"A Call for Unity" was an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

published in ''The Birmingham '' labama' News'', on April 12, 1963, by eight local white clergymen in response to

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

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. The term "outsider" was a thinly-veiled reference to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, who replied four days later, with his famous "

Letter from Birmingham Jail The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to b ...

." He argued that

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

was necessary to protest unjust laws. The authors of "A Call for Unity" had written "An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense" in January 1963.

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 Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

* 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

References

External links

*
"Letter from Birmingham Jail"
as PDF and audio version History of Alabama United States documents 1963 documents Open letters 1963 in Alabama {{AfricanAmerican-stub

Signatories

References

Further reading

External links