Question

King Faced criticism for being in Birmingham as an outside. Explain this critism, and his response to it ( his rationale for being there).

Its has to do with ( Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail"

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Answer 1

Dr.King faced criticism from clergymen for being an outsider creating trouble and his activities being "unwise and untimely" as mentioned in the statement made by the clergymen to a Birmingham newspaper. The clergymen were of the opinion that an outsider had no business interfering in the already tense situation due to rebellion of the black community against the white supremacy and injustice to the black community. Dr King rsponded to this criticism in the form of a letter from the jail stating that, generally, he is not obliged to respond to criticism as he receives so much then he would do little else, however as this comes from men who are of genuine goodwill and respected they deserve a reply.

Dr King clearly explains that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), based in Atlanta one of the affilioates is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. The affiliate of this movement in Alabama had several months ago asked them to be available in case of requirement, for a non-violent direct action program being organised by them. Therefore, he was in Birmingham on invitation from insiders of the city and had every right to be there as he had to live up to the promise he had made to his organisation. He goes on to provide further justification for his presence in Birmingham by saying that he was there because injustice was in Birmingham and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, Also, it was his duty to respond to any call for help. Whether he had applied due diligence to arrive at the conclusion that injustice existed in Birmingham? He gave an accurate methodology he applies collection of facts to prove existence of injustice, negotiation, self purification and direct action. Hence, before participating in the direct action plan he had analysed other three steps to confirm his actions were right.

Dr King took the perfect action from within the jail and it was the best possible way to fire the action plan even without participation. He accused the criticisers for expressing their displeasure against the direct action but remaining silent on the cause for it. He clearly conveyed that the direct action was meant to force an offer for negotiations from the white community, which was being denied even on repeated requests.