Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]16 April 1963
My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms. I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here. |
ConnectionMartin Luther King Jr. was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. He felt like the people who put him in the jail were "men of genuine good will" but felt they were in the wrong. The Clergymen called his march in Birmingham "unwise and untimely" but Mr. King believed otherwise. All King was trying to do was prove he deserved the same rights as everybody else despite the color of his skin. Martin Luther King was not an aggressive man and showed this through his peaceful sit-ins and silient marches. All he ever wanted was unity among the races. In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, the monster wanted almost the same thing as King wanted. The monster longed for unity between him and society. He wished to be accepted for the person he was despite his horrific looks and stature.
King, Martin Luther Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." upenn.edu. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus : With Connections. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1999. Print. |