In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther king Jr. claims that “it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture, but […] groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.” I most definitely concur with Martin Luther King's pervious statement. It is much easier to change the mind of one person over the minds of many. During certain time periods in history there have been several situations where drastic change was needed, but due to the stubborn minds of a near sighted group those changes were not made. Some of these groups were White Americans, especially men, and the members of Nazi Germany.
In the early nineteen-twenties America was flourishing, it was the golden age. However there were underlying economic problems that could not be solved. Finally in nineteen twenty-nine the Great Depression hit and Americans all over the country were facing adversity. During this time it was difficult to hold or receive a job. This was also a period of time when segregation and discrimination were thought to be common ways of life. The depression was difficult for everyone, but the white population felt that they were above African and Latin Americans living in America. Because of this supremacist feeling African and Latin Americans were faced with even harder times.
If the white American population could look past the color of an individual's skin and realize that they were equal and had the right to a job the Depression would not have lasted as long as it did. There may have been a few white Americans who were able to look past this, and they did make a difference like Martin Luther King Jr. has stated. However the population as a whole was unable to accept this, thus, keeping their immoral ways.
In Germany during World War II Hitler, a depraved tyrant was in power. His Nazi Germany became a monstrous country seeking vengeance over World War I. Germany is most famously known for their attack on the people of the Jewish religion. During World War I the Holocaust took place and millions of Jews and other races were slaughtered in concentration camps. Many of Germany's inhabitants knew about these death camps and disagreed with them. They tried to help people by hiding their Jewish neighbors or friends from Hitler's vicious army. In the Famous Novel about Ann Frank and her family, a friend tried to help them stay hidden from the Nazis. This women is an example of a person who was able to think for herself and give up the unjust posture. The rest of Nazi Germany and the people who did not stand up for what they knew was right are the members of the group who stayed immoral.
The reason that these two groups stayed immoral is simply due to fear. They were followers who were unable to stand up for what they knew in their hearts was right. The members of society during the Depression, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt who gave African Americans equal opportunities to find jobs, and the Women who helped keep Ann Franks family hidden for that amount of time were heroes. These were the people who were able to “voluntarily give up their unjust posture”. It is easy for a group to stay immoral because they have each others excuses to feed off of. The claim made my Martin Luther king can be proved to be true by many historical events; the challenge is if members of society today can take a stand to change it so that history won't repeat itself.
