Letter from Birmingham Jail

Samuel Pittman

@02772574

In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his grave disappointment in two groups that he felt had large parts in helping blacks move forward. He calls them his “two honest confessions” and he mentions the white moderate along with the white church and its leadership. He explains how the white moderate’s valuing of order over justice ensured the continuation of segregation. He notes how many clergy of the south have proven to be opponents and too many others stayed silent due to moderation and cowardice. King believed these two groups, little did they probably know, had a great effect within the civil rights movement through their silence and lack of assistance.

When King wrote about the white moderate in this letter, he briefly mentioned how he almost made the mistake of assuming that the “Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom” was the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klan. However, he clarified that it was actually the white moderate because they rather have order than seek justice. King called what they wanted “negative peace,” which is the absence of tension. These were the people who agreed with the fight for equality, but didn’t believe in taking action against the oppressors because they thought time would make things better. He called them “dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” Moreover, in this letter he explained that the blacks that participate in the nonviolent protests weren’t the ones bringing tension, they just uncover the hidden tension that is already present within the society. King compares the injustice in society to a boil in that it has to be exposed in order for the healing process to take place.

Through further reading of the letter, we see that King mentions he is also disappointed with the white church and their leadership. Before continuing on, he does show gratitude to the few that do stand by the blacks’ side in the protests...