In the "Letter to Birmingham" by Martin Luther King jr., King adresses criticisms from other religious leaders while he is in jail. One point the King brings up that I found was very interesting is that these leaders and criticizing King for what he did to get arrested even though one of the points he is standing up for is the fact that churches and homes were bombed and no action was taken afterwords. This made me look into how churches were segregated during the 1960's which led me to find this article http://academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/waronterrorism/churchburn01a.htm. The author of this article talked about many african american churches that were burned by racial groups such as the KKK to send a message. One thing that really surprised me was that churches were really segregated even after school were integrated in 1954. This made me thing that maybe people do not want to leave their comfort zones or they would not feel safe going into a different church.
I later realized that most churches are for a community and if communities were segregated then churches would be which makes a circle the contradicts itself. King indirectly talks about this when he talks to the white Christians and Jews about how he is disappointed in the white moderate. He also makes an interesting connection to the Jews when he says, "We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'" (pg. 3). King also continues stating, "It was 'illegal' to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal" King also answers to why he can break certain laws and obey others. when he explained this it made perfect sense to me because he mentioned, that St. Augustine said, "An unjust law is not a law at all" (pg.3).
King also comments saying, "I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say 'wait.'" (pg. 2). King is saying that others have been favored because of their ethnicity's and since they have been favored they do not know the pain of not receiving the rights that they feel they should have.
Overall, the main thing that this text has made me realize is that even to this day there is some sort of segregation among churches which I feel should be the last place where segregation should be. I wonder if anyone else has noticed about this unspoken rule of churches and communities and how they do help one another but what they also reject.
-Alex L.
I think that MLK does a great job addressing the criticisms that the nonviolent demonstrations are "unwise and untimely". He says, " I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was 'well timed' according to those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation." He explains that there will never be a good time, and if they continue to delay action, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, MLK expresses his disappointment with the white church. He is very strategic in his questioning of the morals of the white church. He says, "But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before." This may even be an attempt to scare the church leaders into action.
I agree with you that there should not be segregation within churches. I was raised Catholic, and after reading your blog I realized that there are very few African-American families in my church. I suppose they feel more comfortable together, which reminds us that there are still many issues with race today.
-Amanda
Martin Luther King Jr could be considered one of the most influential men in the past 100 years. I like the link that you posted because it does a good job of backing up what Martin Luther King was saying about life being unjust for African Americans. One part of this letter that I felt was more important was when King says, " Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here." It really shows how long they have been part of America and yet have always had such harsh treatment, even though they have laid claim to the land much longer than the white man. Knowing that MLK "succeeded" in desegregation, will there ever be a time when race doesn't matter?
ReplyDeleteI think the part that stuck out most to me was King's focus on just and unjust laws. If an law is not enforced, it's the same as not having the law. Just like the way he says an unjust law is not a law at all. This made me think of the Jim Crow rules from our previous reading. These follow the same idea of being unjust laws, only they're not typical laws. Part of the problem MLK Jr has is that rather than enforce rules that strive towards equality, society enforces rules such as these. This holds back change that people like MLK Jr gave their life to fight for.
ReplyDelete-Jordan
What stuck out most to me was the comparison Hitler's laws in Nazi-Germany. It proves a strong point with how people blindly follow laws because they are laws, but don't look deep enough into them to see that morally they are wrong, and it should never be illegal to help out your fellow man.
ReplyDelete-Nick