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What does MLK think of those who tell him to “wait!”?
Transcribed Image Text:While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across
your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise an
untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work
and ideas... But since I feel that you are men of genuine good
will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to tr
to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and
reasonable terms.
...I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities
and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned
about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere... Birmingham is probably the
most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly
record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced
grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more
unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in
Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the
hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions
Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But th
latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation
...You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches
and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite
right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose
of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such
crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has
constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the
issue... But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word
"tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there
is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessar
for growth... The purpose of our direct action program is to
create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open
the door to negotiation...
We know through painful experience that freedom is never
voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by th,
oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action
campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have
not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years
now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every
Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always
meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our
distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice
denied."
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