If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. This is an excerpted version of that letter. In 1963 a group of clergymen published an open letter to Martin Luther King Jr., calling nonviolent demonstrations against segregation “unwise and untimely.” From the Birmingham jail where he was imprisoned for his participation in demonstrations, King wrote a letter in reply. We recommend that teachers review the "Preparing to Teach" section of The Reconstruction Era 3-Week Unit (see Teaching Note 3: Notes About Racist and Dehumanizing Language) before using this material. We have chosen to include the terms in this handout in order to honestly communicate the bigoted language of the time. Please note that this reading includes dehumanizing language.
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