Thoughts on a Letter from Birmingham Jail

I have read this letter many times, and have always thought the same thing. How sad was it for Dr. King to be imprisoned for something that seem to basic to human nature. Something that should have been so universal to us, but it wasn't. It seems sometimes that the things that should be most simple are the most complex. Something that I find interesting is how timeless this letter is. What is meant by this, is that the piece seems unaffected by time and age. From 1963 to now 2018, this letter from Birmingham jail is still being read and talked about because of the nature in which Dr. King wrote it, but also the way in which he discusses the nature of justice with references to conflicts with in the world that continue to be discussed today such as the Nazi regime, the founding of North America and Christian narratives such as the 18th century prophets.

Something unique about Dr. Kings distinctive experience of time is that although he understands that the injustice that he suffers is in Atlanta, he understands that injustice in Atlanta is injustice in Birmingham. He states, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (1). Thus, Dr. King seems to connect the injustice of race to all the injustices of race everywhere. Every injustice is like a bead on a string. They are all connected by the string and they are all connected in themselves. He then continues, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny" (1). Dr. King realizes that everyone is responsible for injustice and is affected by it. No one can be considered an outsider because they are still apart of it. This is what makes Dr. King's letter from Birmingham jail so timeless. This moment os time is connected to the past, present, and the future like beads on a  string. In this sense, it seems that this even is shaping time and time is not shaping it.

The eight white religious leaders that Dr. King is responding to seem to fail to understand the same sense of time that Dr. King understands. The eight religious leaders call Dr. King's nonviolent protests in Birmingham, unwise and untimely. There is the conflict between Dr. King and these eight religious figures because both parties are not on the same sense of time. Thus, Dr. King is brining to the attention of the religious leaders that it is always the right time to fight injustice because of not only its universal affects and its ability to touch people from all over, but also because looking at history. This injustice has been a timeless thing. For centuries, the idea of oppressing the minority has been unchanging. With every generation, there seems to be a problem with minority being oppressed.