"My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals."
or
" My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
I chose this passage because the final quote just stood out to me. MLK Jr, is just so concise and peaceful when going about his letter. He seems very passive to the white people and reminds them that "groups are more immoral than individuals" in hopes that the people will realize that when they are in a group, they do things that they would not do alone. When in a group, they can sometimes become animals as they feel that they are unstoppable, as morals are forgotten. He also talks about how he is still fighting for his rights, and how the white man will not let go of there "privileges". He uses the word privilege almost as a way to make the white people realize that maybe instead of resisting, they should realize that change has arrived and that there "privileges" were only privileges and never a right. He goes on to show that African Americans are struggling to make movement and that they are forced to use legal and nonviolence pressure to make any gain, which just seems like a shame. All they want is equal rights and the fact that they have to legally and nonviolently pressure people into giving them up is disgusting and that they should think more morally.
No comments:
Post a Comment