Martin Luther King, Jr. (“MLK”) is not only known for making great speeches about the ill effects of racism. He is also a genius when it comes to writing thought-provoking letters about race and inequality in America. In a letter that he penned while incarcerated in a Birmingham prison, MLK voiced out his hopeless situation, justifying the need for civil disobedience, and direct action. In that letter, written 50 years ago, King made one point very clear. He said that America’s white religious leaders are not trustworthy instruments for change. Forty years later, another African American leader made a speech that addressed the same issue. However, Barrack Obama will never agree with King’s opinion that America’s white religious leaders are not trustworthy instruments for change. Background Every statement made must be examined through its proper context. For example, the issues concerning segregation and discrimination are difficult to understand if researchers are unwilling to go back to the starting point when Negro slaves, taken against their will and transported to the U.S mainland, to be traded like property. One has to go back to the time when slaves experienced the euphoria brought about by emancipation at the end of the Civil War. Technically they were free, but at the same time, they were in bondage. After the Civil War, former Negro slaves were considered subhuman, bolstered by the idea that scientists can classify people into different subgroups. Slavery was abolished eventually, but African Americans were never free to pursue the American Dream. The shackles that prevented them from becoming productive citizens are called racism and segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement decided to speak out against the idea that African Americans are second-class citizens. King’s Letter and Obama’s Speech Martin Luther King, Jr. stirred the hornet’s nest when he went to Birmingham and joined the protest against segregation. In his letter he wrote: In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again, I have been disappointed (King, Jr. par.34). MLK made it very clear that he lost faith in the ability of white religious leaders to become instruments of change. He was doubtful that they would lend a helping hand so that African Americans can communicate their struggles effectively. If this assertion is made today, Barack Obama will disagree with MLK’s statement, as seen in the excerpt to the speech entitled A Perfect Union : The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old — is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know — what we have seen –