Nearly 50 years ago, Dr King wrote what some have called the “most important written document in the civil rights era”. “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a compelling perspective from inside the struggle that raises three questions for us today:
1) Dr King: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Are we ready to live in the understanding that we are inextricably linked?
2) Dr King: “…I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate…Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection…We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
Are we willing to give up comfort to deliver God’s mercy?
3) Dr King: “…though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love… So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
What kind of extremist will you be?
“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”
The time is now
1On April 16, 1963 Dr King penned a letter from jail to eight white religious leaders in Alabama. He had been arrested after taking part in a non-violent protest against the racist policies, actions and attitudes of Birmingham’s city government and businesses. His letter was in response to a letter he’d recently received from these religious leaders where they acknowledged the evil of segregation but were critical of Dr King and his tactics.
Comments
Matt Steen
16-Jan-2012 09:56 PM