through. we plan to have march on washington on the 28th of august, at which we will take a stand letting the nation and the know that we are determined to see rights legislation. beyond this, we will have to wait it out and see what happens. i'm sorry to interrupt, king, but our time has expired. thank you for being with us on press conference usa. this has been press usa. our guest has been reverend dr. martin luther king. on the panel where george and and will the united nations correspondent for the all african news agency, accra, ghana tv pa rostrum. washington correspondent for the indian express newspapers. and william workman, associate editor of, the state and the

columbia record in columbia, south carolina. the moderator, robert the senior senator from ohio. thank you. brown presents an honor to join my colleagues of both parties on the floor today to read one of the greatest pieces of writing of the 20th century. dr. king's letter from the birmingham jail. i thank senators warnock and tell us in kc and capitol and bozeman and rosen for joining me. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that after i speak a briefly, you will recognize in this order, senator warren, senators warnock, tillis, kc than me then capitol in bozeman and rosa. without objection.

thank you, madam president. our former colleague, doug jones from alabama began this bipartisan tradition that happened in his state. and it's an honor to carry it. today, we recommit to dr. king's mission to equal rights for all, to ensuring that every voice is heard and to the dignity of work. on friday, we walk, we marked workers memorial day. when we honor workers killed on the job over the past year and throughout our history. people don't talk enough about what dr. king was doing when he was assassinated. he was killed in memphis while fighting for sanitation workers. ask me. local 633 some of the most exploited workers in our country. he traveled there following the death of two sanitation workers on the job. those two workers walked to not only it was a segregated neighborhood in memphis, of course. even the garbage was segregated. two white workers worked in the cab. two black workers worked in the back of the truck. they were they were killed when the truck malfunctioned and crushed them.

dr. king understood the deep connection between workers rights and civil rights. speaking to those workers, he said, whenever you're engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has it has worth and dignity. all labor has dignity till we have equal rights for all and dignity for all workers. our work here remains unfinished. we have a long road left to travel. it's up to us to push our country further along the road. that's the message to me and dr. king's words in the letter we read today in april. not just a quick preface of what this letter was about. then we will turn to reverend warnock. april 1963, dr. king was held in the birmingham, alabama, jail for the supposed crime of leading series of peaceful protests and boycotts. the goal was to pressure the business community to end discrimination in their hiring for local jobs. some white ministers from alabama taken issue with the boycotts. they told them, dr. king, slow down. we're supporting. we're for voting rights, too.

but slow down. don't move too fast. don't demand too much all at once. dr. king rejected that premise. it's up to all of us as citizens, as leaders, as members, our churches in our communities to get work, to demand justice. equality? not at some, not, madam. presidents. some has a far off point. the future that never seems to get here. dr. king made that point more eloquently in persuasively than any of us ever could. so i'll turn to my colleague, reverend senator warnock. thank you very much, madam president. this the junior senator from georgia. thank you so much. i'm deeply honored to participate. this great tradition started, senator doug jones of alabama during his tenure carried out by my colleague, senator brown. and i'm always honored to revisit these words from dr. king, from the letter from a birmingham jail.

so without delay, my dear fellow clergymen, we while confined here in the birmingham city jail, i came across your recent statement calling my president activities unwise and. seldom do i pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. if i sought to answer the criticisms that crossed desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything than such correspondence in the course the day, and i would no time for constructive work. but since i feel that you are men of genuine goodwill and that your criticism aims are sincerely set forth, i want to try to answer your statement in what i hope will be patient and reasonable terms. i think i should indicate why i am here in birmingham. since you have been influenced by the view which argues against

outsiders coming. in i have the honor of serving as president of the southern christian leadership conference, an organization operating in every southern state with headquarters in atlanta, georgia we have, some 85 affiliated, organized actions across the south, and one of them is the alabama christian movement for human rights. frequently, we share education and oil and financial resources with our affiliate. several months ago the affiliates here in birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a non violent direct program. if such were deemed necessary we readily consented. and when the hour came lived up to our promise. so i, along with several members

of my staff, am here because. i was invited. i am here because i have organizati ties, but more basically i am in birmingham because is here just as the prophets of the eighth century b.c. left their villages and carried their thus, saith the lord, far beyond the boundaries of their hometown. and just as the apostle paul left his village of tarsus and carried the gospel of jesus christ to the far corners of the graeco-roman world. so am i compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond own hometown? like paul must constantly respond to the macedon only and call for aid. moreover, i am cognizant the interrelatedness of all communities and states. i cannot sit idly by atlanta and

not be concerned about what happens in birmingham. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. we are caught in inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. never again can we afford to live with narrow, provincial out side agitator idea. anyone who lives inside the united states can never be considered an outsider anywhere within bounds. you deplore the demonstrate actions taking place in birmingham. but your statement, i am sorry to say fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. i am sure that of you would want to risk contempt with a superficial kind of social

analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with causes. it is unfortunate in it that demonstrations are taking place in birmingham. but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the -- community with no alternative. in any nonviolent campaign. there for basic steps. collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist. negotiation. self purification. and direct action. we've gone through all these steps in birmingham. there can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the united states.

