Why Every Anti-Racism Ally Should Read Dr. King’s ‘Letter From A Birmingham Jail’
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During the summer before my freshman year at Spelman College, I found myself in a Giles Hall classroom filled with students whispering about two peculiarities—both pleasantly intriguing. First, we gawked at the media spectacle—and elaborate spread of food and drink—taking up most of the central courtyard courtesy of the 1988 Democratic National Convention being held in Atlanta that summer. Next, everyone was buzzing about the fact that Professor C. K. Farris, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sister, would be our instructor. (Indeed, proximity to civil rights royalty was just one of Spelman’s many perks.) Professor Farris could immediately tell—even before class started—that something was up so she asked us to spill the beans. When we explained that we were dying to get a whiff of all the exciting political activity going on right outside our window—after all, civil rights icon Jesse Jackson was a Democratic party presidential candidate for goodness sake—she smiled and opened her book to start the lecture. But just then, she said she had to run back to her office to retrieve something. When she came back about ten minutes later, instead of starting the lecture, she reprimanded the class, “I can’t believe you guys are still here!” She continued, “The problem with your generation is you have no rage.” In fact, she’d expected us to actually act on our frustration and be willing to take a bit of a risk by forgoing class to indulge in a once in a lifetime opportunity, but alas we stayed true to our rule-following conditioning and sat through a forgettable lecture while history was being made just steps away.
Was her point that we should recklessly defy authority and disregard rules on a whim? Certainly not, but I think she recognized the fact that during those formative baccalaureate years, it was just as important for us to consciously cultivate a clearly defined value system that would empower us to push limits and take risks when warranted. After all, she’d lost a brother who spent his life demonstrating what living and dying for your values looks like. While White America loves to indulge in the revisionist history of Dr. King as a non-violent, hand-holding, amiable minister who simply believed in equality, the more fulsome truth is that he preached fierce resistance and direct action as the only path to progress. Arguably, if today’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations are any indication, a modern-day King—frequently arrested for leading protest marches and boycotts—would almost certainly be vilified by conservative (if not most) media as an activist thug.
One undeniably positive development since the civil rights demonstrations of the 50s-60s is the increased demographic diversity of the demonstrators. While many White Americans have vocally supported Black Lives Matter (the concept) personally, these allies have often struggled with how to manifest that value out loud—particularly in the workplace. Truth be told, many seem to be searching for the perfect Goldilocks balance of just enough anti-racism to claim the ally label but not enough to bring unwanted attention, risk real consequence or require sacrifice.
The inconvenient truth is that Dr. King didn’t teach moderation and patience. Quite the contrary, he advocated for direct action….now.
A response to eight white Alabama clergies’ open letter “A Call for Unity” urging moderation and patience, Dr. King’s famous 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” detailed in explicit terms why direct action and impatience were necessary for real progress. Similarly, allies today often find themselves discussing racial justice events like marches and demonstrations with colleagues who view them through a negative suspicious lens. King’s sage counsel provides powerful reminders—and a dose of historical recalibration—that prove valuable during those sometimes difficult discussions. Truth be told, allies themselves often struggle to evolve from theoretical commitment to real action and instead find themselves stuck in an impotent holding pattern of performative antiracism. For this reason, King’s admonitions are arguably just the message allies need to hear to move them from tepid support to real action—from social media meme sharing to policy reforming. Indeed, if allyship isn’t active, it’s really just sideline-cheerleading that doesn’t move the ball towards the end zone. While there are obvious stark differences between King’s fight for social justice and today’s allies’ fight for workplace equity, there’s still much to be learned by analyzing some of the letter’s powerful themes.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
It’s so tempting to adopt a “not my business” mentality in the workplace when we observe or learn of inequities, discrimination or just plain offensive behavior. While it’s easy to rationalize, for example, that the company’s non-inclusive messaging isn’t our business because we’re not in marketing or ignore the fact that the Chief Diversity Officer is the only Black face in senior leadership because we’re too far removed hierarchically or fume privately about director’s offensive remarks directed to someone else, but allyship requires showing up where injustice shows up. Certainly, it makes sense to determine how and when to best do so, but true allies don’t confine their interest to their box on the organization chart.
“I must confess that I’m not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.”
Similarly, in our workplaces as issues related to race and equity surface, allies often acquiesce for fear of creating tension when the truth is that very often that tension is a necessary element of progress. In accordance with Newton’s first law, workplace norms and processes rarely shift on their own and indeed some level of tension is often required to elicit change. Certainly, this doesn’t mean that the goal is ever to make someone feel uncomfortable or create unnecessary or gratuitous conflict, but Dr. King’s words remind us that choosing comfort over progress to avoid tension….really isn’t allyship.
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was ‘well timed’ according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation…We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”
One lesson that 2020 taught us is that there’s no hard separation between our personal and professional lives. When Black and Brown people are being brutalized in the street, it affects all of us and those discussions spill into our break rooms, Zoom rooms and board rooms. Allies often find themselves defending the mere concept of demonstration or protest—arguably one of the most fundamental manifestations of true democracy notwithstanding. While some may look with disdain at groups protesting in the streets (particularly as the media may highlight more sensational anomalies like incidental property damage), it’s important for allies to remember (and share) that racial justice progress doesn’t just happen by osmosis. We won’t magically achieve racial equity if we just ask nicely and wait patiently. At no point in our country’s history did the White power structure tell Blacks, “Because you’ve been so patient and asked so nicely, we’ll get rid of these laws and make you whole.” That approach didn’t work during 246 years of slavery, 80+ years of lynching or 90 years of Jim Crow segregation, and it won’t work now.
It’s actually pretty logical that those who benefit from a system of advantage probably wouldn’t be inclined to dramatically shift the status quo so the idea that pressure and protest are necessary to create change really shouldn’t be considered a radical or provocative concept at all. It doesn’t make those protesting less professional or barbaric as some may try to suggest. It does however make them principled and determined—exactly what this moment requires. Indeed, Dr. King addresses this issue best by saying, “You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am sorry that your statement did not express a similar concern for the conditions that brough the demonstrations into being.” So when break room discussion gravitates to the sensationalized fringe elements of a particular protest or demonstration, consistently guide the discussion back to the reason for the protest.
“…over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion what the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than justice…”
Indeed, this point is arguably truer today than it was then in part because there are so many more White moderates (thankfully) with broader power to effect change and also because many White moderates (in particular) still fall into the trap of patting themselves on the back for not being an overt racist. Just as one doesn’t win “Parent of the Year” for simply not abusing their kids, allies aren’t really allies if they’re simply not being overt racists or not actively perpetuating inequity. True allies actively work to root out discrimination and inequity by asking hard questions, looking for processes and policies that may unwittingly yield disparate outcomes, lend support to others facing discrimination and soberly examine their own behaviors and thought processes to identify potential biases.
Indeed, Dr. King laments, “I had the strange feeling when I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies,” and his lengthy letter reveals his disappointment not just in their lack of support but possibly more so their fundamental lack of understanding of what the moment required. Reading his letter, I can’t help but remember Dr. Farris’ scolding. Arguably, our collective lack of rage and inaction may be our true Achilles’ heel.