To Evelyn R. Spraitzar
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: December 29, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Freedom Rides
Nonviolence
Details
King responds to a student’s request for a “Southern Minister’s comment” on the Freedom Rides.1 He praises the rides for remaining “nonviolent to the core” and adds: “I think it has done a great deal to add to the vitality of American Democracy.”
Mrs. Evelyn R. Spraitzar
1 Joanna Way
Chatham, New Jersey
Dear Mrs. Spraitzar:
I have just come across your letter asking me to comment on the Freedom Rides. As you probably realize, I consider the Freedom Ride Movement one of the most significant events in our struggle for freedom and human dignity. It had tremendous social value because it served to point up to the nation the fact of injustices and indignities the Negro still confront in inter-state travel. In a most dramatic manner, it brought out the fact that segregation is still the Negro’s burden and America’s shame. Beyond this, the movement brought about real practical achievements. As a result of the Freedom Rides, a firm ICC ruling came into being declaring all segregated facilities illegal in inter-state travel. I am happy to say that almost all of the cities in the south have complied with this decision. There are just a few scattered communities holding out, and it is only a matter of time before they will have to comply.
The most magnificent thing about the Freedom Ride Movement is that it has been nonviolent to the core. The Freedom Riders have been willing to accept physical violence without retaliating. And they have willingly gone to jail and suffered inconveniences in order to make their witness know. It is only natural that many white southerners would be against this movement. Their criticisms run from the absurd statement that the movement is Communist inspired to the rather subtle argument that the end sought is fine but the methods used are bad. All of these arguments are groundless and serve as highly colored excuses for those who really want to maintain the status quo. In the meantime, the movement continues, and I think it has done a great deal to add to the vitality of American Democracy.
Sincerely yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Km
1. Spraitzar was writing a report on the rides for a social psychology class (Spraitzar to King, 1 December 1961). Evelyn Ruth Spraitzar (1920– ), born in Somerville, Alabama, graduated from St. Vincent’s Nursing School in Birmingham in 1940, and served as a nurse in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, Spraitzar worked in a number of hospitals and nursing homes. In 1973 she moved to Boston, where she worked at the Jamaica Plains Veterans Hospital and attended Boston College, receiving a B.A. in psychology in 1982.
Source: MLKJP-GAMK, Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers (Series I–IV), Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.