent to jail for protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. "People risked their lives here," says Jim Baggett, archivist for the Birmingham Public Library. King reaches out to clergy that do not support his ideas and methods for equality. But by fall it and the city of Birmingham became rallying cries in the civil rights campaign. Senator Doug Jones (D-Alabama) led an annual bipartisan reading of the letter in the U.S. Senate during his tenure in the United States Senate in 2019 and 2020,[40][41] and passed the obligation to lead the reading to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) upon Jones' election defeat. From the Birmingham jail, King wrote a letter of great eloquence in which he spelled out his philosophy of nonviolence: You may well ask: Why direct action? The rising tide of civil rights agitation produced, as King had hoped, a strong effect on national opinion and resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, authorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities, as well as in employment. "[25], In the closing, King criticized the clergy's praise of the Birmingham police for maintaining order nonviolently. "[15] King also warned that if white people successfully rejected his nonviolent activists as rabble-rousing outside agitators, that could encourage millions of African Americans to "seek solace and security in Black nationalist ideologies, a development that will lead inevitably to a frightening racial nightmare. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". That same day, King was arrested and put in the Birmingham Jail. The resulting letter was addressed to Fellow Clergymen who had criticized the protest campaign. King began the letter by responding to the criticism that he and his fellow activists were "outsiders" causing trouble in the streets of Birmingham. "We want to march for freedom on the day. He then wrote more on bits and pieces of paper given to him by a trusty, which were given to his lawyers to take back to movement headquarters. [30] He was eventually able to finish the letter on a pad of paper his lawyers were allowed to leave with him. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. [38] King included a version of the full text in his 1964 book Why We Can't Wait. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963 after he had been arrested for his role in nonviolent protests against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Segregation and apartheid were supported by clearly unjust lawsbecause they distorted the soul and damaged the psyche. These readers were published for college-level composition courses between 1964 and 1968.[39]. The decision for King and the movement to. They were widely hailed for being among the most progressive religious leaders in the South, Bass said. Note: Image has been digitally colorized using a modern process. Citing previous failed negotiations, King wrote that the Black community was left with "no alternative". Segregation undermines human personality, ergo, is unjust. King highlighted commonalities within a cloud of tense disagreement. This past week a NOAA report pointed out that 20 climate disasters exceeding $1 billion in damage costs each happened in the 2021. Kings letter has grown in stature and significance with the passage of time. He says a guard smuggles King a newspaper where the letter from eight white ministers is published. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Trust me, they are there when you buy groceries or gasoline, turn your faucet on, consider your health, or watch relatives battered by storms like Hurricane Ida. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. It was Good Friday. "I'll never forget the time or the date. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. With racial tension high, King began nonviolent protests before Easter, but the campaign was struggling. Thanks to Dr. Kings letter, Birmingham had become a clarion call for action by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, especially in the 1980s, when the international outcry to free Nelson Mandela reached its zenith. While there, he was the subject of criticism by eight white clergymen, who called his protests and demonstrations "unwise and untimely." In response, King wrote a letter from Birmingham City Jail, noting, "I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the . Local civilians have recycled and repurposed war material. And so, with America again seemingly just as divided as it was in the 60s, here are five things that we should all take away from King's letter that I hope will bring us closer. In 1967, King ended up spending another five days in jail in Birmingham, along with three others, after their appeals of their contempt convictions failed. All of them were harassed because of that statement.. Martin Luther King Jr., with the Rev. They were arrested and held in solitary confinement in the Birmingham jail where King wrote his famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail.". [7] The citizens of Birmingham's efforts in desegregation caught King's attention, especially with their previous attempts resulting in failure or broken promises. Near the end of the Birmingham campaign, in an effort to draw together the multiple forces for peaceful change and to dramatize to the country and to the world the importance of solving the U.S. racial problem, King joined other civil rights leaders in organizing the historic March on Washington.