Public Statement April 12, 1963

The public statement made on April 12, 1963 to Martin Luther King, Jr., by the eight Alabama clergymen, is what some people would call (Weasel Words). Now I believe these statements were put forth to make him feel bad and feel responsible for all the underlying hatred that was so prevalent during that time All brought on by fear and ignorance. How dare he, come all the way from Georgia, as an outsider. To tell them! In Alabama, how to treat people and up set their way of life that their pappy’s and grand-pappy’s passed down to them. I mean come on who do these people think they are anyway. Heck the civil war between the states was not quite a hundred years old yet. Yes there was lots of fear and ignorance still going around.

This is but a sample of the public statement, the whole statement to me, was something to tear apart.

We the undersigned clergymen are among those who, in January, issued “an appeal for law and order and common sense,” in dealing with racial problems in Alabama. We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could properly be pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.

The statement “an appeal for law and order and common sense” let’s break it down. The word appeal, a formal request: a formal request to a higher authority requesting a change in or confirmation of a decision. Next we have the word law, divine will: the principles set out in the Bible, especially the Pentateuch, said to be the divine will. Then we have order, absence of crime: a peaceful condition in which laws are obeyed and misbehavior or crime is not present or is prevented. Now we have common sense, good judgment: sound practical judgment derived from experience rather than study. The rest of this statement is no better, “We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial