King read the statement in his jail cell, and on the margins of the paper began his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." He did not disagree when it came to the utility of negotiation, but he understood that without direct action, power asymmetry would favor the established and unjust power structure, making negotiation for tangible gains impossible. We need dialogue (and action) now. Few have ever heard it. Incarcerated, he wrote a letter in response to the Clergymen's letter in which he wrote his thoughts and justified what many saw as an act that was "unwise and untimely" (King 2). "[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. 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. 5 Things We Can Learn from Rev. King addressed the accusation that the Civil Rights Movement was "extreme" by first disputing the label but then accepting it. Everybody was just jammed," Avery says. I had hoped, King wrote at one point, that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Published on April 17, 2014 by Jack Brymer Share this on: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Samford University history professor Jonathan Bass called it "the most important written document of the Civil Rights Era." Speaking at the dedication of an historic marker outside the . [2] The Letter from Birmingham Jail, was "ostensibly addressed," to the clergymen of Alabama (Westbrook, par. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Dr. King, who was born in 1929, did his undergraduate work at It was Good Friday. We were there with about 1,500-plus. King wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in response to a public statement by eight white clergymen appealing to the local black population to use the courts and not the streets to secure civil rights. The letter was not published immediately. Segregation undermines human personality, ergo, is unjust. Who did Martin Luther King, Jr., influence and in what ways? Archbishop Desmond Tutu quoted the letter in his sermons, Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley kept the text with him for good luck, and Ghanas Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumahs children chanted from it as though Dr. Kings text were a holy writ. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. [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. Just two days after he got out of jail, King preached a version of the letter at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church. Dr. Kings letter had to be smuggled out of the jail in installments by his attorneys, arriving thought by thought at the Southern Christian Leadership Conferences makeshift nerve center at the Gaston Motel. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist from Georgia. 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. By April 12, King was in prison along with many of his fellow activists. Was Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican or a Democrat? "They were all moderates or liberals. Resonating hope in the valleys of despair, King's 'Letter From Birmingham City Jail' became a literary classic inspiring activists around the world, https://www.historynet.com/martin-luther-king-jrs-letter-from-birmingham-city-jail/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96, A Look at the Damage from the Secret War in Laos. Charles Avery Jr. was 18 in 1963, when he participated in anti-segregation demonstrations in Birmingham. He implored people of all races, particularly the racial majority, to take a stand against race-biased laws and to act on behalf of justice. 7). Ralph Abernathy (center) and the Rev. His epic response still echoes through. Alabama segregationist Bull Connor ordered police to use dogs and fire hoses on black demonstrators in May 1963. Birmingham was the perfect place to take a stand. It documents how frustrated he was by white moderates who kept telling blacks that this was not the right time: "And that's all we've heard: 'Wait, wait for a more convenient season.' "These eight men were put in the position of looking like bigots," Rabbi Grafman once said. King wrote the first part of the letter on the margins of a newspaper, which was the only paper available to him. On 14-15 April [2013] an ecumenical symposium was held to renew commitment to racial justice and reconciliation by leaders of Christian denominations in the United States of America. From the Birmingham jail where he was imprisoned for his participation in demonstrations, King wrote a letter in reply. Both King and one of his top aides, the Rev. The eight clergy it was addressed to did not receive copies and didnt see it until it was published in magazine form. Magazines, Digital 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? 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. And the images that come out of here, it just, I think it seared into people's minds. Jesus and other great reformers were extremists: "So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. It is in our best interest to promote good stewardship of it and make sure it is that way for our kids and so on. Argentinian human rights activist Adolfo Prez Esquivel, the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was inspired in part by Kings letter to create Servicio Paz y Justicia, a Latin American organization that documented the tragedy of the desaparecidos. Citing previous failed negotiations, King wrote that the Black community was left with "no alternative". The fort, an important part of the Confederate river defense system, was captured by federal read more, On April 12, 1954 Bill Haley and His Comets recorded (Were Gonna) Rock Around The Clock. If rock and roll was a social and cultural revolution, then (Were Gonna) Rock Around The Clock was its Declaration of Independence. