I have read “A Call for Unity” and Martin Luther King's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and I have to say that I both agree and disagree with the writings of both parties. They were on the same side, but where on opposite ends of that side. While both parties had good intentions, they could have gone about it in a better way. A middle ground needed to be met for the best results.
While the writers of “A Call to Unity” were rational in their desires for peaceful and calm negotiations, the rights of African-Americans would have taken much longer to acquire, if the rights would have been given at all. Negotiation is a great tool, but it may not always be calm. When fighting for something that is really desired, a person gets passionate about the cause and their argument, which usually isn’t calm. The passion behind an argument makes it so much more effective.
Martin Luther King Jr. had passion, but sometimes he could get carried away. Of the two letters, I do lean more towards “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” because King had a valid argument. King just wanted equal rights for African-Americans like himself. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very intelligent, yet intense man. I believe that if he would have calmed down just a little bit, he would have still gotten his point across without ruffling so many feathers. The controversies of his actions such as protests were usually twisted by the media to make him appear to be the bad guy. The saying is that any press is good press, but that is not necessarily true.
Both letters express the opinions and ideas of two different types of revolutionaries of the time While they both fight for the rights of African-American citizens, they go upon in it completely different ways. I personally think that if they would have worked together and found a common ground, they would have made much more of a positive impact.
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