Name: ______________________________ Period: ______ Date: _____________
Article of the Week
Directions: Read the following article carefully and annotate. You need to include at least 1 annotation
per paragraph. Be sure to include all of the following in your total annotations.
Annotation = Marking the Text + A Note of Explanation
1. Great Idea or Point – Write why you think it is a good idea or point – !
2. Confusing Point or Idea – Write a question to ask that might help you understand – ?
3. Unknown Word or Phrase – Circle the unknown word or phrase, then write what you think it
might mean based on context clues or your word knowledge –
4. A Question You Have – Write a question you have about something in the text – ??
5. Summary – In a few sentences, write a summary of the paragraph, section, or passage – #
Primary Sources: Martin Luther King's Letter from a
Birmingham Jail © 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; © renewed 1991 Coretta Scott
King, adapted by Newsela staff
Picture and Caption
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Editor’s Note
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Rev. Ralph Abernathy (left) and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
(right) are taken by a policeman after they led a line of demonstrators
into the business section of Birmingham, Alabama, on April 12, 1963. Photo: AP
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Editor's Note: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote this letter in a
Birmingham, Alabama, jail cell in 1963. King was put in jail
because he was leading a protest. He was protesting against
segregation. Segregation was a system that separated white and
black people. In most of the South in the 1960s, there was a lot
of segregation. The segregation was unfair and cruel. King sent
this letter to eight white religious leaders of the South. They were
worried about his protesting. King wrote the letter to defend his
ways of protesting segregation.
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Para #1 Here in the Birmingham city jail, I heard you called our
protest "unwise and untimely." I feel that you are good men.
So, I would like to explain our protest to you in a patient and
honest way.
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Para #2 You feel we are "outsiders coming in." I am the
president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We
have groups in every Southern state. We work with 85 other
groups all across the South. We are not outsiders. Several
months ago a group here in Birmingham invited us to help with a
peaceful, nonviolent protest. We said we would come. So I am
here, with others, because we were invited here.
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"I Have To Come And Help"
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Para #3 I am in Birmingham because segregation is here. I know
that all cities and states are connected to one another. I cannot
sit in Atlanta watching what is happening in Birmingham. I have
to come and help.
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Para #4 You say you hate the protests that are taking place in
Birmingham. Why don't you hate the reasons that brought the
protests here? I am sure that each of you would want to find the
real causes for the protests. The white people in control of this
city have ignored the rights of black Americans. This has brought
us here.
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Para #5 In any nonviolent protest, there are four basic steps.
First, you find the facts. Second, you meet and talk about the
problem. Third, you train people to control their anger. Fourth,
you begin a direct action or protest. We have gone through all
of these steps in Birmingham. These are the facts. Birmingham is
one of the most segregated cities in the United States. The police
are very cruel. Black people cannot get fair trials in court. Many
black homes and churches have been bombed. Black leaders
tried to talk about the problems with city leaders. It did not go well.
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"Both Sides Need To Talk And Come Up With Changes"
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Para #6 Last September there were some talks with some of the
leaders of the businesses in Birmingham. Certain promises were
made by the store owners. They promised to remove signs that
bullied black Americans. Black leaders in Birmingham agreed to
stop their protests. As the weeks and months passed, nothing
changed. The signs stayed in place. We got ready to protest. We
had workshops on ways to peacefully control anger. We taught
the protesters they cannot hit back, even if they are hit. We taught
them how to act inside a jail cell. Our direct action would be to not
spend money. Not spending would hurt businesses. We felt it
would make people think about changing. This peaceful protest
makes people nervous and tense. We hope people will talk more
about changing if they get nervous and tense. Both sides need to
talk and come up with changes.
Para #7 You say that our protests should wait. The only answer
that I can give is that people are against change. My friends,
history tells us that people do not change all by themselves.
