While jailed for engaging in peaceful protest, King wrote what has become one of his greatest essays, “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” Here is a small excerpt, followed by some questions for today:
.. over the past few years, I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.
….who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”
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Shall we ask the Dreamers to “wait for a more convenient season?”
Shall we ask those working two jobs and struggling to get by to “wait for a more convenient season?”
Shall we ask the elderly and disabled to “wait for a more convenient season,” as they face demands to work in order to obtain medical care?
Shall we continue to ask the children of Arizona to “wait for a more convenient season” to give them a school system which equips them to face the 21st Century?
Democrats say, “no.” We hope you will join us in voting for change in this year’s midterm elections.