The Achievement of Racial Equality: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” vs. “I Am Prepared to Die” In both Martin Luther King, JR’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Nelson Mandela’s “I Am Prepared to Die”, the authors present their idealistic views of racial equality and their ideas of how that equality should be achieved. In his letter, King states, “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. …showed first 75 words of 864 total…

…showed last 75 words of 864 total…have proven) that it is only by using violence that he can make any difference in his society. Upon examination of King and Mandela’s works, this comparative analysis suggests that a common goal, racial equality, can be obtained (theoretically) using either passive or aggressive means. As seen in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Am Prepared to Die”, the method used to obtained a goal is often not as relevant as the actual realization