"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Today our nation honors the accomplishments and dreams of a man who literally changed the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for every human being to be valued, respected and afforded the same rights as his fellow man despite race, creed or position in society. Instead of fighting against people (as is so often the case in our current, hyper-polarized political and social arguments) Dr. King fought FOR people - all people. He struggled not only against outright oppression but also the insidious nature of indifference.
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. 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.
“Letter From a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The following is a excerpt from MLK's now famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail":