To The Editor: 5-19-1963
I am a resident of location I would prefer to keep discreet, however I live were racial issues have been the talk of the town lately. As a Caucasian woman it is odd and beyond dangerous for me to even be speaking out like this, since I am fed up with the racial issues I believed it would be best to try and start something new. Just last week I heard an amazing speech by a very motivated young man who has been trying to get some justice for all in this country of ours. This same speech I came across in your New York Post Sunday Magazine today. I must admit the excitement that flowed through my veins once I came across it. I was worried the day he delivered it was the last time I would hear or see it. I thank you for including it in your Posts this week. The speech was Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He could not have delivered his speech more effectively than he did and nor at a better time. The unfortunate circumstances in which we currently face leave our society in such a way no one should ever have to live. These white men who rather continue to live in hate are demolishing any hopes of a civilized nation. Martin Luther King explains every one of his concepts in depth and provides very adequate arguments towards his fellow clergy. He attacked every doubt they had in such assertive ways I do not see how they can rebel with a comeback.
As I recall MLK provided a very touching example in this letter.
King stated : When you finally find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told Fun Town is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky , and see he begin to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people.”
With this statement by him it showed so much and put a family perspective on things. Children who do not understand what is going on are forming opinions on matters they do not know about. As he says he stumbled upon words to explain to her makes me acknowledge how courageous he is to attack these grown men and their racist ways but is so over taken by the thought of making his little girl sad. Martin Luther King is such a spirited man. His speeches never imply violence nor does he. He is all about peace and this is what I admire about this man. His goal will one day come true; I mean after all we cannot continue to live these ways. I yearn for the day I can speak to a mother of a black child and have her explain to me how she ever told her child they were unable to be somewhere or do something because of their skin color, it would break my heart to see my child so confused as to why she could not go to that amusement park but fortunately I am on the good side right now, and I do not have to worry about that.
Once again I thank you for the reposting of his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. I hope my reply will allow him to see he has at least one white person on his side for the abolishment of racism. I hope to hear more from this young man and see his words turn this world around, and I would hope you will provide all of us with a copy of his next movement.
Thank you and much respect
Anonymous
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This is a really fantastic post. I like that you did something really creative with this blog. The way you present this makes it feel very much like this is a real letter to the editor written in the context of that time period. I enjoyed your vivid details and the fact that you identify yourself as a Caucasian woman. You also make a very good use of quoting King's speech. By choosing one specific example you are able to focus on a very interesting and deep idea. You did a very good job at creating a realistic emotional response to go with the emotional quote you chose. It really feels like you created a character of an white lady and gave her real emotions and desires. I especially enjoy the ending where you say that you look forward to learning more about King. My only real suggestions for improvement would be that you simply use his last name "King" in place of the abbreviation MLK and that you would also try to break up the whole thing into smaller paragraphs with distinct points. I think that would help focus the leter even more and make it more powerful. Overall good job and I look forward to your next post!
ReplyDelete- Ben Andrews
You have done a wonderful job in making it seem like you actually wrote this letter during a historical time period. This is not an easy task and you accomplished this with ease and it was an enjoyable letter to read. I like how you made it known that you were a “Caucasian woman”, because this sets the tone and gives the reader a little incite into who you are. You also made it known that women having an opinion back then was not allowed but you chose to stand up and fight for what you believe just like Martin Luther King Jr. did. For any woman let alone a “white one”, to feel excited about reading the words of Dr. King is a great example in everyone needs to be treated equal. I like how you actually included quotes from King in your letter. You did a great job on describing exactly how the quote in his letter made you feel. You showed how he included family into his letter to make a greater impact on his audience. Then you also interpreted this into your own words and how this made you feel. I really liked the part when you talked about children forming ideas and opinions on things they know nothing about. This seems to still be happening in today’s society, a lot of young voters tend to follow the crowd or even by just what they hear and vote on it when they really don’t know much about what they are voting on. I think you did a great job on this letter. =)
ReplyDeleteWow, awesome post young lady you really caught my attention with this post. It was put together well; I am starting to think that you really like posting these blogs. Your character brought enough imagination along with originality to make this letter genuine. I thought that you incorporated passion along with good quote use in order to establish a setting, which was similar to the time the respected period. I only hope you keep up the good work and continue to grow from each reading and post. I hope that you can stop by and comment on my post once and a while, I would love to hear you thoughts on my thoughts.
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