it's ugly. record of brutality is widely known. -- have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. there have been more unsolved bombings of -- homes and churches in birmingham than in any other city the nation. these are the hard, brutal facts. the case. on the basis of these conditions, as -- leaders sought negotiate, the city fathers, but the latter consistently to engage in good faith negotiation. then last summer, last september came the opportunity to talk with leaders of birmingham's economic community. in the course of the negotiation, promises were made about merchants, for example, to remove the store's humiliating racial signs. on the basis of these promises, the reverend fred shuttlesworth

and the leaders of the alabama christian movement for human rights agreed to a more editorial on all demonstrations. as the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. a few signs briefly removed. returned. the others remained as in so many past experiences. our hopes have been blasted and the shadow of deep disappointment upon us. we had no alternative except to prepare for direct whereby we would present our very bodies as means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. we began series of workshops on

nonviolence. we repeatedly asked ourselves, are you able to accept blows without retaliating? are you able to endure the ordeal of jail? we decided to schedule our direct action program for the easter season. realize that except for christmas, this is the main shopping period. the year knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the byproduct of direct action. we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on merchants for the need change, then it occurred to us that birmingham's mayoral election was coming up in march, and we speed at lee decided to postpone action until after election day. when we discovered that the commissioner of public safety, eugene bull connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the

runoff, we decided again to postpone action until the day after. the runoff, so that the demonstrations could not be to cloud the issues. like many others, we waited to see mr. connor defeated. and to this end, we endured postponement. after postponement. having aided in this community lead, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed. no longer. mr. president, from north carolina, i will continue. you may well, why direct action? why citizens marches and so forth? is it negotiation better? you are quite right in calling

for negotiation. indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. nonviolent action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. it to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. by citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking, but i must confess i'm not afraid of the word tension. i have earnestly opposed tension. but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. just as socrates, that it was necessary to create a tension, the mind, so that individuals could rise the bondage of myths, half truths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal. so must we see the need for gadflies to create the kind of

tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths, prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of, understanding and brotherhood. the purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis is packed. so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation and therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. too long has our beloved southland been bogged down in a track tragic effort to live and monologue rather than dialog. one of the basic points in your statement is that the action that i and my associates have taken in birmingham is untimely. some have asked why you give the new city administration to act. the only answer that i can give to this query is that the new birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the

outgoing one before it will. we are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of our boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to birmingham. while mr. boutwell is much more general person to mr. connor. they are both segregation ist dedicated to the maintenance of the status quo. i have hope that mr. boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. but he will not say this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. my friends, i must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determine legal and nonviolent pressure. lamentably it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. individuals may say the moral right and voluntarily give up their unjust posture, but as reinhold niebuhr has reminded

us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals. we know through painful experience that is never voluntarily given by oppressor. it must be demanded the oppressed. frankly i have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well timed and the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. for years now i have heard the word white. it rings in the air of every -- with piercing familiar rarity. this way was almost always never. we must come to see with one of our distinguished jurist that justice to long delayed is justice denied. we have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and god given rights. the nations of asia and africa moving with jet like speed towards political independence.

but we still creep at a horse and buggy pace towards gaining a of coffee at a lunch counter. perhaps it's for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, wait. but when seen vicious mobs, your mothers and fathers, it will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim. when you've seen hate policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters. when you see the vast majority of your 20 million -- brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty, the midst of an affluent society, when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to public amusement parks that had just been advertised on television. and you see tears up in her as she is told that fun town is closed to the colored children and see ominous clouds of

inferiority beginning to form in her mental scar and the beginning to distort her personal guilty by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people. when you have to concoct an answer for your five year old son who has asking, daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean? when you take a cross-country and find it necessary to sleep at night, night after night, in an uncomfortable corner of your automobile, no motel will accept when you are humiliated. day in and day out by nagging reading white and colored. when your first name becomes --, your middle name becomes boy. however old you are, and your last name becomes john and your wife and mother are never given respect. that title of mrs. when you are harried day and haunted by a night by the fact that you are a -- living at tiptoe stands never

