The 1960s were a rough period for the African-American population in the United States. Racial groups tormented Blacks, kept them separated from other races, and developed laws against them. Blacks were seen as inferior to Whites in many important ways, including intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world by using nonviolent methods.
On April 12, 1963, eight White clergymen wrote “A Call for Unity” and had it published in the newspaper. This piece stated that Black civil rights should be fought for and won on the courts and not in the streets. The only problem with this was that Blacks had little to no say in what the government did at this time.
On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a response to this titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this response, King wrote that the displays of protest he was leading were necessary in the push for Black civil rights and desegregation. He believed that waiting to settle these disputes in a court would take too long and might never happen. In his letter, King quoted William Ewart Gladstone saying, "[J]ustice too long delayed is justice denied."
Martin Luther King Jr. also wrote, “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." This was his reasoning behind the civil disobediences he was causing. I believe King wass correct on most levels. If laws are developed that are not good for society, society will regress. Some laws may seem to be good at one point in time, yet become out dated and need to be changed or done away with. That is what I believe happened in the case of African American civil rights and segregation. At one point in our nation’s history, these laws held good purpose, and then a time for change came. The problem is that some people could not see the need for change or did not want to accept it. If no one is going to step up and make things right, sometimes breaking laws is what it takes to prove the laws are not acceptable.
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