Polite language, Dangerous Ideas
On inheritance.
I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Minneapolis.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, 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.
You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Minneapolis. 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 effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.
I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are taking place in Minneapolis at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that it is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the [sic] community with no other alternative.
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 vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but 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 the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.
I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled through the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. Now this approach is being dismissed as extremist.
I must admit that I was initially 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 John Bunyan an extremist? -- “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a mockery of my conscience.”
Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist? -- “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.”
Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist? -- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Minneapolis, even if our motives are presently misunderstood.
We will reach the goal of freedom in Minneapolis and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom.
Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here.
Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here.
For more than two centuries our foreparents labored here 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 our people continue to thrive and develop.
If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.
If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me.
If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
In honor of his legacy, I selected and arranged excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.
I’ve been stricken over what to say and how to say it. I’ve never been so stunned into silence, an inheritance I’m unwilling to accept.
I won’t pretend to know what to do, but I know it is not to do nothing at all.
MLK Jr. is dead, but his words are our inheritance. I encourage everyone to read and reread them, and to ask what we are doing with them.
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."