The " Letter From A Birmingham Jail " by Martin Luther King, (among others .
subjects and characters) briefly expressed his concerns with regards to the Black .
Nationalist Movement of the 1960's.
According to King, the Black Nationalist movement was " one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in various Black Nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad Muslim Movement" (King, 6). His opposition and disagreement of Muhammad's resistance methods are based on the promotion of violence and hatred. As we all know king's methods are passive and non-violent.
To further more confirm his opposition to this movement King advised the Negro community by saying, " We need to emulate neither the hatred nor the despair of the Black Nationalist " (King, 6). By sharing this thought with the Negro community, he is trying to convince them not to copy the actions of the opposite movement.
King believed that, " Nourished by the Negro'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 Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil" " (King, 6). He describes the black nationalists as: people who dislike Christianity, stopped believing in the American dream, and refer to white people as Satan. I agree with King in that these people lost hope in fighting to integrate the two races. They failed to seek unity among the races because they believed in the idea of a separate Black nation.
One of King's primary concern as he stated was that, " If this philosophy of non-violent action had not emerged, by now many streets of the south, I am convinced, be flowing with blood " (King, 6). In other words, he was afraid that through violence freedom was not to be accomplished, but massive murder in the Negro community.