Why We Can 't Wait By Martin Luther King

In the essay “Let Justice Roll down”, Martin Luther King Jr wrote about the difficulties and social injustices faced by the negro population in America during the 1960’s. The main theme Dr. King was writing about in his yearly essay was the fight for civil justice and equality for all men and women. The essay chosen was written in 1965 and made very good points to the argument for equality made by Martin Luther King Jr. Three of these points included in the following paragraphs are the importance of Selma, AL to the rights movement, the importance of demonstrations, and a stronger focus on the Civil Rights Act.

He wants his readers to imagine the pain and humiliation of the ill treatment that African Americans endure on a daily basis. King writes of vicious mobs lynching people’s mothers and fathers, policemen killing people’s brothers and sisters, a man and his wife not receiving the proper respect they deserve because of their skin color, and the notion that African Americans feel insignificant within their communities; this is why these peaceful demonstrators of whom the clergymen attack “find it difficult to wait” (King, 20). However, King believes that soon, injustice will be exposed, like “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up” (King, 30). This vivid description helps arouse an emotional response, driving shame into the hearts of his white readers.

In 1963, the civil rights movement was going on in almost every city in America. Our African American neighbors were standing up for equality and their own basic rights. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist, writes a book called Why We Can't Wait to describe the social conditions of the black people living in America in this era. In his book, MLK uses strong imagery, historical allusions, and rhetorical questions in order to describe what the black community was going through in the 1960s.

Why We Can’t Wait written by Martin Luther King is a book that conveys the actual mind-set of many black Americans toward their freedom and emancipation. The social conditions for Blacks during the 1960’s were not that of freedom and liberty, but that of oppression and segregation. Martin Luther King makes use of a variety of stylistic, narrative, and persuasive devices to display his image of the harsh reality of the supposed “freedom” for blacks during the slowly progressing civil rights movement of the 60’s.

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

During the 1960's, Black African Americans had to face multiple social conditions and attitudes. Many were living in poverty or low-income communities, with either no education or very limited education. This certain community during this time period was neglected, rejected, and disrespected by the American society. In Martin Luther King's book "Why We Can't Wait", he uses rhetorical strategies and devices like parallelism, repetition, imagery, and rhetorical questions in order to seek social change in the United States.

In Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King Jr, Martin describes the weather and also implies that the civil rights movement were like the severe weather in 1962-63. He compared the harsh weather with the discrimination that black people were trying to overcome. In addition, black people were facing judgment, unfairness, poverty and lack of education. However, today black people often can get what they want and they come together and fight for their freedom and justice.

America in the 1960’s was a dark, despairing environment for African Americans, or Negroes. Conditions in all areas of life were poor, chances of success were slim to none, and appreciation or acceptance in the community was barely a dream. Negroes of this time were downtrodden, disrespected, and poorly treated. In his book, “Why We Can’t Wait,” Martin Luther King uses historical allusion, emotive imagery, rhetorical questions, and juxtaposition to convey the negative, daunting poor social conditions of Black Americans in the 1960’s.

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King .

In most of King’s pieces, he devotes great effort in trying to make connections with his audience. In “Why We Can’t Wait” -- King’s book that marked the beginning of American’s “Negro Revolution”, King develops a close connection with his audience – African Americans that suffer from the cruelty of the Jim Crow education. Simply looking at the title of the book, “Why We Can’t Wait” captures the audiences’ attention, because the pronoun “we” includes everyone (including King himself) and thus informing them about the extent of the problem. The connection to the audience builds further in this book, and yet the most powerful passage was the introduction. In the introduction, King draws a comparison of the daily lives between a “young Negro boy” from Harlem and a “young Negro girl” from Birmingham (9). King depicts the images of these children, because they symbolize the difficult childhood that most African-Americans experienced during the time. Dropping out of school, subjecting to unemployment, or losing a family member are traumas faced by African-Americans commonly during their childhood, due to their race and vulnerability as children. Depicting such childhood evokes the audiences’ similar memories, thus they will inevitably emphasize with the situation and relate to the

King uses vivid imagery like “unjust treatment” and “more unsolved bombings” in order to vividly describe the extent of segregation. As ministers, King wants them to realize that he has concrete reasons as to why nonviolent direct action is necessary. King hopes that the white ministers will understand his views on protested. Martin Luther King Jr. believe that protesting is the only option to gain justice for blacks; they can’t wait any

Dr. King lived in a United States of America that had changed very little in its the treatment of African American citizens since the period of reconstruction after the Civil War. The Civil Rights Movement in 1963 was organized with help from King and other influential leaders. The movement struck at some of the most notable areas afflicted by racial inequality. Why We Can’t Wait centers on the pursuit of civil discourse that unfolds in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the most racially segregated cities in America at the time. Each of the components of the Civil Rights Movement alone would not have so successfully innovative. It was only the sum of its parts, together, that made it so ground breaking at obtaining equal rights for all races. The

August 28, 1963 (Eidenmuller) marked a very important day in history that had an impact not only on America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Along with other equality initiative ideas, they rarely make it past the idea stages or end in the actual eradication result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with accepting full equality. Within those 51 years we have made a mass amount of progress but, a common thought would be that after this long the issue should have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? by Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone, and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.

This book makes clear that the struggle for racial equality was nationwide and not just isolated to certain geographical locations. A common misconception about the civil rights movement is that blatant racism was a problem only encountered in the Deep South. However, Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour does a great job of clarifying this misconception and showing the many elements of the struggle for justice that blacks from coast to coast experienced.

Speeches come in all shapes and sizes, some good, some bad, some motivational and some inspirational. The one thing I can tell you there is always a few that will linger and stick around in your head. These speeches go through history as being remembered and studied for decades. A few that come to mind happen to be “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King, “Never give up…Don’t ever give up,” by Jimmy Valvano and “You’ve got to find what you love,” by Steve Jobs. Each and every one of these speeches was written by men who were challenged to make difficult decisions in their lives which would inadvertently affect their future in one way or another.