Letters from a Birmingham Jail

King argues that he and his fellow demonstrations have a duty to fight for justice.  It is up to the oppressed to take charge and demand equality.  Segregation is used to debase one population (blacks) while uplifting another (whites), which makes it immoral in the eyes of God. Immoral laws are laws that are neither just nor fair. According to St. Augustine's logic, unjust laws aren't actually laws, so they don't have to be followed. King believes people are under a moral obligation to oppose segregation by refusing to abide by the so-called laws that govern the practice.  White Americans who say they agree with the notion of desegregation but criticize the manner in which civil rights activists go about achieving it are the biggest obstacle standing in the way of racial equality. The demeaning and "paternalistic" attitude of white moderates shows a lack of real understanding about the realities of segregation. It is this group that perpetuates the notion that time, not human intervention, will be the great equalizer—which discourages others to join the campaign for civil rights.  The civil rights movement will ultimately be successful because "the goal of America is freedom." 

BIG IDEA: The Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause as well as other constitutional provisions have often been used to support the advancement of equality.