Dr. King’s letter from Birmingham
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. I am re-reading his letter from a Birmingham jail written in April 1963. Dr. King writes:
First, I must confess that 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 Counciler 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 constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I consider myself part of the group Dr. King writes about, a white person who wants the best for all people. Yet, I embrace the idea shared by Angela Y Davis, “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist we must be anti-racist.” Ibram X Kendi’s book expands this idea.
What I am learning is that becoming anti-racist involves inner and outer work.
Inner Work of Anti-Racism
First, I must understand how racism lives in my mind, my emotions and my body as I take informed action.
As a child born in Maryland in 1961, I absorbed ideas at a cellular level about the types of jobs people of different races are best suited to hold, my inherent right to be happy and that different races have different material and emotional needs.
Based on reading Kendi and other authors, I now consider systemic racism any law, policy or practice that results in one racial group receiving better outcomes in life than another. This system in the United States puts white people at the top of the hierarchy and Black people at the bottom, as brilliantly described in Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
For me to commit to this anti-racism work , I believe it is non-negotiable that I continue to own and explore how I am unwittingly and unintentionally part of this system.
Staying present to uncomfortable emotions, which for me include shame, confusion, regret and fear, is a first step to begin to plunge the unconscious. I remind myself that two decades of social science demonstrates many of our racial biases are unconscious and often result in taking actions that are in direct opposition to our stated beliefs and values.
Outer Work of Anti-Racism
In the outer world I am determined to wake up and stay present to the injustices underway this very moment.
Last week, we watched in horror as a largely white mob overran the US Capitol. Many in the media pointed out how differently the Black protestors and supporters were treated in Lafayette Square and in cities across the country last summer.
I go a step further — It seems to me our bias toward whiteness is putting our democracy at risk. What was in the background as we prepared for and defended this wave of people? I think the whiteness of the crowd contributed, perhaps at an unconscious level, to put down our guard.
I do not want to see post-Civil War History repeat itself in the coming weeks and months. White Confederate Southerners refused to accept the outcome of the Civil War and erected monuments to Confederate heroes. By the end of the Reconstruction Era the stage was set for continued oppression of all Black people.
In the same way, many are refusing to accept Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
This will not be comfortable for any of us. However, I think it it is up to those of us Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “moderate whites” to be relentless as we join with Black, Indigenous and People of Color in this work.
Sources:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
Systemic Racism Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHIQIO_bdQ
Ibram X. Kendi, How To Be An Anti-Racist
Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
