Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis April 4, 1968. King was one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement, which sought equal rights for African Americans. Especially in the south, segregation, racism, and racial violence was a major, every-day problem. Therefore, leaders like King organized non-violent protests to fight for equal rights; these were normally met with violence.
King was arrested on April 12, 1963 for participating in a non-violent protest organized by two important organizations at the time- the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After his protest, 8 white clergy men called for “unity” in a newspaper while King was in jail. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was his response.
In your post this week, read pages 1-3 of the Letter (stop at the paragraph that ends with “…disobeying these anti-religious laws”), and address the following questions:
- What are the 4 steps of a non-violent campaign?
- According to King, why doesn’t waiting for new administration and negotiation work? Why turn to campaigning?
- King said, “…freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” What does this mean?
- What do you think of King’s references to the Jews and Hitler in World War II in the last paragraph?
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