Jeanne Guerin
English 20-41
Journal Five
9 October 2003
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Explain where you see influences from Thoreau in King’s “Letter.”
Both Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau share nearly the same views on obeying laws. They believe that if a law is unjust, then it should not be followed, in other words, it should be broken. King believes that “one has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws” and consequently “a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Thoreau states that “if it [the injustice] is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law.” They are going off of a moral point of view, believing that if something is unjust against a given individual, it should not be followed. It is not right to single out individuals and make them follow laws which do not apply to the whole population.
Both King and Thoreau believe that breaking a law means taking the penalty, and doing so not with shame but with willingness and acceptance. Breaking the law and taking the penalty is what tells the community that what is being broken is unjust and should not continue. Silently disagreeing with the law but continuing to obey it shows the people (and the government) that the law is alright and just. It takes a physical stand and uprising against a law to show that it should not be accepted, not just an agreement. Nothing will get done if people just sit there and do not act upon what they believe in. Breaking a law doesn’t necessarily have to be violent, either. One can silently break the law, and thus silently take the penalty. Then the person is not causing any harm to anybody and they have made their point in a reasonable matter.
“How do concepts of alienation and connection inform King’s call to action?”
It is extremely obvious that blacks were alienated from the general public. The whites singled them out and degraded them, posting signs and acting unjustly upon the people, be it with physical or mental abuse. Blacks were alienated from nearly all parts of the community. They were alienated from buses, schools, stores, amusement parks, and even churches. From this extreme alienation, the blacks in turn alienated the whites as well. The whites became known as “white ‘devils’” and bitterness and anger was formed. The segregation between the two races manifested in to itself and expanded.
King found connection through the church. Born in to generations of preachers, he was brought up to be Christian and a devout worshipper of God. Through the church, King found a place to find love and rejoice and connect with God. Disappointment from the churches arose when primarily white churches brushed off the blacks. Church ministers believed that this segregation was just a “social issue, with which the gospel has no real concern.” King’s connection turned to a slight alienation, although he still had a strong connection to the church. Other young blacks, however, saw it differently. These young blacks’ disappointments turned to disgust of the church, something that King believed was wrong.
A select few whites connected with King and his fellow “brothers” in the stand against segregation. These whites broke the laws and stood up against what they believed were unjust ways. These individuals took part in gatherings and walks and protests and took the punishments of jail time and communal scorn from fellow whites. These people connected with the blacks in this fight against unjustness and helped give King new hopes for the possibility of an end to the oppression.
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