1st Student's Major
History
1st Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Students' Professional Biography
Noah Moore is a Junior at Minnesota State University, Mankato, working on an undergraduate degree in History and Social Studies Education. Noah is originally from Owatonna, MN, is the Vice-President of the MSU History Club, and volunteers with the Steele County Historical Society giving tours and helping with exhibit construction. He intends to continue his education in history through graduate work, focusing on the history of the Christian Church in the Twentieth-Century.
Mentor's Name
Dr. Angela Cooley
Mentor's Email Address
angela.cooley@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
History
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
In April of 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a defense of non-violent direct action that students across the country read today. His "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" stands as the pinnacle of civil rights literature, but most people do not realize that it was more than a rhetorical device used to support his cause. Dr. King's letter was in fact a response to different letter, published in the Birmingham News by eight prominent, white clergymen on April 13, 1963. Their letter, "A Call for Unity," urged blacks to end the civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham. They claimed that such action would set back legal efforts to reach a racial compromise. This letter represented a larger threat that King hoped to combat: moderate politics. When many think back on the Civil Rights Movement, they see two sides of a coin, segregationists and integrationists, but the reality is far more complex. Understanding the context for the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" helps one to see the shades of grey in a highly moralized piece of history.
Recommended Citation
Moore, Noah D.
(2018)
"Moderate Resistance in "A Call for Unity": A Historical Perspective on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Prison Epistle,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 18, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1210
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol18/iss1/4
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