Martin Luther King Jr. and Four Little Girls

“It is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.” Written by Martin Luther King Jr. verbatim, it is obvious that such a fact cannot be denied, since history has repeatedly proved Dr. King’s statement. This idea acts as a motif throughout history, as portrayed in works such as the letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham jail, the film Four Little Girls by Spike Lee, and the story of three Christians standing up for their religion before King Nebuchadnezzar. As it has been evidenced throughout the past, groups tend to need the application of excessive force before giving up their power, as opposed to individuals.

Martin Luther King Jr., as a leader of the civil rights movement, condemned the injustice and the ignorance of the clergymen, and he devoted his life with a passion in order to stop this menacing problem. As these ignorant “clergymen” sent Dr. King into jail as they thought his peaceful demonstrations would be “violent”, and “chaotic”, Dr. King writes a rebuttal in order to debunk the clergymen’s viewpoints. As clergymen have stated, Dr. King's demonstrations are untimely, and he is too impatient about the segregation matter, henceforth displaying the clergymen's unwillingness to give up their privileges. The clergymen also seem to be having problems with outsiders such as Dr. King carrying out demonstrations within Birmingham. However, as Dr. King has stated, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and we can see how clergymen don’t want changes that would allow privileges for the African Americans and that they want to keep things at status quo. Furthermore, the clergymen seems want Dr. King to negotiate instead of demonstrating, most likely due to the fact that people like clergymen are large in numbers, and as a group, they are able to refuse all of Dr. King’s attempts for equality..

Extreme case of immorality of the privileged is portrayed in the documentary film Four