ESSAY CEMETERY

Lots of scripture and historical, particularly American, precedents to back up his rhetoric and arguments Addressed to whites - "you" refers to heads of white churches or the white moderate Echoes A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop “Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ.” Calling on American discourse. Interestingly, he does so on the past and not the future "We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bo

King makes a distinction between just/moral and unjust/immoral laws and makes the claim that unjust laws do not have to be obeyed. Segregation laws are unjust and therefore must not be obeyed. Furthermore, Negroes are prevented from voting and changing the laws and so the laws are politically and undemocratically unjust. These laws must be disobeyed openly so that their breacher, by breaking the law, illustrates the unfairness of it. King cites precedents of civil disobedience that changed society for the better, and instances of unjust laws. King is disappointed with the "white moderate" who is content with keeping the peace rather than justice, and so are resistant to the necessary tension that is a product of the civil rights revolution. They agree with the principle of equality but not to the actions that must be taken to achieve it. They think that blacks should wait before claiming their rights. He is grateful for the few whites that do join the black struggle.