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Letter from a Birmingham Jail
The SCLC launched a campaign with the Alabama Christian
Movement for Human Rights in April of 1963. They coordinated marches and
sit-ins against segregation in Birmingham. In response, a judge made "parading,
demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing" illegal. Having
already committed to bailing out jailed protesters and running out of money, King
was torn. In a meeting of various leaders, opinions were divided. How can they
march and afford more bail money for more arrests? On the other hand, how can
they back down now?
Deeply troubled, King told his
colleagues he would pray over the decision alone in another room. He left, and
the others waited for his return. Thirty minutes later, King reappeared wearing
a new pair of blue-denim overalls. The group quieted, and King spoke with
firmness. “The path is clear to me. I’ve got to march. I’ve got so many people
depending on me. I’ve got to march.” (Bearing the Cross, p. 242)
Likewise, Jesus frequently separated from his disciples to
pray.
King was arrested with Abernathy, local leader Fred
Shuttlesworth, and others while marching to City Hall. While they were in jail,
an open letter from eight local “moderate” white religious leaders was
published as a newspaper ad titled “A Call for Unity.” The letter questioned
the necessity and timing of the Birmingham civil rights protest. Though the
moderates’ letter had been written and planned before the arrest of King and
others, the timing of its appearance was unfortunate. King read their letter
while he was in jail. He began writing a response in the margins of the
newspaper, then on paper brought to him in his jail cell by a sympathetic
trustee. Eventually he got paper from his lawyers, and they in turn smuggled it
out. His colleagues pieced it together and it was eventually published in
various newspapers and magazines around the country.
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King's Birmingham mug shot |
As the subtitle of Edward Gilbreath’s Birmingham
Revolution: Martin Luther King’s Epic Challenge to the Church suggests, King presented
an “epic challenge to the Church” in Birmingham. You may already know
Paul wrote some letters (the epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians,
Philippians, and Colossians) to churches while in prison or house arrest. Notably,
King refers to Paul’s “Macedonian call” in his letter, from Acts 16:9, “And a
vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” King was referring
to the accusation of being outsiders coming to Birmingham unbidden:
I am in Birmingham because
injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their
villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the
boundaries of their hometowns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of
Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco
Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own
home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.
King’s response was nearly 1,700 words while the original ad
was barely 500. You can read the entire letter in King’s book, Why We Can’t
Wait, or online at University
of Pennsylvania African Studies Center "Letter from a Birmingham
Jail". The Internet
Archive has the "Call for Unity" and King's response as a PDF.
King answers many of their objections. Their non-violence:
Mindful of the difficulties
involved, we decided to undertake a process of self-purification. We began a
series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves:
"Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you
able to endure the ordeal of jail?"
Unjust laws:
To put it in the terms of St.
Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law
and natural law.
Civil disobedience:
Of course, there is nothing new
about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the
refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar,
on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly
by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the
excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws
of the Roman Empire.
The “Call for Unity” charged that direct action was “such
actions as incite to hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those
actions may be, have not contributed” to solving Birmingham’s problems. In
other words, peaceful demonstrations are bad if they “incite” violence. King
responded:
We need emulate neither the
"do nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the
black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent
protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church,
the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.
The “more excellent way” echoes Paul in 1
Corinthians 12:31, introducing chapter 13, the famous “love” chapter used
(somewhat out of context) in so many weddings. (“Though I speak with the
tongues of and of angels, and have not love [charity], I am become as sounding
brass, or a tinkling cymbal…”)
The white religious leaders say that “extreme measures” are
not “justified.” King responds:
Was not Jesus an extremist for
love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you." [Matthew 5:44] Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let
justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing
stream." [Amos 5:24] Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel:
"I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." [Galatians 6:17] ….
So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of
extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?
King complains about the church in general in its silent
support of the status quo, a statement that echoes louder six decades
later:
But the judgment of God is upon the
church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial
spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty
of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for
the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with
the church has turned into outright disgust.
King finishes the letter in a more personally conciliatory tone.
He was soon released on bail. The campaign itself won minor concessions from
the city, but more importantly, demonstrated the viciousness of southern
segregation to the rest of the country as it saw televised footage of police
dogs and fire hoses used on demonstrators. The audience included President Kennedy,
who had also called Coretta King while King was in jail to assure her that the
FBI had found King safe, and that he would be calling her soon, which he did.
Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth of Birmingham's bethel
Baptist Church, who was jailed with King, said King was the leader of the
Birmingham campaign because "God had chosen him to be the spokesman."
