Falkoff, Brian: Diversity

The two letters demonstrate clearly that racial stereotypes are only partially consistent with demonstrative examples.
  
The letter from the White clergymen, published in a Birmingham newspaper, was indirectly targeted towards Martin Luther King and directly pointed at the local “Negro” community. The eight clergymen made clear that they thought that the black protesters needed to rescind their nonviolent demonstrations – marches, sit-ins, among other peaceful tension-building exercises – and appeal to the biased court system, though they did not name it as biased, in order to gain what they wanted: equal rights. The short and simple, yet clear and decisive, letter, exhibits a stereotype; powerful men think they will get what they want by putting someone else in their place. Their arrogance is astounding and their foolishness is staggering. To think that a group of oppressed and ill-treated people would sit idly by after a leader steps forwards and begins to guide them towards justice was foolish to say the least. The arrogance of the clergymen is surely a reassurance that any semipublic official in Birmingham would have been as self-righteous.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” responded to the letter written by the clergymen. King presented multiple thoughts and reasoning in his long letter, thoroughly explaining his points and almost overwhelming the reader with information. Maybe being in jail allowed him so much time that writing an overzealous letter was easy. More likely, overwhelming his White “fellow clergy” counterparts with ideals and solutions for a problem they did see existed was not that difficult. King probably knew that his own education overstepped theirs by far, and was simply showing all that read his response that even a Black man can be smart. Perhaps he was simply overdoing it. Perhaps he wanted to show the readers that he knew more, could say more, and would do more, than the simple-minded clergymen. This is an example of the stereotype; a hard-ass will always have the last word.

Their conflict in Birmingham has become something featured in textbooks and college classes, not surprisingly. These two letters represent many different ideas and thoughts, as well as showcasing quite well the differences between arrogant leaders and educated oppressed.