Comparing Tuchman and King Jr.
...t was claiming the life of the people. This epidemic did not have any concrete way to end except to run its course. The era had little or no sanitary structure. Waste pooled in the streets. Bathing was not a daily occurrence, nor were healthful eating habits. Lack of knowledge and science perpetuated this black cloud. “To the people at large there could be but one explanation--- the wrath of God. Planets might satisfy the doctors, but God was closer to the average man.” The attitude of God’s wrath allowed for the spread of this painful death without the search of an answer. Martin Luther King Jr. suffered in many ways to protect the people of his race from a certain death. In this instance he is captive in a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. The reason for his imprisonment is direct action. The city officials have a ‘lawful’ term for his imprisonment. The motivation for his crusade is to eliminate segregation that divides the nation. He says,” But more basically, I am here in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century left their villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” The reverend writes his communication to his fellow clergymen from the same state that kept him. The letter written depicts the prior attempts to address the administration Birmingham. He goes on to explain the four steps to a non-violent campaign, “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self- purification; and direct action.” The segregation of races can lead to death in many ways. There is the obvious violent deaths caused by racism and segregation; tree hangings, clan rallies. There is also a resonating death that effects generations to come; loss of pride, sense of self worth and anger. Reverend King writes about the little girl unable to gain access to an all white amusement park, “…when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your and your speech stammering as you...