Discrimination In Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail
In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” he describes the countless acts of terror and discrimination that are imposed on him and his fellow black members of society at the hands of the privileged whites. He writes, “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters…” (Charters 28-9). Due to all of the atrocities they must face on a daily basis, it is not easy to patient. Anne Moody also tells her story with the same level of urgency. After hearing Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C., she writes that “we had dreamers instead of leaders
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In addition, the author is white as well. Because Scout is white, which is the privileged and majority race, she does not have to think about race. She is not discriminated against for her color; therefore, it is not one of her worries. However, for Anne Moody, she is forced to recognize her race at a young age. When she goes to the movies and learns that she cannot sit in the downstairs section with her white friends, she has an epiphany: “I had really never thought of them as white before. Now all of a sudden they were white and their whiteness made them better than me […] I hadn’t realized before that downstairs in the movies was any better than upstairs. But now I saw that it was (34). Because whiteness is considered better, all that white people have and all that they do seemed better too. Though we never see Scout go to a movie theater, she would not have had the same epiphany as Moody because the downstairs section is considered superior, and that was where Scout would have sat. When she talks about school, she does not mention any black classmates because she did not have any. She doesn’t even consider where they go to school because she does not have to. However, Anne Moody does think about where the white children attend school because it is considered “better.” Racial tensions do not appear significant in Scout’s daily social life
In addition, the author is white as well. Because Scout is white, which is the privileged and majority race, she does not have to think about race. She is not discriminated against for her color; therefore, it is not one of her worries. However, for Anne Moody, she is forced to recognize her race at a young age. When she goes to the movies and learns that she cannot sit in the downstairs section with her white friends, she has an epiphany: “I had really never thought of them as white before. Now all of a sudden they were white and their whiteness made them better than me […] I hadn’t realized before that downstairs in the movies was any better than upstairs. But now I saw that it was (34). Because whiteness is considered better, all that white people have and all that they do seemed better too. Though we never see Scout go to a movie theater, she would not have had the same epiphany as Moody because the downstairs section is considered superior, and that was where Scout would have sat. When she talks about school, she does not mention any black classmates because she did not have any. She doesn’t even consider where they go to school because she does not have to. However, Anne Moody does think about where the white children attend school because it is considered “better.” Racial tensions do not appear significant in Scout’s daily social life