Comparing Letter From Birmingham Jail And My Dungeon

Oppression is a continuous issue in societies globally. In United States history African Americans are a prime example of people that have been oppressed. During the 1800s and 1900s many reforms took place that was to help advance the lives of African Americans. Although the reforms were put into place African Americans continued to live in a society which they were oppressed, degraded, and seen as inferior. From this period of U.S. history many works of literature were created that expressed their views on how to approach and resolve the issue of oppression. In the letters “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. and “My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to my Nephew” by James Baldwin the writers both express their point of view on how African Americans should approach the issue. However, I

Baldwin’s approach is a gradual solution. He wants his nephew to embrace the white people around him and believes that one day they will find it in their hearts to also accept him. King's approach involves immediate action and change. King believes that it is impossible for the African Americans to wait for change to occur. He explains how blacks have to live in a society in which they are “humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’” and have there “first name become ‘nigger’ and middle name becomes ‘boy’ ”(King 11). This shows how blacks have to live in a society in which they seen as inferior and degraded as a person and it is unreasonable for them to have the patience to wait for these incidents to stop occurring. He further explains that there will “... come a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of injustice” (King 11).This demonstrates how the wait for change will not be possible because the patience of African Americans has run thin from already waiting for so