Throwing off the shackles of complacency

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King addresses the common misconception that “time heals all wounds.” People like to believe that just by sitting and waiting, things will improve. Quite the opposite is true. As King points out, “time itself is neutral,” but those who are working against justice seem to make better use of their time. (26.) Today in my Social Work class we watched a video on the evolution of racism in the United States. Racist movements are still alive and well. Though the Ku Klux Klan itself has lost membership and gone out of style, membership in many racist groups has been increasing, including among neo-nazis. People need to continue to fight for rights as the opposing side continues to fight against the rights so backsliding does not occur.

King says that he is not so upset at those who are outright racist as he is at those who are opposed to racism but do nothing about it. The people who accept the status quo and do nothing to further the causes they believe in are a bigger liability to him. For, as they say, the only condition for evil to continue is that the good man does nothing. This is true in all matters of injustice. If no one ever takes a stand against it, it will only continue to propagate and further its range. Injustice that is institutionalized usually has followers that attempt to keep it in place for their own advantage. In order for the injustice to be addressed, someone needs to speak out against it. As Thoreau says “It is not so important that many should be as good as you as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump.” (10) This means that just by setting a positive example a single person can make a huge difference by affecting the views of other people. How much more then if everyone who was opposed to a certain matter of injustice banded together for the common cause.

King saw the necessity of immediate action in the era he was living in. Even today, we cannot afford to wait for the “right time” to stand up for what we believe in. Things are not simply going to get better. If no one is actively fighting for justice, there is still probably someone fighting for injustice. The individual has more power than most imagine. People have the power to set an example for good, if only they can gather the courage to act in the present in order to build a better future.