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"This Is Why We Cannot Wait"
Para #8 For years I have heard the word "wait." It painfully rings in
the ear of every black American. The word "wait" always means
"never" to us. We have waited for more than 340 years for our
rights. You do not see that we can't get a cup of coffee at a lunch
counter. You do not see most of your poor black brothers
surrounded by rich white people. You do not have to explain to
your 6-year-old daughter why she cannot go to Funtown
amusement park. We see commercials on television, but she
cannot go there. You have not seen tears in her little eyes when
she is told it is closed to colored children. You have not seen her
mind begin to change. You have not seen her begin to change the
way she thinks about white people. You do not have to try to
answer your daughter's question, "Daddy, why do white people
treat black people so mean?" When you take a cross-country drive,
you don't have to sleep in your car because motels won't let you in.
Every day you don't have to see those awful "white" and "colored"
signs. This is why we cannot wait.
Para #9 You are upset because we break laws. I understand your
feelings. You ask, "How can you break some laws and obey
others?" I will tell you, you do the same thing, too. It is 1963, and
your separate, segregated schools do not obey the law set down
in 1954 by the Supreme Court.
"All Segregation Laws Are Unfair"
Para #10 You must see that there are fair laws and there are
unfair laws. Now, what is the difference between the two? A fair
law is man-made. It is right and follows the law of God. Any law
that lifts a person up is fair. Any law that is puts people down is
unfair. All segregation laws are unfair. They separate people and
put them down. I want people to disobey segregation laws. They
are unfair and wrong. I do want people to obey the 1954 words of
the Supreme Court because they are right and fair.
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Para #11 Here is another way to say it. Alabama voted and set up Paragraph #12
its unfair segregation laws. In the state of Alabama, there are rules ___________________________
that keep black people from voting. There are some places where
most of the people are black, but not one black person can vote.
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They can't even vote against an unfair law.
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Para #12 Sometimes a law is fair, but it is used in an unfair way.
For example, the law says you must get permission to have a
public gathering of people. Now, there is nothing wrong with this
law. But the city would not give me permission to have a public
gathering to protest. I held a gathering, or protest, anyway.
Because of this, I was arrested. The law is fair, but was used in an
unfair way.
Para #13 Some laws are evil. Hitler's Germany said it was a crime
to help a Jew. He was trying to kill all of them, even though it was
wrong. Many people obeyed this law. Still, I know I would have
helped my Jewish brothers.
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"We Must Punish The Robber"
Para #14 You said our peaceful actions are wrong because they
cause violence. Is the man with money, who is robbed, the cause
the robbery? Did Jesus cause his own death because of his love
for God? No, we do not cause the violence. We must protect the
man who is robbed. We must punish the robber.
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Para #15 It is strange to me that people think time will solve the
problems. Time does not care. It can be used to destroy or build.
Para #16 I now stand in the middle of two very different groups of
black Americans. One is a group of black people who have been
victims of years of cruelty. They go along with segregation
because they are beaten down. This group also includes black
Americans who have education and business skills. They make
money from segregation. They have forgotten about the problems
of most black Americans. The other group of black people are
bitter and full of hate. This group is close to calling for violence.
They want their own black nation. This group is made up of people
who have lost faith in America and Christianity. I have tried to
stand between these two groups. I stand between them with love
and nonviolent protest.
"So Let Them March"
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Para #17 Black Americans have many pent-up feelings and
frustrations. They have to get them out. So let them march. Let
them pray on the steps of city hall. Let them have sit-ins at lunch
counters to get a cup of coffee. Understand why they must have
freedom rides on buses that can enter any city. If these feelings do
not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in awful
violence. This is not a threat. It is a fact of history.
Para #18 Am I protesting too much? Was Jesus protesting too
much when he said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, pray for them"? Was Amos, in the Bible, protesting too much
when he said, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness
like a mighty stream"? Was Abraham Lincoln protesting too much
when he said, "This nation cannot survive half slave and
half free"? Was Thomas Jefferson protesting too much when he
wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal"?
Para #19 I had hoped that the average white person would join
our protest. Maybe I expected too much. I am thankful, however,
that some of our white brothers have joined us. They have written
about our struggle. Others have marched with us. They sat in with
us at lunch counters. They rode with us on the freedom rides.
