WEBVTT - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - A Letter From a Birmingham Jail

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, It's time for the way Black History Fact.

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<v Speaker 1>In today's way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major Threads.

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<v Speaker 1>For innovative, fashionable sportswear. Checkmajor threads dot com. And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to share the letter from a Birmingham jail. This

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<v Speaker 1>was written on April sixteen, nineteen sixty three. Doctor King writes,

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<v Speaker 1>my dear fellow clergyman, while confined here in the Birmingham

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<v Speaker 1>City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our

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<v Speaker 1>present activities unwise and untimely. Seldom, if ever, do I

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<v Speaker 1>pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. But

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<v Speaker 1>since I felt that you are men of genuine goodwill

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<v Speaker 1>and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like

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<v Speaker 1>to answer your statement in what I hope will be

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<v Speaker 1>patient and reasonable terms. Birmingham is possibly the most thoroughly

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<v Speaker 1>segregated city in the United States. It's ugly record of

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<v Speaker 1>police brutality is known in every section of this country.

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<v Speaker 1>On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to

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<v Speaker 1>negotiate with the city fathers, but political leaders consistently refused

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<v Speaker 1>to engage in good faith negotiations. Then came the opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>last September to talk with some of the leaders of

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<v Speaker 1>the economic community. In these negotiating sessions, certain promises were

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<v Speaker 1>made by the merchants, such as the promise to remove

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<v Speaker 1>the humiliating racial signs from the stores. On the basis

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<v Speaker 1>of these promises, Reverend Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the

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<v Speaker 1>Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to call a

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<v Speaker 1>moratorium on any type of demonstrations. As weeks and months unfolded,

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<v Speaker 1>we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise.

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<v Speaker 1>So we had no alternative except that of preparing for

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<v Speaker 1>direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as

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<v Speaker 1>a means of laying our case before the conscious of

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<v Speaker 1>the local and national community. We started having workshops on

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<v Speaker 1>non violence and repeatedly asked ourselves the questions, are you

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<v Speaker 1>able to accept the blows without retaliating? Are you able

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<v Speaker 1>to endure the ordeals of jail? You may well ask

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<v Speaker 1>why direct action? Why sit ins, marches, etc. Is a

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<v Speaker 1>negotiation a better path? You are exactly right in your

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<v Speaker 1>call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action.

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<v Speaker 1>Non violent direct action seeks to create such a crisis

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<v Speaker 1>and establish such creative tension that a community that has

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<v Speaker 1>consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.

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<v Speaker 1>My friends, I must say to you that we have

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<v Speaker 1>not made a s single gain in civil rights without

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<v Speaker 1>legal and non violent pressure. History is the long and

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<v Speaker 1>tragic story of the fact that the privileged groups seldom

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<v Speaker 1>give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral

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<v Speaker 1>light and give up their unjust posture, but as Reynold

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<v Speaker 1>Nieuber has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess it is easy for those who have never

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<v Speaker 1>felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, wait, but

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<v Speaker 1>when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and

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<v Speaker 1>fathers at will, and drown your sisters and brothers at whim,

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<v Speaker 1>When you have seen hatefield policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and

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<v Speaker 1>even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity, When

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<v Speaker 1>you see that a vast majority of your twenty million

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<v Speaker 1>Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in

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<v Speaker 1>the midst of an affluent society, When you suddenly find

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<v Speaker 1>your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek

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<v Speaker 1>to explain to your six year old daughter why she

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<v Speaker 1>can't go to the public amusement park it has just

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<v Speaker 1>been advertised on television. And see the tears welling up

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<v Speaker 1>in her little eyes when she is told fun town

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<v Speaker 1>is closed to colored children, And see the depressing clouds

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<v Speaker 1>of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky,

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<v Speaker 1>And see her begin to distort her little personality by

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<v Speaker 1>unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people. When you have

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<v Speaker 1>to concoct and answer for a five year old son

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<v Speaker 1>who is asking, in agonizing pathos, Daddy, why do white

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<v Speaker 1>people treat colored people so mean? When you take a

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<v Speaker 1>cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night

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<v Speaker 1>after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because

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<v Speaker 1>no motel will accept you, then you will understand why

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<v Speaker 1>we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time

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<v Speaker 1>when the cup of endurance runs over and men are

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<v Speaker 1>no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of injustice,

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<v Speaker 1>where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs,

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<v Speaker 1>you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. I hope

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<v Speaker 1>this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also

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<v Speaker 1>hope the circumstances will soon make it possible for me

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<v Speaker 1>to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or

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<v Speaker 1>as a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman

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<v Speaker 1>and a Christian brother. Let us hope that the dark

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<v Speaker 1>clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and the

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<v Speaker 1>deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear

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<v Speaker 1>drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow, the

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<v Speaker 1>radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our

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<v Speaker 1>great nation with all of their scintillating beauty