

Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963) - Rexxar
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

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RodericDay
_I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers.
First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely
disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable
conclusion that the Negro 's great stumbling block in his stride toward
freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the
white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a
negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is
the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal
you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who
paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom;
who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro
to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of
good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of
ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright
rejection._

~~~
paulvs
This letter exposes an eternal struggle that man always had; a fight between
individual morality and group conformity. Morals are usually sought on an
individual basis, while groups tend to be more immoral to outsiders, or at
best, seek to maintain the status quo.

