great work

123 in Birmingham, Alabama, and turn to the courts. Read the clergymen's public statement first, then Kings detailed rebuttal (printed here as it appem·ed origina/(y}. Keep in mind that King wrote these words four months before he delivered his fomous '1 Have a Dream" speech during the August 1963 civil rights march on Washington; after long yean· of activism, he was clearly impatient U)ith the slow progress of the civil rights movement. ·Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergyn1en (April 12, 1963) We the undersigned clergymen are among those who, in January, issued '~Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense," in deal ing with racial problems in Alabama. We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could properly be pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.

Since that time there had been some evidence of increased for bearance and a willingness to face f.'lcts. Responsible citizens have un dertaken to work on various problems which cause racial friction and unrest. In Birmingham, recent public events have given indication that we all have opportunity for a new constructive and realistic ap proach to racial problems.

However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demon strations are unwise and untimely.

We agree rather with certain local Negro leadership which has called for honest and open negotiation of racial issues in our area. And we believe this kind of facing of issues can best be accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area, white and Negro, meeting with their knowledge and experience of the local situation. All of us need to face that responsibility and find proper channels for its accomplishment. Just as we formerly pointed out that "hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions," we also point out that such actions as incite to hatred and violence, however tech nically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems. We do not believe that these days of new hope are days when extreme measures are justified in Birmingham. We commend the community as a whole, and the local news media and law enforcement officials in particular, on the calm man ner in which these demonstrations have been handled. We urge the public to continue to show restraint should the demonstrations con tinue, and the law enforcement officials to remain calm and continue to protect our city from violence.

We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in ~orking peacefully for a better Birmingham. When rights are consistently de nied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets. We appeal to borh our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense.

Signed by: C. C.]. CARPENTER, D. D., LL.D., Bishop o_(Alabama JOSEPH A. DURICK, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese ofMobile, Birmingham RABBI MilTON L. GRAFMAN, Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, Alabama BISHOP PAUL HARDIN, Bishop of the Alabama- Wf?st Florida Conference of the Methodist Church BISHOP NOLAN B. HARMON, Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the !'vfethodist Church GEORGE M. MURRAY, D.D., LL.D., Bishop Coadjutor, Episcopal Diocese ofAlabama EDWARD v. RAMAGE, Moderatm; Synod of the Alabama Presbyterian Church in the United States EARL STAj~LINGS, Pastm; First Baptist Church~ Birmingham, Alabama Letter from Birminghatn Jail MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Birmingham City Jail April 16, 1963 Bishop C C. J Carpenter Bishop joseph A. Durick Rabbi lvfiiton L. Gra.fman Bishop Paul Hardin Bishop Nolan B. Harmon The Rev. George M N!unny The Rev. Edward V. Ramage The Rev. Earl Stallings My dear Fellow Clergymen, While confined here in the Birminghan~ City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities "unwise and un time_ly." Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and tdeas. IfI sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

. I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, ~m~e you have been influenced by the argument of "outsiders coming m. I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christ ian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every South ern state with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South-one being rhe AJabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Whenever neces sary and possible we share staff, educational, and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago our local affiliate here in Birm ingham invited us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct ac tion program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented and when the hour came we lived up to our promises. So I am here, along with several members of my staff, because we were invited here.

I am here because I have basic organizational ties here. Beyond this, I 126 am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the eighth century prophets left tqeir little villages and carried their "rhus sairh the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home town, and just as the Apos tle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and ciry of the Graeco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my parricular home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. 0 Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communi- ties and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutu ality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.

You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am sorry that your statement did not express a similar concern for the conditions that brought the demonstrations into being. I am sure that each of you would want to go beyond the superficial social analyst who looks merely at dfecrs, and does not grapple with underlying causes. I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are talcing place in Birm ingham at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that ir is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the Negro community with no other alternative. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: (1) collec tion of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive; (2) negoti ation; (3) self-purification; and (4) direct action. We have gone through all of these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying ~f the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham ts probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States.

