Letter from Birmingham–Weekly Essay
Writing Prompt:
Select a quotation from King’s letter, and explain (1) why you find it compelling or (2) on what grounds you would challenge it. Cite evidence from your own experience or reading to support your position. Possible quotations to focus on include: (a) “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”(para. 4) (b) “…freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” (para. 13) (c) “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” (para. 23)
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (Martin Luther King Jr, 1963). Martin Luther King Jr. is often considered one of a few 20th century revolutionaries; however, it could be argued that he was only one man, repeating the thoughts of a million others–nothing particularly original about that.
In any high school club, there is generally a system of leadership, consisting of a sponsor (usually a teacher of a relevant subject), a student president to guide their peers, and even other levels, such as a vice president, secretaries, and treasurers. When a club member discusses a fundraising opportunity with all club members and then presents the ideas to the club’s leaders, the member who voiced the suggestion is not necessarily a revolutionary or visionary, they are simply verbalizing the culmination of ideas they gathered from a collection of club members. The same is true of Martin Luther King Jr. The often referenced man was not a revolutionary; instead, King was the voice of the masses, simply another historic lesson in the power of eloquent speech and good posturing.
King claimed that all of humanity is “tied in a single garment of destiny” in which everything is affected by the actions of others. This concept is relatively truthful in that every organism, every microscopic speck, is related. In any given school, one student will know other students, teachers, and their respective involvement in certain things. In turn, these students and teachers will know others, who may know the original link. Through this the entire student body is linked and forced to interact with each other and react to the same stimuli. For example, were one of these students to die without explaination, the entire school would be affected by the death, whether each individual personally knew the deceased or not. Another example might be found in how every member of a family is devastated when one of its’ members is sent into war.
There is no way to escape this system of relations. Even if a person chooses to live a life of solidarity, each person must still rely on others to a certain extent. Everytime someone runs to the grocery store for a quick loaf of bread or gallon of milk, everytime a student turns in a term paper, and even everytime someone goes to the local doctors’ office to find a remedy for a stubborn cold, the person must rely on the grocer to cater to their grocery needs, the professor to grade fairly and the doctor to be logical and forthright in their disgnosis. Jane Howard’s In Search of the Good Family is an entire selection about the unavoidable interrelatedness of family, friends, and every other individual.
Martin Luther King Jr. was not a revolutionary in the campaign for African American rights and freedom; however, King was the voice that represented the millions who silently hoped and worked toward such legal actions. Some of the ideas of King were particularly compelling, such as his belief that all of society is connected, and constantly effected by the actions and reactions of one another. There is no way to truly be independent, to be an individual, because every person needs another person or persons. As Jane Howard said, “Even if you live alone, even if your solitude is elected and ebullient, you still cannot do without a clan or tribe.”