They have slept in filthy jails.
"So Many Have Stayed Silent"
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Para #20 I began leading the bus protest in Montgomery in 1955. I
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thought the white churches would help us. So many have stayed
silent behind their stained-glass windows.
Para #21 I have heard many religious leaders of the South tell
their worshipers to go along with desegregation because it is the
law. Still, I have really wanted to hear white ministers say that
segregation is wrong and black people are our brothers. I have
watched white churches stand on the sidelines.
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Para #22 There was a time when the church was very powerful. It
helped make and change laws. Things are different now. Today's
church is so often a weak voice that changes nothing. The church
sadly lets things stay the way they are. If the church of today does
not find the spirit of the early church, it will lose millions of
members. It will become an unimportant social club. It will have no
meaning in the 20th century.
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Para #23 Even if the church does not help us, we will reach the
goal in Birmingham and all over the nation. We know this because
the goal of America is freedom. Before the Pilgrims landed at
Plymouth, we were here. Before Jefferson wrote the Declaration of
Independence, we were here. For more than 200 years slaves
worked here. They made money for America. They built the grand
homes of their masters. If the cruelties of slavery could not stop
us, nothing will. We will win our freedom.
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"One Day The South Will Know & Remember Its Real Heroes"
Para #24 I must close now. But before I end this letter, I must talk
about one more thing you have said. You warmly praised the
Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing
violence." Have you seen their angry, violent dogs bite nonviolent
black people? Have you seen how they treat blacks here in the
city jail? Have you seen them push and curse old black women
and young black girls? Have you seen them slap and kick old
black men and young boys? Have you seen them refuse to give
us food in jail because we wanted to sing together? Should you
praise the police department?
Para #25 I wish you had praised the protesters of Birmingham for
their perfect courage. I wish you praised their amazing control.
One day the South will know and remember its real heroes. One
will be James Meredith, facing angry mobs and painful loneliness
just to go to college. One will be 72-year-old Mother Pollard of
Montgomery, Alabama. She kept walking, refusing to ride in the
back of the bus. She said, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested."
Others will be young high school and college students peacefully
sitting in at lunch counters. They were willing to be beaten. They
were willing to go to jail. One day the South will know that these
children of God sat down at lunch counters and stood up for the
best in the American dream.
Para #26 Never before have I written a letter this long. It would
have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable
desk. What else is there to do when you are alone for days in a
narrow jail cell? You write long letters. You think strange thoughts.
You pray long prayers.
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Para #27 If I have said anything in this letter that is not in praise
of brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
Para #28 Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
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Quiz
Standard 1: What the Text Says
1. Read the section "So Many Have Stayed Silent." Select the paragraph that BEST shows why King was
disappointed even with churches that told their members to follow desegregation.
(A) Paragraph 20
(B) Paragraph 21
(C) Paragraph 22
(D) Paragraph 23
Standard 1: What the Text Says
2. Which selection from the article helps the reader understand that King did not want his protesters to
become violent?
(A) I am in Birmingham because segregation is here. I know that all cities and states are connected to one
another.
(B) You say you hate the protests that are taking place in Birmingham. Why don't you hate the reasons that
brought the protests here?
(C) First, you find the facts. Second, you meet and talk about the problem. Third, you train people to control their anger.
(D) The police are very cruel. Black people cannot get fair trials in court. Many black homes and churches have
been bombed.
Standard 6: Point of View/Purpose
3. Which statement would King be MOST LIKELY to agree with?
(A) Protesters who become violent are racists and should go to jail.
(B) Protesters must work to help people understand their cause.
(C) The greatest hero of the civil rights movement was Mother Pollard.
(D) Churches have destroyed the civil rights movement by not taking a stand.
Standard 6: Point of View/Purpose
4. Which selection from the article BEST shows the author's point of view about allowing peaceful protests?
(A) Black Americans have many pent-up feelings and frustrations.
(B) If these feelings do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in awful violence.
(C) I had hoped that the average white person would join our protest.
(D) I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers have joined us. They have written about our
struggle.