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Moderate Resistance In "A Call For Unity": A Historical Perspective On Martin Luther King Jr.’S Prison Epistle, Noah D. Moore

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In April of 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a defense of non-violent direct action that students across the country read today. His "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" stands as the pinnacle of civil rights literature, but most people do not realize that it was more than a rhetorical device used to support his cause. Dr. King's letter was in fact a response to different letter, published in the Birmingham News by eight prominent, white clergymen on April 13, 1963. Their letter, "A Call for Unity," urged blacks to end the civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham. They …