(Birmingham Revolution, p. 53) Shuttlesworth also said about the Birmingham
victory: "Maybe that's why we win, because Dr. King always said that unearned
suffering has to be redemptive." (Birmingham Revolution, p. 118)
I Have a Dream
The SCLC, the NAACP, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality),
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and others, despite often
differing in opinions on strategy, planned the March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom. On August 28, 1963, from 200,000 to 300,000 people – far above predictions,
and about one-fifth white – crowded around the Lincoln Memorial and the
Reflecting Pool, across the Mall to the Washington Monument. They heard music
from Marian Anderson, Mahalia Jackson, a choir, leaders of various religions
and organizations, such as Roy Wilkins (NAACP), John Lewis (SNCC), A. Philip Randolph
(Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters), Walter Reuther (UAW), James Farmer
(CORE), and others; and of course, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Wikipedia
has an image of the original
program.)
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| King on the Lincoln Memorial steps, August 28, 1963. AP file photo. |
King’s speech started out slowly and lifted off when he went
off-script with the “I have a dream” repetition, which he had used before. It
is a rhetorical gem, often cited as one the best speeches of the century. From
a Christian point of view, he uses the word “brotherhood” three times and the
phrase “all God’s children” three times, and ends with “Thank God Almighty, we
are free at last” (in the future, when we have “let freedom ring”).
He quotes the Bible from the prophet Amos:
No, no, we are not satisfied, and
we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream. [Amos 5:24]
The ninth and final “I have a dream” is from the prophet
Isaiah:
I have a dream that one day every
valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough
places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. [Isaiah
40:4-5]
You can find the transcript of the speech here: https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety.
You can find the audio recording here: https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_76C3B93B557D4976A032C27C72ACED18
Moses and the Mountaintop
Moses has been a key biblical figure in the African-American
church and spiritual songs from slavery times onward. In the Bible, Moses led
the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt through the wilderness to the
Promised Land. (This takes up most of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy.) Slaves who were introduced to Christianity were understandably
drawn to this narrative.
The
speech King gave the night before his assassination is haunting for anyone
to hear, especially its finale. He foreshadows his death seemingly prophetically.
However, as we have noted elsewhere, he was always aware of the danger of his mission
and had been attacked many times. What struck me after becoming a Christian and
reading the Bible, was the parallel to Moses in that same culminating section. Before
I discuss that, there other parts of his 43-minute speech that foreshadow his
impending death. King opens with a joke about the introduction he got from Ralph
Abernathy:
As I listened to Ralph Abernathy
and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I
wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend
and associate to say something good about you. And Ralph Abernathy is the best
friend that I have in the world.
That heartfelt response seems almost like a goodbye. King
goes on take a rhetorical trip through the history of the world to find the
time in which he would most like to live. After considering all of history, he
chooses the present time because he sees “God working in this period” even
though the world is “all messed up” and the “nation is sick.” He goes on to
urge unity and strength, and that “we aren't engaged in any negative protest
and in any negative arguments with anybody.” What we are saying, King said, is:
God sent us by here, to say to you
that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you
to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are
concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that
we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.
King expounds on the Good
Samaritan parable, extending it to the civil rights movement and the
Memphis sanitation workers strike (why he is in Memphis):
That's the question before you
tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my
job.” Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to
all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as
a pastor?" The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need,
what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help
the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question.
King builds to the speech’s climax as he recalls being
stabbed and lists all the things he would have missed had he died then. He then
tells the crowd that the airplane he was on that morning had been delayed while
they checked the plane and all its baggage (presumably for bombs) because of
his presence. The end of the speech does seem like he foresaw his death:
And then I got into Memphis. And
some began to talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me
from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen
now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now
because I've been to the mountaintop.
And I don't mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live
a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I
just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And
I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with
you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the
promised land!
And so, I'm happy tonight. I'm not
worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord!!
Moses, after leading the people out of slavery, was not
allowed to enter the promised land, only to see it from atop Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy
34). Moses was being punished for an incident in Numbers
20:2-12, where he brought forth water out of a rock (for the second time),
but did not follow God’s instructions, and also took credit for doing it,
thereby committing disobedience and pride.
But I see some parallels between Dr. King and Moses beyond
leading the people out of Egypt and the mountaintop. Moses was born a child of
Israel, but was brought up in the house of Pharaoh, who was basically a king. Martin
Luther King Jr’s father was the leader of an influential church in Atlanta and
could have eventually inherited his position. His father was not happy to see
him take on risky leadership positions and dangerous missions. But Martin Jr.
went out on his own.
Moses killed an Egyptian and was exiled when God called him
into service despite that crime. Martin might not have been an adulterer when
he was called into service, but God would know his future.
Moses was reluctant when God told him what he needed to do,
but eventually became bold, and would demand that Pharaoh let his people go. Martin
did not immediately jump at the chance to lead his people to freedom, but he
would eventually argue with presidents.
Moses sinned while getting water from the rock the second
time, preventing him from entering the Promised Land. Perhaps adultery
prevented King from the same.
Continue to Part 3, including Theological Journey, Was King a Communist?, Was King a Prophet?
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