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. That eventful year was climaxed by the award to King of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in December. We can no longer sit idly by either as heat waves, hurricanes, and flooding ravage communities. He explains that there are four steps . Letter from Birmingham Jail is a response to. The eight clergy have been pilloried in history for their stance. 100%. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. After Durick retired, he returned to Alabama to live in a house in Bessemer until his death in 1994. Even after the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in September 1963, the group of white clergy was still looked to for leadership on racial issues. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He was responding to those that called him an outside agitator, but this statement hits home for me as a climate scientist. It was his response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. The decision for King and the movement to. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives, Long Forgotten, 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor Speaks Out, 'Birmingham': A Family Tale In The Civil Rights Era. (Photo by NASA/Newsmakers). 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Bass noted the progressive sermons on racial issues preached by Stallings from his First Baptist pulpit; the spiritual and social leadership in the city by Rabbi Grafman, and the transformation of Bishop Durick into a civil rights crusader who was the only white on the platform during a memorial service for King at Memphis City Hall. He wrote, I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. Fred Shuttlesworth, defied an injunction against protesting on Good Friday in 1963. And if Bill Haley was not exactly the revolutions read more, On April 12, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. On April 3, 1963, the Rev. 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. 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. "[18] Listing numerous ongoing injustices toward Black people, including himself, King said, "Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'Wait. He was a senior in high school. Note: Image has been digitally colorized using a modern process. 3. Yet by the time Dr. King was murdered in Memphis five years later, his philosophy had triumphed and Jim Crow laws had been smashed. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. From the Gado Modern Color series. Martin Luther King Jr. began writing his Letter From Birmingham Jail, directed at eight Alabama clergy who were considered moderate religious leaders. The Rev. They were in basic agreement with King that segregation should end. In the weeks leading up to the March on Washington, King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference used the letter as part of its fundraising efforts, and King himself used it as a basis for. Rev. Ralph Abernathy (center) and the Rev. 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. He addressed the letter to eight white Alabama pastors who opposed his . As Harrison Salisbury wrote in The New York Times, the streets, the water supply, and the sewer system were the only public facilities shared by both races. Its the exclamation point at the end., Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews, Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. That night King told the congregation he had no faith in the city's newly elected leader, Albert Boutwell, either. These readers were published for college-level composition courses between 1964 and 1968.[39]. [19] King called it a "tragic misconception of time" to assume that its mere passage "will inevitably cure all ills". Source (s) these steps in Birmingham. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail because he needed to keep fighting for the cause, was hugely saddened by the inaction and response of white religious leaders, and to put all the misunderstandings to rest. The objection was to making it seem as though these eight men were opposed to his goals.. So its hard to conjure up the 34-year-old in a narrow cell in Birmingham City Jail, hunkered down alone at sunset, using the margins of newspapers and the backs of legal papers to articulate the philosophical foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr., right are taken by a policeman as they led a line of demonstrators into the business section of Birmingham, Ala., on April 12, 1963. Their desire to be active in fighting against racism is what made King certain that this is where he should begin his work. Fred Shuttlesworth, defied an injunction against protesting on Good Friday in 1963. Its not written for them, its written for whites outside the South who were highly critical of the movement, all those who were questioning Kings tactics, and his leadership, Bass said. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. It was his response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. Match the Quote to the Speaker: American Speeches, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering I Have a Dream, White House meeting of civil rights leaders in 1963. Grafman said the eight clergy were among Birminghams moderate leaders who were working for civil rights. Need more proof that the original letter was convincing? Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Recreation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s cell in Birmingham Jail at the National Civil Rights Museum, photo by Adam Jones, Ph.D. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a public statement of concern issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. Four months later, King gave his I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, regarded by many as the high-water mark of his movement. Because King addressed his letter to them by name, they were put in the position of looking to posterity as if they opposed Kings goals rather than the timing of the demonstration, Rabbi Grafman said. Then, Connor ordered police to use attack dogs and fire hoses. