Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963, in Birmingham, Ala., by Eugene “Bull” Connor, the public safety commissioner, for parading without a permit and for defying a state order banning demonstrations. The same day that King was arrested, a letter, signed by eight white ministers from Birmingham and titled “A Call for Unity” was printed in The Birmingham News. The letter called for an end to protests and demonstrations for civil rights in Birmingham. Dr. King spent eight days in jail in Birmingham. On April 16, 1963, King responded to “A Call for Unity” with his own call which has come to be known as his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” This letter was thought to be originally published in The Christian Century and was reprinted soon after in Atlantic Monthly magazine under the title “The Negro is Your Brother.
Using concrete examples from Dr. King’s letter, describe what was his main goal by publishing this letter? More specifically, what do you think about Dr. King’s discussion concerning just versus unjust laws? Do you agree or disagree? Be sure to use specific examples.
