Examples Of Injustice In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Although there are laws against injustice, it is still prevalent in the society because of peoples lack of moral judgement. In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King depict his opposition to racism, war, and poverty, as well as his support for non-violence, racial equality, and economic justice. In Steven Pinker’s “The Moral Instinct”, Pinker explained how people do not explore moral grounds and decide what is right or wrong based on social norms. King and Pinker both show how people ignore individual morals and accept communal moral judgement, that may be immoral. In Birmingham, African-American people suffered severe economic deprivation and job discrimination. The city’s history of white physical and sexual violence was long and horrific. Colored folks were not allowed in amusement parks, motels, and other recreational spots. King opposed this institutional racism in employment, housing, and local administration of education, welfare, and criminal justice. He embraced a more coercive non violent strategy to address this issue, which is

In the letter that he deliberately wrote for national audience, King states, “To put it in terms of St.Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just.Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”(293) It means people have the moral obligation to fight against the unjust laws. He empowered people to use the sense of morality to understand the injustice of racism. He was optimistic that members of the oppressor race would understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race and eventually think positively towards their birthright of