Its ugly record of police brutality is known in every section of this country. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality. There have been more unsolved bombings ofNegro homes and churches in Birmingham than any city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts. On the basis of these conditions ~egro leaders so.ught to negotiate with the city fathers. But the polit tcalleaders conststendy refused to engage in good faith negotiation. 1 10 127 Then came the opportunity last September to talk with som~ of the leaders of the economic community. In these negotiating sessions certain promises were made by the merchants-such as the promise to remove the humiliating racial signs from the stores. On the basis of these promises Rev. Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to call a moratorium on any type of demonstrations. As the weeks and months unfolded we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. signs re mained. As in so many experiences of the past we were confronted with blasted hopes, and the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon us. So 'we had no alternative except that of preparing for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means oflaying our case before the conscience of the local and national com munity. We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we de cided to go through a process of self-purification. We started having workshops on nonviolence and repeatedly asked ourselves the ques tions, "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?~~ "Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?" We decided to set our direct action program around the Easter season, realizing that with the exception of Christmas, this was the largest shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt that this was the best time to bring pressure on the merchants for needed changes. Then it occurred to us that the March election was ahead, and so we speedily decided to postpone action until after elec tion day. When we discovered that Mr. Connor was in the run-off, we decided again to postpone so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. At this time we agreed to begin our nonvio lent witness the day after the run-of£ 15 This reveals that we did not move irresponsibly into direct action. 15 We too wanted to see Mr. Connor defeated; so we went through post ponement postponement to aid in this community need. After this we felt that direct action could be delayed no longer. You may well ask, "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.?

Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension.

I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, bur there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to rhe unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to cre ate the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understand ing and brotherhood. So the purpose of the direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to ne gotiation. We, therefore, concur with you in your call for negotiation.

Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue. One of the basic points in your statement is that our acts are un timely. Some have asked, "Why didn't you give the new administra tion time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this inquiry is that the new administration must prodded about as much as the outgoing one before it acts. We will be sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Mr. Boutwell will bring the millennium ro Birming ham. While Mr. Boutwell is h-tuch more articulate and gentle than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists dedicated to the task of main taining the status quo. The hope I see in Mr. Boutwell is that he will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to segregation. But he will not see this without pressure from the devo tees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and non violent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individ uals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust pos ture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never volun tarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Franldy I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was <\veil rimed," according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the of segregation. For years now I have heard the 128 word "Wait!, It rings in rhe ear of every Negro with a piercing famil iarity. This "wait, has almost always meant "never.'' Ir has been a tran quilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed in£.1.nt of frustration. We must come to see with rhe distinguished jurist of yesterday rhat "justice too long delayed is justice denied., We have waited for more than three hun dred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward rhe goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining ofa cup of coffee at a lunch counter.

I guess it is easy for those who have never fdr the stinging darts of segregation to say wait. Bur when you have seen vicious mobs lynch vour mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers ~r whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, bru talize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro broth ers smothering in an air-tight cage of poverty in the midst of an af fluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daugh ter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the de pressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously de veloping a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a fl.ve-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?''; when you take a cross country drive and tlnd it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" men and "colored"; when your first name be comes "nigger" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when your wife and mother are n~ver given the respected tide "Mrs."; when you are har ried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, liv ing constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness";-then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break 20 laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawin.g seg regation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxrcal to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer is found in the £.1ct that there are two types of laws. There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just iaws. One has not only a legal but moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with Saint Augustine that ''An unjust law is no law at all." Now what is the difference between the two? How does one de termine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifrs human per sonality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of su periority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. To .use the words of Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, segregatiOn sub stitutes an "I-lt, relationship for the "I-thou" relationship, and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. So segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, bur it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Isn't seg regation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, an ex pression of his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? So I ca~ urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court because tt is morally right, and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordi nances because they are morally wrong.

Let us turn to a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. This is difference made legal. On the other hand 20 130 131 a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. .

Let me give another explanation. An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or cre ating because they did not have the unhampered rightto vote. Who can say the legislature of Alabama which set up the segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout the state of Alabama all types of conniving methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters and there are some counties without a single Negro registered to vote despite the fact that the Negro constitutes a major ity of the population. Can any law set up in such a state be considered democratically structured? 5 These are just a few examples of unjust and just laws. There are 1 some instances when a law is just on its face but unjust in its applica tion. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading with out a permit. Now there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to pre serve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.

I hope you can see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defYing the law as the rabid segrega tionist would do. This would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an un just law must do it open~y, lovingly (not hatefully as the white mothers did in New Orleans when they were seen on television screaming "nig ger, nigger, nigger") and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I sub mit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality ex pressing the very highest respect for law. Of course there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedi ence. It was seen ·sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws ofNebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks, before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree academic freedom is a reality today be cause Socrates practiced civil disobedience.

