A Call for Unity explained

"A Call for Unity" was an open letter published in The Birmingham [Alabama] News^[1], on April 12, 1963, by eight local white clergymen in response to civil rights demonstrations taking place in the area at the time. In the letter, they took issue with events "directed and led in part by outsiders," and they urged activists to engage in local negotiations and to use the courts if rights were being denied, rather than to protest.^[2]

The term "outsider" was a thinly-veiled reference to Martin Luther King Jr., who replied four days later, with his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail." He argued that direct action was necessary to protest unjust laws.^[3]

The authors of "A Call for Unity" had written "An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense" in January 1963.^[4]

Signatories

• C. C. J. Carpenter, D.D., LL.D., Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
• Joseph Aloysius Durick, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Mobile, Birmingham
• Milton L. Grafman, Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, Alabama
• Paul Hardin, Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the Methodist Church
• Nolan Bailey Harmon, Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church
• George M. Murray, D.D., LL.D., Bishop Coadjutor, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
• Edward V. Ramage, Moderator, Synod of the Alabama Presbyterian Church in the United States
• Earl Stallings, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama

Further reading

• Bass, S. Jonathan (2001). Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Baton Rouge: LSU Press. .

External links

• Web site: "A Call for Unity", also known as "Statement by Alabama Clergymen" . https://web.archive.org/web/20181229055408/https://moodle.tiu.edu/pluginfile.php/57183/mod_resource/content/1/StatementAndResponseKingBirmingham1.pdf . 29 December 2018 . dead .
• "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as PDF and audio version

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bhamwiki. www.bhamwiki.com. July 24, 2024.
2. Web site: Alabama Clergymen's Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. . 2023-09-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181229055408/https://moodle.tiu.edu/pluginfile.php/57183/mod_resource/content/1/StatementAndResponseKingBirmingham1.pdf . December 29, 2018 .
3. Web site: Baltimore Sun. www.tribpub.com. March 26, 2023.
4. Book: Bass, S. Jonathan . Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" . 2001 . LSU Press . 978-0-8071-2800-8.