The Letter from a Birmingham Jail

The Letter from a Birmingham Jail

In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" the Baptist minister outlines his theory in nonviolent direct action, and delves into each of the steps necessary for success in ending segregation and achieving equality for the African American community. This letter, as the title embodies was written by King following his arrest for failure to comply with permit requirements that would have granted himself and his parties permission to gather peacefully and protest the injustices of the government in regards toward segregation of the African Americans. The letter is abundant with his discontentment concerning his community, comparisons of just and unjust laws, and the looming threat of being labeled an extremist. King's letter is an embodiment of his religious, political, and philosophical ideologies. Not only does King highlight the improper treatment of the African American community, he provides a solution to the issues. As the reader, I found this letter to be a staple of not only United States history, but even more importantly, the Civil Rights Movement. In order to better understand Dr. King's words, the reader has to examine attitudes toward racism in the 1960s, legislation surrounding segregation, Dr. King's religious upbringing, and the rising tension among African Americans in relation to the oppressive environment put in place.

With this letter Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is attempting to reach out to his fellow clergymen with a generous attitude in high hopes of justice for the Negro community, and ultimately the elimination of segregation. He desperately wanted to bring light to the way African Americans were treated in the 1960s. Abused and outcast, the Negro community, alongside King hoped it would make the clergymen realize that what they think and believe is wrong and immoral. He also was attempting to validate the desperate need for nonviolent direct action. When he says, "...freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed," he is highlighting the urgent need for action. The oppressed in this statement are members of the Negro community, pointedly displayed when he also makes mention of some Negros becoming complacent with degrees from schools which afforded them decent paying jobs, and disabled them with a blind eye towards the ongoing injustice occurring against their communities. His tone is one of disappointment and disapproval, which is evident when he states that time cannot wait any longer, and the time for action is whenever the oppressed choose to act. Additionally, he concludes his thoughts on inaction by stating: "...now I have heard the word 'Wait!' it rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. 'Wait!' has almost always meant never." Which leads me into the next topic, the Nonviolent Direct Action Program.

The Nonviolent Direct Action Program or NVDAP is supported not only by Martin Luther King Jr. but by several of his staff members. There is four main steps to any nonviolent direct action campaign including; collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self purification, and direct action. With Birmingham being the highest segregated city in the United States, King deemed it necessary to deal with the injustices presented. After all "...injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," according to King. He made it a personal goal of his not to sit back and watch as the injustices worsened but to take some course of action. Martin's religious background could have something to do with his determined attitude. One of the people that King looked up to growing up was the Apostle Paul. Paul left his hometown of Taurus to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the farther corners of the states. Therefore King felt obligated to bring freedom beyond his hometown.

In order to bring freedom beyond his hometown King needed to comply with step two of the four steps within NVDAP and negotiate with Birmingham's economic community. After doing so, very few promises were made, and most of them were left broken. For example many store merchants removed the racial signs that were hanging on the walls, and after very little time passed they were back on the walls without hesitation. They then realized they were "...victims of a broken promise." After the realization that negotiation wasn't going to bring the attention needed to eliminate segregation, the Negro community decided to once again refer back to the steps. This time using step three, self purification. In this step a sequence of nonviolent workshops were created. Also in this step King and his associates asked themselves if they could "...accept blows without retaliating?" and the question of whether or not they were "...able to endure the ordeal of jail?" This then leads to the final step, one of the main purposes in the program, direct action. The light shed upon