quite knowing what to expect next and are plagued with inner and outer resentments when. you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of no body ness. then you will understand why i find it difficult to wait. there comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. mr. president, senator from pennsylvania. i'll continue the reading of martin luther king's letter from the birmingham jail. i hope, sirs, you understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. you express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. this is certainly a legitimate

concern. since we so diligently urge people to obey the supreme court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in public schools excuse me, at first glance, it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. one might well ask quote how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others, unquote? the answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws. just and unjust. i would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. one is only one has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. conversely, one is a moral response to ability to disobey unjust laws. i would agree with saint

augustine that quote an unjust law is no law at all. unquote. now what is the difference between the two? how does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? a just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of god. an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law to put it in the term in terms of saint thomas aquinas. an unjust law is, a human law that is not rooted in eternal law or in natural law. any law that uplifts human personality is just any that degrades human personality is unjust. all segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages

the personnel. it gives a segregated tour a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of in segregation. to use the terminology, the jewish and jewish philosopher martin buber substituted its end quote. i it unquote relationship for end quote. i thou. unquote relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. and segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound. it is morally wrong. and sinful. paul tillich has said that sin is separation is not segregation. existential expression of man's tragic. his awful estrangement, his

terrible sinfulness. thus it is that i can urge men to. the 1954 decision of the supreme court, for it is morally right and i can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances for they are morally wrong. let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. an unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey, but does not make binding on itself. the difference made legal. this is a difference made legal. by the same token, just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to itself.

this is sameness made legal. let me give another explanation. a law is unjust. if, as if it is inflicted on a minority that as a result of being denied the right to vote, has no part in enacting or devising law. who can say that the legislature of alabama which is which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected throughout alabama, all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent -- from becoming registered voters. and there are some counties in which even, though -- constitute a majority of the population, not single -- is registered. can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured? sometimes the law just on its, sometimes a law is just on its

face and unjust in its application nation. for instance, i have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. now there's nothing wrong having an an audience, an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. but such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens. the first amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. if you are able to see the i'm trying to point out, i hope you're able to see the distinction. i'm trying to point out. in no do i advocate evading or defying the law? as with the rabid segregation that would lead to anarchy. one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly lovingly and with a willingness to accept the penalty.

i submit that an who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscious of the community over its injustice. is reality expressing the highest respect for the law? of course, there's nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. it was evident sublimely in the the refusal of shadrach, meshach abdul -- to obey the laws of nabucco. nasir on the grounds that a higher moral was at stake, it was practiced superbly by the early christians who are willing to face hungry lions in the excruciating pain of chopping blocks. rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the roman empire,

to a degree academic freedom is a reality today. because socrates practiced civil disobedience in our own nation. the boston tea party represented a massive act of civil disobey. we should never forget that everything adolf hitler did in germany was, quote, legal, unquote. and everything that the hungarian freedom fighters did in hungary, quote, illegal, unquote. it was, quote, legal to aid and comfort a -- in germany. even so i am sure that had i lived germany at the time, i would have aid and comfort comforted my jewish brothers. if today lived in a communist country where certain principles dear to the christian faith are suppressed, i would openly

advocate disobeying that country's anti religious laws laws. i yield the floor. president. senator from ohio. i must make two honest confessions to you. my christian and jewish brothers. first, i must confess that over the past few years i have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. i've almost reached regrettable conclusion that the -- is great stumbling block in his stride. freedom is not the whites citizens counselor or the ku klux or but the white moderate more devoted to order than to justice, who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice, who constantly says, i agree with you in the goal you seek, but i cannot agree with your methods of direct action. who paternalistic?

