Trouble in Birmingham
In Birmingham, Alabama 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King was falsely arrested for trying to organize a non-violent protest against segregation. During his stay in jail king received an open letter from eight white clergy men from the city, denouncing King for his practice of protesting for civil rights. Kings response to the injustice of the clergy members was the Letter from Birmingham City Jail, which addresses the unjustifiable and discriminatory behavior towards the African American people in the South. During his time in Birmingham, King wanted to show the world the cruel and discriminatory nature of segregation; therefore, he organized a peaceful civil rights protest to spark a reaction from those people against equality, as a result the media would share the violent backlash against African Americans to the rest of society and bring people to actually see the inhumanity of racism.
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“One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I summit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law” (King 431). King explains how even though laws are in place for the safety of the people, it does not mean they are always fair, and sometimes in order uphold what is right one must break the law to show society how unreasonable a law may be (431). Those who thought King’s methods were unlawful were wrong, King did break the law, but he did so in a manner that showed he still respected law and order. King was not a criminal for standing up for what he believed is justice, instead he was honorable for trying to show the world how discriminatory the law really