A valuable read by Martin Luther King Jr. (general, kings, attack)

[Dude111]

Quite inspirational reading...........

Martin Luther Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail


He was WELL AHEAD OF HIS TIME and very missed!!

[DiogenesofJackson]

Just some background, Letter from a B-ham Jail was one of MLK's most famous writings. At the time he was writing, many white (and black) members of the clergy criticized King for the Project C operation. Project C was the name that the SCLC and SNCC attributed to the B-ham movement. C, short for confrontation, meant that the black community would use whatever means short of violence to confront the city's white power structure for a more dignified system of relations between black and white residents. Most controversial was King's and other leaders' direction to B-ham's black parents, urging them to keep their children out of school and have them participate in the marches. It caused controversy because the movement's leaders knew that the city would use violence to try and stop the marchers, usually through attack dogs and high pressure water hoses.

The clergy all around the country, but mostly those from the South, criticized King for Project C and MLK's Letter was his response to them. He asks a question not only suitable for the times in which King lived, but appropriate for all times: when do you just sit back and allow unjust laws to continue to hurt people or when do you take it upon yourself to do something about it? In other words, when is it necessary to disobey a law?

I think the whole context of the Letter shows that laws are indeed not informed by sound moral principles and instead reflect the ability of certain groups to wield irresponsible power over others.

[Dude111]

A good point for sure!

[DiogenesofJackson]

Oh yeah, the Memphis Mountaintop Speech -- also very inspirational. You cannot get the same sense from reading this without hearing it. MLK was certainly a talented orator, something that is a thing of the past in our cable-TV/internet world.

[markg91359]

Its a great document that should be mandatory reading by young people in high school that, today, have almost no comprehension of the pain this country went through resolving the whole civil rights issue.

It should be understood who the letter is directed towards. Its directed towards moderate people who say they support the cause of civil rights, but are upset that King broke the law and was put in jail rather than "working within the system". The letter is a most eloquent defense of his actions.

MLK's writing in this letter is some of the most powerful I have ever read. There is much you can take from the letter. Some of what you take doesn't even necessarily apply to civil rights. For example, King talks about the need to create a constructive non-violent "tension" in order to get people thinking and get a dialogue going. This advice is actually necessary to affect any political change on any issue at all.

However, the most powerful passages for me are when King addressed what absence of civil rights meant to African Americans. He speaks of lynching. He speaks of black adults having to try to explain to their children why "white people treat them so mean". He talks about the vast majority of blacks being trapped in an air tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent nation.

Finally, King concludes with the remark "please forgive our regrettable impatience" in explaining why he is forcing this issue instead of letting the system respond at its own pace. By the time King is done, I suspect he has won over the vast majority of people who have read his letter.

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by markg91359

Its a great document that should be mandatory reading by young people in high school that, today, have almost no comprehension of the pain this country went through resolving the whole civil rights issue.

Couldnt say it better friend!!!

They want the truth hidden today.... THEY WANT PPL FORGETTING HOW GOOD IT USED TO BE and on the other hand they want ppl NOT KNOWING the true reality of what this country is!

[madison999]

Originally Posted by markg91359

Its a great document that should be mandatory reading by young people in high school that, today, have almost no comprehension of the pain this country went through resolving the whole civil rights issue.

It should be understood who the letter is directed towards. Its directed towards moderate people who say they support the cause of civil rights, but are upset that King broke the law and was put in jail rather than "working within the system". The letter is a most eloquent defense of his actions.

MLK's writing in this letter is some of the most powerful I have ever read. There is much you can take from the letter. Some of what you take doesn't even necessarily apply to civil rights. For example, King talks about the need to create a constructive non-violent "tension" in order to get people thinking and get a dialogue going. This advice is actually necessary to affect any political change on any issue at all.

However, the most powerful passages for me are when King addressed what absence of civil rights meant to African Americans. He speaks of lynching. He speaks of black adults having to try to explain to their children why "white people treat them so mean". He talks about the vast majority of blacks being trapped in an air tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent nation.

Finally, King concludes with the remark "please forgive our regrettable impatience" in explaining why he is forcing this issue instead of letting the system respond at its own pace. By the time King is done, I suspect he has won over the vast majority of people who have read his letter.

Did MLK ever address people as social/income "classes", or just racially? Serious question.

EDIT: accidental quote, just a general question.

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by madison999

Did MLK ever address people as social/income "classes", or just racially? Serious question.

EDIT: accidental quote, just a general question.

MLK's 'The American Dream' speech in 1965 was all about class divisions and income disparities and education inequality.

"Now that doesn’t only apply on the race issue, it applies on the class question. You know, sometimes a class system can be as vicious and evil as a system based on racial injustice. When we say, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,' and when we live it out, we know as I say so often that the 'no D.' is as significant as the 'Ph.D.' And the man who has been to 'No House' is as significant as the man who’s been to Morehouse. We build our little class systems, and you know you got a lot of Negroes with classism in their veins. You know that they don’t want to be bothered with certain other Negroes and they try to separate themselves from them."

“The American Dream"

But one example of many. MLK was about much more than merely racial injustice.

[TheWiseWino]

Originally Posted by madison999

Did MLK ever address people as social/income "classes", or just racially? Serious question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_P...gn#Development