Injustice In Letter From Birmingham Jail

An African man by the name Anais once told me a story about a young boy by the name Nicholas whom, at the age of fifteen lived with his parents seventeen miles outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. In the depths of the country, they had no neighbors. One day, Nicholas’s father asked him to drive him to the city where he had an all-day conference. His father prompted him on getting all his chores done, getting the car service before he could enjoy the city and also to pick him up at 6:00pm where they would leave together. After transporting his father to work, he swiftly went back home to complete all his chores and headed straight to the movie theater. It was 6:00pm when he remembered that he was to pick up his father. By the time he picked …show more content…
Within the four walls of the jail cell Martin Luther King Jr wrote a letter to clergymen who criticized his actions towards combatting injustice in Birmingham. In this letter, now known as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King Jr explains his reasons for being in Birmingham which includes being invited by organizational commitments and also due to the fact that there is injustice in the city. King Jr. states that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” which is directly related to the sense togetherness that the human race should be expressing in contrast to the segregated society that one race has created to oppress another (115). Throughout his letter, he expressed deep disappointment in not only the oppressors but also in the clergymen who noted King’s nonviolent direct action as “extreme”, “unwise and untimely.” King reiterates his stance by stating that he will not sit by idly and allow injustice to prosper and commented on the clergymen’s lack of urgency being due to the fact that they are not the ones being oppressed so they show little concerns for the inhumane treatment the Negros were receiving from the Whites. King states that the “oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever” and they have left the colored people of America with no choice but to use nonviolent …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr has indeed challenged my view of justice. He has challenged me to not only act on injustice that directly affects me but for injustice all around me. After reading King’s letter I have acted on a small scale injustice which involved a course professor of mine. It was evident that this professor was very laid back and had no care about his student’s success in his course. He would be the last person to arrive in last and he would be the first person through the door after a lesson. If he was asked a technical question or something related to additional help in the course, he would state that he was unavailable. He would also project words on the board and mindlessly talk without highlighting what is important to add to notes of exams. He would also stray from the topic and wonder after 5 minutes to how he ended up on such unrelated topics. My peers would make comments which expressed that they were having trouble with the course and his teaching methods. At first, my thoughts were to ignore the problem and get through the final so I could proceed to my vacation. However, I could not allow the professor to continue his teachings next semester without knowing the issues. I scheduled a conference with him where I explained to him politely that his teaching methods are difficult to understand and that he should be more willing to help his students as we are the ones who will have to pass on the information in the future. He understood my plight and