Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Justice: The Cure for Racism Our world today is much different from the world Martin Luther King Jr. experienced. He had to go through some things that fortunately people my age will never have to face. Today we do not fight for the right to drink at certain water fountains nor do we have assigned seats on city buses. People do not worry about the Ku Klux Klan burning down their churches and killing their kids simply because they hate the color of that person’s skin. It is so sad to see how superficial those people were before, during, and after Martin Luther King’s impact on segregation. He states in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that time is valuable, complacency is just as bad as hatred, and sometimes extremism is a good thing.
In the essay, King explains that people have a misconception about time.
He tells about how a white friend of his from Texas said, “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry.” His friend goes on to explain how long it took Christianity to come about and how the teachings of Jesus had to take time to come to earth. King found these statements to be ridiculous and so do I. People think if they just sit around waiting for things to happen it will all work out fine in the end. Time can either war for us or against us; it all depends on how wisely we use it. Martin Luther King Jr. said that “human progress never rolls on wheels of inevitability.” This statement is so true; nothing would have ever been done about civil rights if King had not been the start of
it. In his letter, he also talked about being in the middle of two opposing forces: the complacent and the Black Nationalist. Those that were already self-satisfied were too wrapped up in their own lives to worry about the segregation around them. They had come to accept the fact that they were loathed and they did not care. The Black Nationalists were filled with hatred and disgust. They wanted justice for discrimination, but they thought violence was the only answer for equality. They had lost all hope in their country and saw the white man as a “devil.” Martin Luther King explained that not caring is just as bad as solving the problem with violence. He said we need to love and build up one another in nonviolent ways. Lastly, he spoke about his contentment with the label “extremist.” I completely understand the reasoning behind his satisfaction. Martin Luther King was an extremist for equality just as Simon Peter was an extremist for the gospel of Christ. He was sold out to making the world a better place for African Americans like Peter was sold out to God, wanting to win as many souls to Christ as he possibly could. Martin Luther King taught us not to look on the outward, at man’s skin color, but to look inward at the heart. If he had not taken the first step in standing up for what is right, our country would still be in the shape it was in fifty years ago. King’s battle for equal rights showed me that nothing is impossible when God is on my side. I am sure there were sleepless nights when he tossed over in his bed thinking, “Why do I even bother?” Instead of giving up, Martin Luther King Jr. kept going and fought for what he believed. He proved that time is precious and we need to take advantage of it. He also said that being content with discrimination is just as awful as using violence to get a point across. Lastly, he stated his happiness for being considered an extremist. If I was him I would have been happy too. King not only loved and fought for what he believed in, but he was also killed because he never gave in to opposition.