When Martin Luther King Jr was imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for breaking unjust laws he wrote a long letter to a group of clergymen (Letter from Birmingham Jail) . The clergymen agreed that segregation was wrong, but disagreed with him taking immediate action, preferring to wait and let the courts handle the situation. Martin Luther King Jr believed that non-violent civil disobedience would bring the issue to the public’s attention and public opinion would encourage the court system and lawmakers to expedite action.
Martin Luther King Jr was fighting against unjust segregation laws. He was imprisoned for not following those laws on multiple occasions. In his letter he explained to the clergymen why he was willing to disobey the law.
“A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
What’s interesting is that Martin Luther King Jr mentioned Natural Law in his letter, and our Founding Father’s based the Constitution on Natural Law. To put it in the simplest terms, Natural Law is the common understanding of the difference between right and wrong held by all people. When a law infringes on our rights it is not a Natural Law.
Today as during the 1960’s we have been presented with a great many injustices. Although isolated instances of racism exist today, racism is not the primary injustice experienced by Americans. Our Freedom of Speech has been under attack through censorship on social media. We have been told to take vaccines and wear masks, and our freedom to assemble has been restricted through mandatory closings of various restaurants, churches and businesses. On a local level, our children were forced to wear masks, quarantine, and take Covid tests in exchange for participating in school sports. In addition, our parental rights have been under attack.
School board members were presented with clear evidence that children were being exposed to sexually explicit material without parental consent. When political leaders are presented with a “collection of facts” that clearly indicate injustice under their watch, and choose not to act or even engage in good faith discussion, those suffering injustice have no other choice but to seek alternative means of peaceful resolution.
According to the Letter from Birmingham Jail, one step in any non-violent campaign is negotiation. Civil Rights Activists tried negotiating with merchants regarding humiliating signs. They also tried negotiating with other leaders, “But the political leaders consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.”
Martin Luther King Jr was frustrated with political leaders, but he was also frustrated with the clergymen. The clergymen saw and understood the problems with segregation, but would not take action, and deferred the issue to a higher authority (judges). They likely refused to act out of fear of being ostracized and they were not willing to suffer those consequences. They were like our silent majority today. Many people today see the injustice of mask and vaccine mandates, yet those same people refuse to speak out for fear of losing their jobs. Likewise, they defer to higher authorities for making decisions even when they have the ability to assess risk and determine the difference between moral and immoral policies.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr said to the clergymen, “YOU spoke of our activity in Birmingham as extreme.” He went onto explain that both Jesus, and Thomas Jefferson were called extremists. “I must admit that I was initially disappointed in being so categorized. But as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist.”
Members of Restore Ottawa, Ottawa Impact, and the public at large have been referred to as extremists by three current members of the Grand Haven School Board. They should join the likes of Martin Luther King Jr and consider the name “extremist” to be a badge of honor.
Segregation was a shameful time in American history where countless African Americans were unjustly oppressed. Today in America racism is not our biggest injustice, rather everyday citizens are under threat from elected political leaders at every level of government. It is not an issue of left versus right, but negligent political leaders versus citizens. When rights are threatened or removed those oppressed must rise up against the injustice. Martin Luther King Jr advocated for non-violent civil disobedience as a means to help raise public awareness and he was right. He raised public awareness, public opinion changed, and it led to the end of segregation and the passing of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968.