We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to qid ~nd ~omfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that, if I had ltved m Ge_rmany dur ing that time, I would have aided an~ comforted m! Jewtsh brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived 111 a commumst country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith a~e ~ufpressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying those annrehgt?u~ laws. I must make two honest confessions to you, my Chnsnan and Jewish brothers. First I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white modera~e. I have a1m.ost reached the regtettable conclusion that the Negr?es ~r~at s~~~bhng block in the stride toward freedom is not the Whl[e Cmzens Coun ciler" or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you i~' the goal you s~e~, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action ; ~ho paternahsnc~Ily feels that he can set the timetable for another mans freedom; who hves by the myth of time and who constantly advises the ~egro to wait until a «more convenient season." Shallow understandmg from peo ple of good wi1l is more frustrating than abs?lute misundersta~ding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance IS much more bewilder ing than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law 30 30 and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice, an d t h at w hen they fail to do this they become the dangerously structured. dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the whtte moder ate would understand that the present tension in the South is merely a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, where the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substance filled positive peace, where all men will respect th.e digni~ and w~rth of human personality. Actually, we who engage 111 nonviOlent dtrect action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured as long as it is covered up but must ?e. opene~ wit~ ~ll it~ pus-flo~ing ugliness to the natural medicines of atr and hght, lllJUStlce must l~ke wise be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing. c~eates, to th~ hght of human conscience and the air of national op11uon before lt can be cured. 2 5 In your statement you asserted that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. ~ut can this· assertion be logically made? Isn't this like condemning the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerv ing commitment to truth and his philosophical delvings precipitated the misguided popular mind to make him drink the hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because His unique God consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to His will precipitated rhe evil act of cru citlxion? We must come to see, as federal courts have consistently af firmed, that it is immoral to urge an individual to withdraw his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest precipitates vi olence. Society must. protect the robbed and punish the robber.

I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth of rime. I received a letter this morning from a white brother in Texas which said: "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but is it possible that you are in too great of a religious hurry? It has taken Christianity almost 2,000 years to ac complish what it has. The teachings of Christ rake time to come to earth." All that is said here grows out of a rragic misconception of time. It is the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually time is neu tral. It can be used either destructively or constructively. I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of good will. We will have to repent in this genera tion not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, bur for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through rhe tireless efforts and persistent work 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, and forever realize thar the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy, and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You spoke of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of the extremist. I started thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the nity. One is a force of complacency made up of Negroes who, ~s a re sult of long years of oppression, have been so completely dramed of self-respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation, and of a few Negrot;;S in the middle class who, becaus~ of a degree of academic and economic security, and beca~se ar. ~omts they profit by segregation, have unconsciously become msensmve to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred and comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is ex pressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up over the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. This movement is nourished by the contempo rary frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination.

It is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have ab solutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incurable "devil." I have tried to stand between these two forces saying that we need not follow the "do-nothingism" of the complacent or the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. There is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged I am con vinced that by now many streets of the South would be Howing with floods of blood. And I am further convinced that if our white broth ers dismiss us as "rabble rousers" and "outside agitators"-those of us who are working through the channels of nonviolent direct action and refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions ofNegroes, out of frustration and despair, will seek solace and security in black na tionalist ideologies, a development that will lead inevitably to a fright ening racial nightmare. 35 Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for 35 freedom will eventually come. This is what has happened to the Amer ican Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom; something without has reminded him that he can gain it.

Consciously and unconsciously, he has been swept in by what the Ger mans call the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa, and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America, and the Caribbean, he is moving with a sense of cosmic urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. Recognizing this vital urge that has en gulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand public 134 135 demonstrations. The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations. He has to them out. So let him march sometime; let him have his prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; understand why he must have sit-ins and freedom rides. If his repressed emotions do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in ominous ex pressions of violence. This is not a threat; it is a fact of history. So I have not said to my people, rid of your discontent." But I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled through the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. Now this ap proach is being dismissed as extremist. I must admit that I was ini tially disappointed in being so categorized.

. But as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love? "Love your bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice-"Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ-"! bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist-"Here I stand; I can do none other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist-"! will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist-"This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Wc1s not Thomas Jefferson an extremist-''We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extrem ist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice-or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Cal vary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime-the crime of extremism. 1\vo were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above His environment. So, after all, maybe the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this. Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe I expected too much. I guess I should have re that few members of a race that has oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate yearnings of that have been oppressed, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and deter mined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white broth ers have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too small in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some like Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, and James Dabbs have written about our struggle in eloquent, prophetic, and understanding terms. Others marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach~infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of angry police~ men who see them as "dirty nigger lovers.'' They, unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action, antidotes to com bat the disease of segregation.

