Why We Can’t Wait (1964). Detailed description

Written at the height of the Civil Rights movement and of King’s fame (King was proclaimed Man of the Year by Time magazine on January 3, 1964; in December of that year he received the Nobel Prize for peace), Why We Can’t Wait recounts the efforts to desegregate Birmingham, the coordinated efforts of 1963 that were televised across the nation and throughout the world. In addition to reestablishing the grounds for his approach, King refines the ideas he first articulated in Stride toward Freedom. For example, rather than explore the philosophical and practical expressions of passive resistance, King answers critics and addresses concrete issues.

King did not educate the reading public about civil disobedience. Instead, he defended its use. His audiences included many of those who questioned the efficacy of prayer, love, and pacifism as a means of resistance. In Why We Can’t Wait and in his later work Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos and Community? (1967), King employs the Exodus event during which the Israelites fled from their Egyptian oppressors as a metaphor for the Civil Rights movement, offering nonviolent solutions to social injustice.

King responded to critics—including segregationists, white racists, white moderates, black nationalists, and various civil rights organizations—with passionate, informed responses. The title of this book, Why We Can’t Wait, provided a different answer to each of these groups. For those opposed to segregation, it was an immediate response to their threats and acts of violence. At the time, this was obvious when the bombings of homes and churches, the public burning of crosses and other forms of intimidation, and the ongoing shootings and disappearances of civil rights workers were considered.

The whole nation watched as the Birmingham Public Safety Commission, when thousands of children stayed home from school to protest, turned fire hoses on children, hoses powerful enough to break their bones and roll them down the street. Those images told millions why African Americans could no longer wait for justice to arrive. Justice would never be delivered if it were to be delivered by Alabama’s public officials. The book was also speaking to white moderates, most eloquently in its fifth chapter.

There, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was reprinted. In it, King argued that moderation in the face of injustice is not an option: There can be no middle ground between good, sanctioned by God, and evil, epitomized by segregation. King argued that churches, schools, businesses, and other institutions must change radically for a desegregated future to be realized.

Why We Can’t Wait was also addressed to black nationalists and others eager for social justice. King cautioned that the Civil Rights movement could not rest on its laurels. Victories were won in Montgomery, Little Rock, and Birmingham, but much more had yet to be accomplished: The civil rights bill had not yet been passed by Congress or signed by the president, and African Americans still could not vote in most of the South. Additionally, massive economic development was sorely needed for employment, housing, and the education and cultivation of a civil society. For various civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, CORE, and the Urban League, the book called for a united front against social inequity.

King argued for forbearance and due diligence, the need to continue to press for the immediate redress of grievances. King called these groups to use all their professional and organizational talents even though many were weary of the fight. King’s book admonished them to persevere.

For Discussion or Writing
1. King was awarded the Nobel Prize in peace in the year after the publication of Why We Can’t Wait. Read the Novel Peace Prize Presentation Speech made to King, which can be found on the Internet at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_ prizes/peace/laureates/1964/press.html. Next, analyze how the Nobel committee’s reasons for awarding the prize can be supported in Why We Can’t Wait. Finally, write a well-developed essay that argues why King deserved the prize, supporting everything you say with quotes from Why We Can’t Wait and from the Nobel Peace Prize Presentation Speech.

2. The day after the assassination of King in 1968, Why We Can’t Wait was reprinted and copies sold by the thousands. In a well-developed essay that relies on the details and arguments King proffers in his text, speculate why this work sold so many copies after his death.