It's Martin Luther King Jr Day!

There have been a lot of calls for a nondescript unity in recent days (particularly from members of a certain American political party that happens to be the party of a twice impeached outgoing president). And while I do think that unity is important, the thing that people unite around is equally important. And you might be wondering what this has to do with the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior? Well, in the US it's Martin Luther King Jr Day (at least for a few more hours) and his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" has a few passages that you might want to consider before calling for a nonspecific easing of tensions:

"But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood."

"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

"Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends." 

• King, Martin L. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994. Print.

 Honestly, just go read the whole thing, it's on the University of Pennsylvania's website, here's a link! If you'd prefer the original typed document, Standford's got a PDF, here's a link! But to be serious, it's important to remember, especially on a day honoring Dr. King, that peace cannot exist in the absence of justice. Any leader who calls for unity but calls movements seeking equality for racial, religious, or sexual and gender minorities divisive doesn't want unity. They just want to ignore injustice.