Let me rush on to mention my other disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white Church and its leadership. Of course there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Rev. Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonseg regated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for inte grating Springhill Co1lege several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the Church. I do not say that as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the Church. I say it as a minister of the who loves the Church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord oflife shall lengthen. 40 I had rhe strange feeling when I was suddenly catapulted into the 40 leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white Church. I felt that the white min isters, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to un derstand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous a;td have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams of the past, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of the community 137 would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, serve as the channel through which our just grievances could get to the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous religious leaders of the South call upon their worshippers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers say follow this de cree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on rhe sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our na~ion of racial and economic injustice, I have heard . so many ministers say, "Those are s<;>cial issues with which the Gospel has no real concern,» and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which made a strange distinction between body and soul, the sacred and the secular.

So here we are moving toward the exit of the twentieth century with a religious community largely adjusted to the status quo, stand ing as a taillight behind other community agencies rather than a head light leading men to higher levels of justice.

I have travelled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi, and all the other Southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at her beautiful churches with their spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlay of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over again I have found myself asking: ''Who worships here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave the clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when tired, bruised, and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of compla cency to the bright hills of creative protest?" 45 Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment, 45 I have wept over the laxity of the Church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the Church; I love her sacred walls.

How could I do othe1wise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the Church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished 138 and scarred that body through social neglect and fear of being nonconformists. There was a rime when the Church was very powerful. Itwas dur ing that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed wonhv to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was n~t merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and i~:Uedi~~ely ~ough~ to c~~vict them for being "disturbers of the peace and outs1de agnators. But they went on with the conviction that they were a "colony .of heaven" and had to obey God rather than man. They were smallm number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astro nomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest. Things are different now. The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by th~ p~esence of the Church, the power structure of the average commumty IS con soled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the Church as never before. If the Church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early Church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I am meeting young people every day whose dis appointment with the Church has risen to outright disgust.

Maybe again I have been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?

Mavbe I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual Church, the church witl1in the Church, as the true ecc!eJia and the hope of rhe world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls froO: the rat:ks of organized reljgion have broken loose from the paralyzmg chams of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for free dom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone through the highways of the South on torturous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been kicked out of their churches and lost the sup port of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have gone with j 139 the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil· triumphant. These men have been the leaven in lump of the race. Their witness been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of Gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. 50 I hope the Church as a whole will meet the challenge of this de- 50 cisive hour. But even if the Church does not come to the aid of jus tice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are presently misundersto?d. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birm i.ngham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is free dom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny ofAmerica. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were For more than two centuries our foreparents labored in this country without wages; they made cotton "king)); and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

I must dose now. But before dosing I am impelled to mention one other point in your statement that troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I don't believe you would have so warmly commended the police force ifyou had seen its angry violent dogs lit erally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don't believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young Negro boys; ifyou will observe them, as they did on tvvo occa sions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace to gether. I'm sorry that I can't join you in your praise for the police department. It is true that they have been rather disciplined in their public handling of the demonstrators. In this sense they have been rather publicly "nonviolent." But for what purpose? To the evil sys tem of Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means ~e use must b.e ~s pure as the ends we seek. So I have tried to make it dear that lt iS wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must af firm that it is just as wrong, or even more so, to use moral means to preserve irnmoral ends. Maybe Mr. Connor a~d his polic:men have been rathei' publicly nonviolent, as Chief Pntchett. was m Alba~y, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonvtolen~e to mat~ tain the immoral end of flagrant racial injustice. S. Eltot has said that there is no greater treason than to do the right deed for the wrong reason. I wish vou had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstra tors of Bir~ingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suf~ fer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhum~n provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They wdl be the James Merediths, courageously and with a majestic sense of pur pose, facing jeering and hostile mobs and the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, bat tered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two yea~ ol~ woman. of Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dtgmty and wtth her people decided not to ride the buses, an.d responde~ to one who inquired about her tiredness with ungrammancal profundity:

"My is tired, but my soul is rested." They will be young high school and college students, young ministers of the gospel and a host of the elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch coun ters and willingly going to jail for conscience sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage, and rhus carrying our whole nation back to great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the for mulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written a letter this long (or should I say a book?). I'm afraid that it is much roo long to take your precious time.

I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else is there. t~ do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow Jail cell other than write long letters, think strange thoughts, and pray long prayers? 14.1 55 Ifl have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the 55 truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I you to for give me. IfI have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that cir cumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our nation with all of their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 142