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BOOK REPORT Why We Cant Wait, by Luther King, Jr. WHY WE CANT WAIT Martin Luther King, Jr. I was reluctant to read this book that was originally assigned as a part of my African American Studies, but I am very glad that I did. As a black female born in 1981 who grew up in a neighborhood that did not have the black only signs or white only signs that were talked about in the book, I had a hard time understanding why race seems to be such a big issue in this country. As I saw it, slavery happened a long time ago and bigots were idiots to be ignored until they all died off. Why all this talk of discrimination and affirmative action?
Why all the pleas for acceptance and peace? I heard my parents talk about the things that they and my grandparents had to face. The injustice, the unfairness, and the down right prejudice they had to deal with. But, to be honest it seemed like so long ago. I felt disconnected from those stories they shared with me. Now I sit with the book in my hand, unwillingly I open it.
I am startled by the stabbing of Martin. The characters begin to come alive. It is spring in the year of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. was hauled off to jail in the aftermath of the Birmingham confrontation with Public Safety Commissioner "Bull" Connor and municipal authorities.
Beatings, hosing, and the unleashing of vicious dogs could not deter thousands of demonstrating Negroes from risking serious injury, even death, in peaceful parades into the heart of downtown Birmingham Anger begins to swell up in me as I realize that my ancestors arrived in America and were treated like property, with cruelty and lies. Lies toward the right to be free even though they fought for our freedom during the war. However as the years passed and reached the 1950 's - 1960 's. Our people still struggled for equal rights and liberty, to end segregation, to live in peace in harmony. The African American society had to have symbolically speaking- a chief to lead its tribe.
Martin Luther King Jr. symbolized the chief and the African American society symbolize the tribe. Martin Luther King took upon himself to write down the struggles that the black community had to go through to gain equal treatment. For instance to go to the same school with whites, eating at the same restaurants, black children able to play at the same playground without the labeling of colored only. Martin Luther King also wrote this book to show that blacks had minds of their, own to speak out against the way they were treated, at the risk of their lives and the determination they had. Martin Luther King knew it was going to be a long process of America recognizing that blacks are humans not dogs, that they deserve equal treatment not a In 1955 - 56 Martin was stabbed in the chest at a book signing which was the first time he came close to a death experience.
In 1954 the supreme court had handed down a decree calling for desecration of schools with all deliberate speed. In 1963 nine years later after the supreme court decision 9 % African Americans were attending integrated schools. Deliberate speed means giving some courtesy and consideration to the need for softening old attitudes and out dated customs, democracy must press ahead, out of the past of ignorance and intolerance and into the present of educational opportunity and moral freedom. However deliberate speed changed for less than 2 % of African American children. The decision of integration by the supreme court which gave approval to pupil placement law.
American history grew, followed by celebrating certain events that made white America proud but black America confused. For instance in 1963 America celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation, the 101 st birthday of blacks liberation from bondage. However in the black society and the eyes of Martin Luther King felt that they were not free -free physically by the Emancipation but still in bondage of economic, social, political, and intellectual problems. This book came as a slap to the face of my preconceived notions.
I realized suddenly that many of the men and women I see every day, my parents and grand parents included, lived during that time, only a few decades ago, when white people didn't let black people drink from the same water fountains, and when blacks could be beaten and abused in the streets for daring to ask for equal treatment. I had heard of this before, but as I said it had always seemed in the distant past. I realized that I was naive because I was repeatedly astonished that such things could have happened in America. Things like seeing vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; seeing hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when your parents and grand parents suddenly find their tongues twisted and their speech stammering as they seek to explain to their daughters and sons why they can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in their eyes when they are told that the Downtown YMCA, where I now attend, is closed to colored children.
How my parents and grand parents had to deal with the sight of seeing the depressing cloud of inferiority begin to form in the little mental skies of their children, and see them begin to distort their little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people. I can plainly see my parents and grand parents and those around them humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored. " I tremble at the fact that they had to deal with their first names becoming "nigger" and their middle names becoming "boy" (however old they were) and their last names becoming "John, " and when the mens wives and mothers are never given the respected title "Mrs. " They were always teased by day and haunted by night by the fact that they were Negroes. How it must have felt living constantly tiptoeing, never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a weakening sense of being a nobody. I understand why Martin Luther King tilted the book Why we find it difficult to wait. My views took a new spin. Suddenly, King's arguments for affirmative action took on new life.
I felt like I was there watching the things happen that he was talking about How could a black man "pull himself up by his bootstraps" if he has no shoes? How could the children of poor blacks in the south go to college, even if they were allowed to, when their parents couldn't afford the tuition? While I still do not like the idea of racial discrimination of any kind, I now see that there is reason to try to tip the scales back a little. Above all, I was surprised at how Godly a man King was. When I read the statements that his protestors were required to live by, such as "I will pray for those who persecute me, " and "I will not strike back in anger, " I realized that these people had more spiritual courage in fighting for what was right than I could muster in myself. They were moved by the notion that Christians must love one another regardless of race, and were determined to change society, not in bloody revolution, but by their unity in spirit, by their obvious displays of love, and by the power of Why We Can't Wait describes not only the Birmingham campaign, but also examines the history of the civil rights struggle and the tasks that future generations must accomplish to bring about full equality for African Americans.
Dr. King's eloquent analysis of these events forced the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of the American Why we can't wait is a clear description of the struggle of African Americans for equality. It blesses the reader with some valuable lessons to live by... that the oppressed must "want" freedom for themselves; that injustice "is" like a boil or a sickness but it can be destroyed when exposed to This is a moving book and one that opened my eyes. It opened my eyes to some of the injustices that took place before my time. In general, it is a vivid behind-the-scenes account of the Civil Rights movement and gives a fascinating glimpse into how political movements are sustained and implemented.
I recommend it highly for anyone, especially those of us born too late to understand the civil rights movement and the horrors that prompted it firsthand. Bibliography:
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