Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) note that, despite desegregation and the Civil Rights Act, many of the issues King highlighted 50 years ago, particularly the emotional and psychological impacts of segregation, continue into the present (2). Indeed, a church group in the United States has taken the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of Letter from Birmingham Jail to offer a response to the points King raised.
King’s letter is rich with detailed discussions of the insidious effects of segregation and discrimination and provides numerous insights that remain applicable today. For King, such “ ‘order’ is a negative peace which is the absence of tension.” Instead, he and other civil rights activists like him were pursuing a “positive peace, which is the presence of justice.” Justice should always have priority. Justifying his involvement in Birmingham, though he himself was from Atlanta, Georgia, King wrote the now famous words: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (1) Contrary to the view of the clergymen, King held that it was not possible to achieve social and political order at the expense of justice. Letter from Birmingham Jail has been taught in political science courses around the world and has subsequently served as inspiration for nonviolent activists and religious adherents pursuing social justice. King’s response, initially scribbled in the margins of a newspaper from his cell, is widely regarded as a core text for the theory and practice of social justice activism and the pursuit of nonviolent change. In effect, they were saying that to achieve justice, we must first uphold order. They regarded King as an outsider causing trouble in Birmingham and argued that issues of racial injustice were best resolved in the courts, not in the streets. The clergymen urged King and his fellow civil rights activists to pursue negotiations and legal procedures rather than continue their nonviolent demonstrations and civil disobedience. responded to an open letter from some of his fellow clergy criticizing him and the civil rights movement. On 16 April 1963, whilst imprisoned in Birmingham Alabama, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. On this anniversary, Erin Wilson reflects on what this important document can still teach us today. penned his now famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.
Fifty years ago today, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
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