Martin Luther King's Letter (US Civil Rights)

What is the context of Martin Luther King’s letter?

Post slavery and post civil war, reconstruction and Jim Crow (segregation), Civil Rights Movement.

What was validated by Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson?

Legalized segregation by the court upholding a “separate but equal” legal doctrine, meaning that segregation did not violate the 14th amendment so long as separate facilities were equal.

Who was MLK?

Prominent civil rights leader who engaged in non-violent protests over treatment and disenfranchisement of African Americans; arrested in Alabama where he wrote his famous later in assassinated for activism in 1968.

Describe the “Letter to Negroes: Withdraw from Demonstrations”

Written by clergymen expressing that convictions in racial matters could be properly pursued in courts rather than through demonstrations led by “outsiders.”

What was the purpose of the clergymen’s letter?

Did not want people disrupting their way of life and said that hatred and violence have no sanction in religious and political traditions and are not permitted in resolving issues.

What was MLK’s letter addressed to?

Allies rather than opponents defending the protests and civil disobedience.

What were the themes of MLK’s letter?

Appeals to Christianity, patriotism, and universalism of the law; must be a shared sense of justice where injustice in one place is injustice everywhere.

How did MLK defend civil disobedience?

Addressing the core set of people affected, arguing against waiting and that without protest there is no progress to legal recourse; account of natural law.

What were the four basic steps to a non-violent campaign outlined by MLK?

Collection of the fact to determine injustice, negotiation, self-purification, direct action (pursued when all other avenues fail).

Describe Brown v. Board of Education

Case of a girl not admitted to the school close to her home because she was Black and challenging segregation of education in the law.

What did the district court say in Brown v. Board of Education?

Initially maintained the validity of the law of separate but equal.

What was the decision by the Court for unity in Brown?

Recognized that children going to Black only schools may be facing discrimination.

What was the SCC outcome of the Brown case?

Use of social science and scholarly material rather than legal evidence leading to a unanimous overturn of the state law permitting segregation in public schools; unanimity of the decision showed unity which changed segregated schools in the United States overall.

What was the Rosanne Waters text?

Shows evidence of how Canada was influenced by the US Civil Rights Movement; increased visibility of direct action against discriminatory process and PM wanted to show that Canada was a beacon of human rights (influenced the Charter into being enshrined in the Constitution).