Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was his attempt not only to clarify the reasoning behind his demonstrations but also to publicize his beliefs. I believe that he wrote his letter with the intentions of inspiring any “outsider” of society to take a stand. He states that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” True justice cannot be attained amongst selfish people; the wellbeing of each individual must be taken into account.
King explains that “an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Often when laws are made, the minority isn’t considered. There will always be corruption, and without extremists, reforms are nearly impossible. As citizens of America, the aspects of life we tend to value most are the ones we’ve fought for. As my father says, “Anything worth having doesn’t come easy.” Passionate individuals are left to fight for those who can’t or won’t; it is up to these people to induce change.
Can pure equality and justice ever be established within the eyes of all the people? Probably not, as we each have varying perspectives, but it is surely something every country as a whole should strive for.
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I would have to agree with you that as a nation we will probably never have pure equality for all of our citizens. But what strides are we taking to make these inequalities disappear? Frederick Douglass’s “Independence Day Speech as Rochester” is alarmingly similar in content to Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” These two writings were over a hundred years apart, and our country was still struggling with the same inequalities toward African Americans. I know slavery was abolished between them, but for the majority of African Americans, their lives were relegated to that of secondary citizens. So I think the real question is, are the inequalities we see in our country today going take generations to resolve? As a country are we now more prepared to deal with and eliminate these problems? It is hard to say, but I surely hope as a society we are able to take the appropriate steps to eliminate them as best we can.
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