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Birmingham Jail Reflection

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The past month I participated in a recognized event called the "race to end racism". There I was surrounded by a diverse group of young men and women that served as leaders for their community. We talked about topics that normally felt uncomfortable to mention in social situations. I originally had drafted my essay for this scholarship, but after the event decided to rewrite my first copy.

One of the questions addressed was if we thought change towards a more racially accepting was going to be made if we continued down the track that we were on. The table sat silent for a moment but I remembered the letter from Birmingham jail that Martin Luther King had written in which he tackled the idea of non-violent civil disobedience.

I spoke up and stated that I didn't think that anything would change if we continued down the path we were on. Our violent tendencies in the past year or so have increased. Protests towards police brutality and over the inauguration were demonstrations of violent disobedience. Of course, there was reason to be angry, distraught, and upset, but the act of breaking windows, and burning buildings and cars, and hurting others is ineffective. It creates tensions that become nearly impossible to resolve. Martin Luther King said that "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue." …show more content…
It is a proactive tension or in the eloquent words of Martin Luther King, "there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth". Unlike that created from violence, non-violent, civil disobedience fuels the fire while keeping it contained. The fire grows taller and taller and eventually the heat and height of it cannot go unnoticed much

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