Morris, Robert: Diversity

Despite the fact that there are some glaring differences in the two letters assigned to us,  I found that the most important portion of the letters were their similarities. Anyone can note the fact that these letters were written by the two opposing sides of a very stressful situation. A Call to Unity was written by a group of clergymen who felt that they had nowhere else to go. They felt that they were backed into a corner which is certainly understandable. While I don't agree with their view I can emphasize with their feeling that they were losing what they felt like was just the culture of the land. I of course though empathize with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because his vision of a new America is the one I live in now. I was more affected though by the blatant racism present in A Call to Unity. As a child I heard the stories that my grandparents told me about growing up in the South during times of heightened racism, but it is always different to read a letter like this. It is almost like I can hear them say it directly to me and that is very creepy. I have never ignored the past but it feels strange to try and place myself in the position of the author or audience of any of the letters we were asked to read. I can hardly wrap my mind around the growth of our nation from that point. We have grown by leaps and bounds from a "negro" not getting to vote to a Black man as president. Thus in conclusion I feel that the letters serve as a sufficient window into the past, a time that few of the people of our generation could even come close to comprehending.