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Conversations in Management

Martin Luther King, Jr.

One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly and with a willingness to accept the penalty.

Nineteen sixty-three wasn’t shaping up to be a good year for freedom in America. As the Civil Rights movement continued to gain momentum, segregationists were becoming increasingly violent. It was a dispiriting time too. After spending a year attempting to integrate Albany, Georgia, King felt that they got, “nothing.” The schools remained segregated and the parks were closed rather than integrate. While some celebrated a change in “attitude,” that hardly compensated for the institutionalized injustice that remained. Now King sat alone in a small Birmingham, Alabama cell writing what would come to be called, the Letter from Birmingham Jail.

He had been invited by the local affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to lead a non-violent direct-action program. In an attempt to suppress the demonstrations, the city had refused to issue King a parade permit. He marched none-the-less and was arrested on April 12—Good Friday. At the time, Birmingham had a reputation as one of the most racially intolerant cities in the country. It was the province of the notorious Sherriff Bull Connor. Over a six–year period eighteen bombings in black neighborhoods had gone unsolved. Two years earlier it had been the site of a mob attack on the Freedom Riders. Soon televised reports of ruthless attacks by police and fire fighters on peacefully demonstrating children and teenagers would galvanize the nation behind the cause of racial equality, but now King addressed a more insidious problem—a call for patience and moderation. On the day of his incarceration, he had seen an ad in the local paper placed by eight white religious leaders appealing for, “law and order and common sense.” The ad went on to say that “honest convictions in racial matters could properly be pursued in the courts.” King knew that this “appeal” wasn’t restricted to Birmingham. The national media, represented by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time Magazine among others, was urging much the same approach. It was an appeal that demanded a response. In his now classic work, King persuasively argued that justice should never be delayed and that, “This “Wait” has almost always meant never.” He made the point that injustice needs to be confronted when it occurs and dispatched with singleness of purpose, dignity and courage. He was, of course, right.

A lot of people don’t get involved because they don’t think they can make a difference. They figure that they don’t have enough authority or prestige or influence to bring about needed change. But that’s wrong. Injustice plays out on both a large and small scale. While your voice will have to be joined with others to make national or global changes, there is never any shortage of the smaller injustices that you might face on a day to day basis. You won’t have to look far to find subtle forms of discrimination or sly acts of unfairness. The question is what will you do about it. Will you “wait” and hope the system takes care of it—essentially choosing order over justice? Or will you confront it—for the sake of conscience—and make a small but immediate difference. It’s your choice and it’s a choice worth considering when you think about Dr. King.

—Ebert