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. On April 3, 1975, as the communist Khmer Rouge forces closed in for the final assault on the capital city, U.S. forces were put on alert for the read more, On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes awaypartway through his fourth term in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. Dr. King was arrested and sent to jail for protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. Its the symbolic finale of the Birmingham movement. Letter from Birmingham Jail:. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly: You cannot criticize the protest without first understanding the cause of it. You can't see the cells where King and thousands of blacks were held. Earl Stallings, pastor of First Baptist Church of Birmingham from 1961-65, was one of the eight clergy addressed by King in the letter. 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. C. Herbert Oliver, an activist, in 1963, and was recently donated to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. "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. Local civilians have recycled and repurposed war material. [31] Extensive excerpts from the letter were published, without King's consent, on May 19, 1963, in the New York Post Sunday Magazine. 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. "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. The process of turning scraps of jailhouse newspaper and toilet paper into Letter From Birmingham Jail remains, in itself, a seminal achievement. But they feared the demonstrations would lead to violence and felt the newly elected city government could achieve progress peacefully. - Rescuers on Monday combed through the "catastrophic" damage Hurricane Ida did to Louisiana, a day after the fierce storm killed at least two people, stranded others in rising floodwaters and sheared the roofs off homes. 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. Courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives Fifty years have passed since Dr Martin Luther King, Jr wrote his "Letter from the Birmingham Jail". A Maryland woman helped piece together Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous " Letter from Birmingham Jail ." King wrote the letter in 1963 as a response to eight clergymen who. He makes a clear distinction between both of them. Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement, Riding Freedom: 10 Milestones in U.S. Civil Rights History. Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolinas Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861. 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. In 1963, the Rev. I would agree with St. Augustine that 'an unjust law is no law at all.'" 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". [30] He was eventually able to finish the letter on a pad of paper his lawyers were allowed to leave with him. Segregation and apartheid were supported by clearly unjust lawsbecause they distorted the soul and damaged the psyche. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. A court had ordered that King could not hold protests in Birmingham. First of all, King needed a way to continue the fight. After being arrested in downtown Birmingham on a Good Friday, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous letter, "A Letter From Birmingham Jail" responding to the criticism demonstrated by eight prominent white clergy . Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. While stressing the importance of non-violence, he rejected the idea that his movement was acting too fast or too dramatically: We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. The Set-Up. Just as Dr. King had been inspired by Henry David Thoreaus essay Civil Disobedience, written in a Massachusetts jail to protest the Mexican-American War, a new generation of the globally oppressed embraced the letter as a source of courage and inspiration. 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. In his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," King speaks to a specific audience: the (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images), 376713 11: (FILE PHOTO) A view of the Earth, appears over the Lunar horizon as the Apollo 11 Command Module comes into view of the Moon before Astronatus Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin Jr. leave in the Lunar Module, Eagle, to become the first men to walk on the Moon's surface. The term "outsider" was a thinly-veiled reference to Martin Luther King Jr., who replied four days later, with his famous " Letter from Birmingham Jail ." He argued that direct action was necessary to protest unjust laws. Martin Luther King Jr. was behind bars in Alabama as a result of his continuing crusade for civil rights. 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. 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. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. [9], King was met with unusually harsh conditions in the Birmingham jail. by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From the Birmingham jail, where he was imprisoned as a participant in nonviolent demonstrations against segregation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote in longhand the letter which follows. Lesson Transcript. It's been five decades since Martin Luther King Jr., began writing his famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail," a response to eight white Alabama clergymen who criticized King and worried the civil rights campaign would cause violence. The old city jail looks abandoned. The final part of the letter (and you should consider reading it all for the King holiday of service) that I want to feature is this statement by Dr. King to his white clergy peers. King wasn't getting enough participation from the black community. King expresses his belief that his actions during the Human Right Movement were not "untimely," and that he is not an "outsider.". All Rights Reserved. Though TIME dismissed the protests when they first occurred, that letter was included was included in the issue the following January in which King was named the Man of the Year for 1963. hide caption, Martin Luther King Jr., with the Rev. Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), African American founding fathers of the United States, Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (Pueblo, Colorado), Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, San Francisco. During his incarceration, Dr. King wrote his indelible "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" with a stubby pencil on the margins of a newspaper. 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. In April of 1963, Martin King intentionally violated an anti-protesting ordinance in Birmingham, Alabama, and was jailed on Good Friday. One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. St. Thomas Aquinas would not have disagreed. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. Piloted by astronauts Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young, the Columbia undertook a 54-hour space flight of 36 orbits before successfully read more, Four of the bloodiest years in American history begin when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. They were arrested and held in solitary confinement in the Birmingham jail where King wrote his famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail.". "Project C" is also referred to as the Birmingham campaign. In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. King first dispensed with the idea that a preacher from Atlanta was too much of an outsider to confront bigotry in Birmingham, saying, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. This is the photograph that ran with TIME's original coverage of their arrests. [7] The citizens of Birmingham's efforts in desegregation caught King's attention, especially with their previous attempts resulting in failure or broken promises. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. In January, Gov. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds. Even conservative Republican William J. Bennett included Letter From Birmingham City Jail in his Book of Virtues. Letter From Birmingham City Jail would eventually be translated into more than 40 languages. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". King reaches out to clergy that do not support his ideas and methods for equality. Bass in his book argued that Stallings and some of the other white clergy in many ways had been more thoughtful on racial issues than history has given them credit for. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. They were widely hailed for being among the most progressive religious leaders in the South, Bass said. [24], King expressed general frustration with both white moderates and certain "opposing forces in the Negro community". Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses the letter to address the clergy and defend his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and oppression. Today on 6th Avenue South in Birmingham, a three-story cement building with peeling paint is almost hidden from the busy street. Carpenter, Episcopal Bishop Co-Adjutor George M. Murray, Methodist Bishop Paul Hardin and the Rev. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well timed in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. King also advocated for violating unjust laws and urged that believers in organized religion [break] loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity. All told, the lengthy letter constituted a defense of nonviolent protest, a call to push the issue of civil rights, and a rallying cry for fence-sitters to join the fight, even if it meant that they, too, might end up in jail. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)", List of lynching victims in the United States, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail&oldid=1141774811, Christianity and politics in the United States, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 18:53. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern political prisoner",[1] and is considered a classic document of civil disobedience.[2][3][4][5]. Perhaps you have heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "Letter from a Birminghal Jail.". I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind, said King in his acceptance speech. King penned his letter in response to clergy who criticized him for his non-violent activism. As an activist challenging an entrenched social system, he argued on legal, political, and historical grounds. [11] The letter provoked King, and he began to write a response to the newspaper itself. What is Martin Luther King, Jr., known for? I'll never forget the time or the date. Letter From Birmingham Jail 1 A U G U S T 1 9 6 3 Letter from Birmingham Jail . [6], The Birmingham campaign began on April 3, 1963, with coordinated marches and sit-ins against racism and racial segregation in Birmingham. They flavor us over time creating tribes and silos. So King traveled to Alabama in 1963 to attack the culture of racism in the South and the Jim Crow laws that mandated separate facilities for blacks and whites. The letter was distributed to the media, published in newspapers and magazines in the months after the Birmingham demonstrations, and it appeared in his book, Why We Cant Wait, in 1964. Dr. King wrote, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. "[25], In the closing, King criticized the clergy's praise of the Birmingham police for maintaining order nonviolently. King wrote the letter as a reply to eight very prominent Alabama clergymen. King got a copy of the newspaper, read their letter in jail, and began writing a response on scraps of paper. 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. The decision prompted King to write, in a statement, that though he believed the Supreme Court decision set a dangerous precedent, he would accept the consequences willingly.