he believes he can set the timetable for man's freedom who lives by the mythical concept of time, who constantly advises the -- wait for a more convenient season. shallow understanding from people goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than. outright rejection. i had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exists for the purposes of of establishing justice, and that when they fail in this purpose, become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. i'd hope that the white moderate one understand that the present tension in the south is a necessary phase of the transition for an a from an obnoxious negative peace in which the -- passively accepts his unjust plight to a subject live in positive peace, in which

all who respect the dignity and of human personality. actually, we who engage nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. we merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. we bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with like boil that can never be cured. so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light and, justice must be exposed with all the tension, its exposure creates to the light of come of human conscience in the air of national opinion before can be cured. in your statement, you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. but is this a logical assertion? isn't this like condemning arab because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? isn't this like condemning

socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth in his philosophy inquiries precipitate? who did the act? act by the misguided in which they made him drink? isn't this like condemning because his unique god consciousness in never ceasing to god's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? we must come to see that as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights, because the quest may precipitate violence, society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. i had hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. i've just received a letter from a white brother in texas. he writes, quote, all christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights

eventually, but it's possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. the letter writer from texas goes on. it has taken christianity almost twice years to accomplish what it has. the teachings of christ take time to come to earth. unquote. such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time from the stranger, irrational notion that is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. actually, time itself is neutral. it can be used either or constructively. more and more i feel that people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of goodwill. we will have to repent in this generation, not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. human progress never rolls in on wheels of. inevitability.

it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with god. without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. we must use time creatively in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. now is the time to make the promise of democracy in transform our pending national elegy elegy into a creative of brotherhood. now's the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. you speak of our activity in birmingham as extreme. at first i was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. i began thinking about the fact that i stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the -- community. one is the force of complacency he made up and part of -- who,

as a result of long years of are so drained of self-respect in a sense of somebody in us that they have adjusted to segregation in part of a few middle class -- who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation have become to the problems of the masses. the other is one of bitterness and hatred and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. it's expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up around the country, the largest and best known being elijah muhammad's muslim movement nourished by the --'s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination. this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in america, who have absolutely repudiated christiane city and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible devil. i've tried to stand between

these two forces saying that we need emulate neither the do nothing ism of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalists. for there is more there's a more excellent way of love in nonviolent protest. i'm grateful to god that through the influence the -- church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. if this philosophy had not emerged by many streets of the south, would i am convinced be flowing with. i'm further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as rabble rousers and outside agitators, those of us who employ nonviolent direct action and if they refuse to support our non-viable efforts, millions of -- will, out of frustration and despair, to seek solace and security in black nationalist ideology. a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

mr. president senator from west virginia. mr. president. oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever. the yearning for freedom eventually will manifest itself. and that has what has happened to the american --. something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom and something without has reminded him that it can be gained conspicuously or inconspicuously has been caught by the zeitgeist and with his black brothers of africa, his brown and yellow brothers of asia, south america and the caribbean, the united states -- is moving with a great sense, with sense of great urgency towards the promised land of racial justice. if one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the -- community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking. the -- has many up resentments

and latent frustrations, and he must release them. so let him march. let him make prayer. pilgrimages to the city hall. let him go on freedom rides and tried to understand why must do so. if his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through. this is not a threat but a fact of history. so i have not said to my people, get rid of your discontent. rather, i've tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. and now this approach is being termed extreme missed. and though i initially i was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as i continued to think about the matter, i gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label was jesus and extremist for love. love your enemies. bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and

pray for them which to spitefully use you and persecute you was not amos extremist for justice, but justice rolled down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. was not paul an extremist for the christian gospel? i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus was not martha martin luther an extremist. here i stand. i cannot do otherwise. so help me god and john bunyan. i will stay in jail till the end of my before i make a butchery of my and abraham lincoln. this nation cannot survive half slave and half free. and thomas jefferson. we hold these truths to be self evident. that all men are created equal. so the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists will we be? will be extremists for love or for hate? will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice.

and that dramatic scene on calvary's hill. three men were crucified. we must never forget that. all three men were crucified for the same crime. the crime of extremism. two were extremists for immorality. and thus fell below their environment. the other jesus christ was an extremist for love. truth and goodness. and thereby rose his environment. perhaps the south, the nation, the world are in dire need of creative extremists. i had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. perhaps i was too optimistic. perhaps i expected too much. i suppose i should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed. and still, fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong and determined action. i am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the south have grasped the

meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. they are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. some such as ralph mcgill, lillian smith, harry golden, james mcbride, debs and braden. and sarah peyton boyle have written about struggle and eloquent and prophetic terms. others have marched with us down streets of the south. they have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen. unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters. they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sense, the need for, powerful action, antidotes combat the disease of segregation. let me take of my other disappointment. i have been so greatly disappear with the white church and its leadership. of course there are some notable exceptions. i'm not in mindful of the fact

that each of you has taken significant stands on this issue. i commend you, reverend stallings, for your christian stand on this sunday. and while welcoming -- to your worship service on a non segregated basis, i commend the catholic leaders of this state for integrating spring hill college several years ago and. despite these notable exceptions, i must honestly reiterate that i have been disappointed with the church. i do not say this as one of those negative critics. we can always find something wrong with the church. i say this as a minister of the gospel who loves the church, who was nurtured in its bosom, who has been sustained by spiritual blessings, and who remain true to it as long as the court of life shall lengthen.

