Martin Luther King's letter is a call to action from the southern churches. His famous quote "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere" put the issue of segregation and racism into the lap of every southern church. He states in the letter how he could not just look from Atlanta and be idle. He had to go out and talk to the other communities. He spoke to leaders and figure heads of several different communities from economical to public services. He figured the only way to build the argument against segregation was to build the ties between those against it.
Not only does Martin Luther King write why the communities must band together, but he also writes how they may protest. He discusses how the use of sit-ins and blatant disregard for some laws are needed to cause "tension" besides the speeches. King regarded laws that promoted segregation, the Jim Crow laws, as unjust and therefore reasoned that they must not be followed if the fight for god given rights was to make any headway. The tension ,as he stated, is necessary to dramatize the aim for equality, to help drive the point to lawmakers. King is so certain he alludes to Socrates, the ancient Greek and father of rational thinking and one of history's iconic characters which symbolizes the price one pays for knowledge. He relates the plight for equality as the construction of rational thinking. King portrays Socrates like a tragic hero. Socrates forced death is relative to Jim Crow dehumanizing and degradation of the American Negro.
King asks for immediate action from the churches. His critic on their past lack of action is not one of hate but one constructive means. King wanted to jump start more pro-activity from the Negro community. So what about the people of today? King's message rings true for minorities of not only his time but for the future as well. Communities must be on the forefront to combat inequality and injustice, not sitting by healing the wounds of their personal members to only have those wounds reopened. Today's problems, crime, education, government corruption, need the attention of whole communities coming together to put a great, cumulative voice against these problems. It's what King would have wanted.
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