In 1963 Blacks in the South began to stand up for themselves. They had seen their fellows tortured and killed for way too long. They wanted justice and wouldn’t settle until they received it. They began to demonstrate, sit-in, and march to bring attention to this problem.
“A Call for Unity” was written by eight white clergymen in Birmingham, Alabama in April of that year. It was such a big controversy that it ended up being published in a local Birmingham newspaper. The eight clergymen urged Blacks to end their demonstrations, because they were being led by outsiders. The clergymen thought it would be better for Blacks to use the courts to negotiate the rights that they were being denied. It was not long after this letter was published that Martin Luther King Jr. responded with “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Martin Luther King Jr. responded in a very mature fashion, he did not lash out at the clergymen he just simply stated that the demonstrations were the only way that Blacks could get through to people. He stated that going to the courts would have been a good idea, but he knew good and well that the White men who ran the courts would never open their ears to what Blacks had to say. Martin Luther was a Christian man who came to Birmingham to change the hearts of people and make things right for the people in Birmingham.
I agree with Martin Luther King Jr., he knew Whites would not listen to his people. The loud demonstrations were the only way to get through to them. It saddens me to think that the demonstrations were their last resort. I do not understand how Whites could be so deaf to change. They would intentionally hurt Blacks just to avoid integration. I respect King for the way he addressed the clergymen. I believe the sit-ins and demonstrations that Blacks resorted to in 1963, paved the way for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the rest of the African-American community to eventually integrate the town of Birmingham.
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