when i was suddenly catapulted, the leadership of the bus in montgomery, alabama, a few years ago, i felt we would be supported by the white church. i felt that white ministers, priests and rabbis of the south would be among our strongest allies. instead, some have been outright opponents refuse to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders. all too many have been more cautious than courageous and have silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows. in spite of my shattered dreams, i came to birmingham in the hope that the white religious leadership of the community would see the justice of our cause and with deep moral, with serve as the channel through which our just grievances. grievances could reach power

structure. i'd hoped that each of you would understand. but again, i've been disappointed. i've heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish, their worshipers, to comply with the dissenters desegregation decision. because it is the law. but i have longed to hear white ministers declare follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the -- as your brother. in the midst blatant injustices inflicted upon the --, i have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouthed pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious, trivial witness in the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice. i have heard many ministers say those are social issues with which the gospel has no real concern. and i've watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly

religion, which makes a strange and biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular of traveled, the length and breadth of alabama, mississippi and all other southern states on sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings. i've looked at the south's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heaven heavenward. i have beheld the impressive outlines of a massive religious education over and over, i found myself asking what kind of people worship here? who is their god? where were their voices? when the lips of governor barnett? barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification. where were they when governor wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred. where were their voices of support when bruised and weary

-- men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest? yes, these questions are still, in my mind. in deep disappointment, i have wept over the laxity of the church. the bishop, that my tears have been tears of love. there can be no deep disappointment where is not deep love? yes, i love the church. how can i do otherwise? i'm in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. yes, i see the church as. the body of christ. but oh, how we have blemished then scarred that body through social neglect and through the fear being nonconformist. there was a time when the church was very powerful in time when the early christians rejoiced at, being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed.

in those days, the church was not merely a thermometer. that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion. it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. whenever the early christians entered a town, the people in power became the and immediately sought convict. convict. the christians for being disturber of the peace. and outside agitators. but the christians pressed on in the conviction. they were a colony of heaven, called to obey god, rather than man, small in number. they were in commitment. they were to god. intoxicated, to be astronomically intimate. to by their effort. an example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. things are different now. so often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.

so often it is an arch defender of the status quo. far from being disturbed by, the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community. he is consoled by the church's silence and often vocal, often even vocal sanction of the things that are being done. but the judgment of god is upon the church as never before. if today's church does not, the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalties of and be dismissed as an or rather as an irrelevant, irrelevant social with no meaning for the 20th century. every day i meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned to outright disgust. perhaps i have once again been too optimistic. is organized religion too inextricably, inextricably bound to the status to save our nation

and the world. perhaps i must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church. the church within the church as a true ecclesia and the hope of the world. but again, i'm thankful to god that some noble souls from ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzed in chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. they have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of albany, georgia with us. they have gone down the highways of the south on torturous rides for freedom. yes, they have gone to jail with us. some of even they dismissed for their churches have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. but they have acted in the faith that defeated the stronger than evil, triumphing.

their witness has been the spirit of salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. they've carved tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. i hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. but even if the church not come to the aid of justice, i have no despair about. our future. i have no about the outcome of our struggle. birmingham. even if motives are at present misunderstood, we will reach the goal. freedom in birmingham. in birmingham and all over the nation. because the goal of america is. in front of allah. thank you. i'd like to continue finishing the letter from the birmingham jail jail. abuse and scorn, though we may be our destiny is tied up with

america's destiny. before the pilgrims landed at plymouth. we were before the pen of jefferson, etched the majestic words of the declaration of independence across the pages of history. we were here for more than two centuries. our forebears labored in this country without wages. they made cotton king. they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation. and yet, out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to thrive and develop. if the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we face now will surely fail. we will win our freedom. this sacred heritage of our and the eternal will of god are embodied in our echoing demands

for our closing. i feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. you warmly commended the birmingham police force for order and preventing violence. i doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into and arm nonviolent --. i doubt that you so quickly commend the policemen you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of -- here in this city jail. if you were to watch push and curse all the -- women and young -- girls, if you were to see them slap and kick old -- men and young boys. if you were to observe as they did unto the occasions, refuse

to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. i cannot join you in your praise of the birmingham police department. it is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. at this sense, they have conducted themselves rather nonviolently in public. but for what purpose? to preserve the evil system. segregation. over the past few years, i consistently preached that nonviolence demands. it demands that we that the means we must we use must be as as the ends we seek. i have tried to make that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. but now i must that it is just wrong, or perhaps even more so,

to use moral means to preserve moral ends. perhaps, mr. connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was chief pritchett in albany, georgia. but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. as t.s. eliot has said, the last is the greatest treason to do the right deed for the wrong reason. i wish you had commended the -- sinners and demonstrators of birmingham for their sublime courage. their willingness to suffer. and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. one day, the south recognize its real heroes.

it will be the james meredith's with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of pioneer. they will be old, oppressed, battered --. women symbolize in a 72 year old woman. and montgomery, alabama mama who rose up with the sense of dignity and her people decided not to ride segregated busses and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness. my feets is tired, but my soul is at rest. it will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of gospel and their host of elders, courageously and

nonviolent, least sitting at lunch counters and willing to go to jail for conscience sake. one day the south will know that when these disinherited of god sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the american dream and for most sacred values of our judeo christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dead deep by the founding fathers and. their formulation of the constitution and the declaration of independence. never before have i written so long a letter. i'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. i can assure you that it would have been much shorter if i had been writing from a comfortable

desk. but what else can one do when he is alone? a narrow jail cell other than write long letters? think thoughts and pray long prayers. if i have said anything in this letter that overstates truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, i beg you to forgive me if i have said anything that understate the truth and indicates my having. a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood. i beg god to forgive me. i hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. i also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you not as an integrationist or a civil leader, but as a fellow

clergyman and a christian brother. let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted. our feared drenched communities. and in some too distant tomorrow, the radiant stars of, love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation. with all scintillating beauty. yours for the cause of peace and. martin luther king jr. mr. president, i hope i yield. senator from ohio. thank you, senator rosen. thank you to my colleagues who joined us today to read powerful words. senators warnock and tillis and casey and capitol hill and bozeman and rosen.

this is a diverse group on the floor today whose states reflect the vibrant and wonderful diversity of our great nation. from the deep south to the mountain west to the industrial midwest. we represent different places we may disagree on many things, but we love this country. we know we can do better for the people who make it work. dr.. and the civil rights leaders of his generation did more than just about anybody to push this country to live up to our founding ideals and to make the dream of america real for everyone. protesting working for change, organizing, demanding our country do better. those are some of the most patriotic things all of us can do? that's dr. king's charge in this letter. my favorite single line, certainly in this letter. and maybe in all of dr. king's preachings and teachings and writings, progress never rolls out on the wheels of inevitability. progress never rolls in on the

wheels of an inevitability rolls in because we make it so. that is our charge. think about. think about that campaign. dr. was waging when he was martyred in memphis. think about who he was talking to. union sanitation workers local 1633 asked me and think of the circum stances. this was a set was very segregated memphis he was in a segregated white neighborhood. even the sanitation trucks were these workers were working with segregated the cab of the truck was too white. the back of the truck was the actual lifting and picking up garbage were two black workers and in february, dr. king, before dr. king for his visit in the garbage truck, the there was a torrential downpour in. this white segregated neighborhood, there was nowhere for these black sanitation workers to go. they crawled in the back of the truck and malfunctioned and crushed these two workers. that's dr. king was in memphis the first time and the second

time he told workers, what is it, profit. he as he was, he wove together worker rights and civil rights and labor rights to all these workers. what does it profit a man to be able to eat in an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee, those workers were vital to community they worked hard to provide for their families. they were denied fair pay, denied political rights, denied basic safety on the job. the presiding officer today is senator. senator masto from nevada. he has joined in so many efforts on this floor to fight for workers, to fight for the dignity of work, to fight for safety and civil rights and worker rights. it's not a coincidence that the workers who are so often the most exploited were low income workers and especially black workers, until all workers had the dignity they've earned. dr. king's work will remain. unfinished means paying all workers a living wage. it means giving them power over

their schedule. it means providing good benefits, safety in the job it means letting them if they so choose, organize a union means all workers. it's about the dignity of work all workers. get a fair share of the wealth they create. when we empower workers, we bring us closer to the society dr. king envisioned where all labor has dignity.

welcome, everybody. my name is john harwood. i'm a journalist and i'm going to be moderating this panel with robert doar, who you know, who is the chief executive of, the american enterprise institute, fred log of all, who's a