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The time is always right to do right.

Martin Luther King Jr., Oberlin College, 1965

Philosophy

The story behind the card

From 'Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution', King's commencement address at Oberlin College, Ohio, in June 1965. Oberlin was one of the first American colleges to admit Black students, in 1835. King was answering people who told the civil rights movement to wait and let time heal injustice. Time is neutral, he said; it can be used to build or to destroy. He had made the same point two years earlier in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, where he wrote that 'the time is always ripe to do right'.

Türkçe oku
Doğruyu yapmak için her zaman doğru zamandır.
Martin Luther King Jr., Oberlin College, 1965

King'in Haziran 1965'te Ohio'daki Oberlin College'ın mezuniyet töreninde yaptığı “Büyük Bir Devrimde Uyanık Kalmak” konuşmasından. Oberlin, 1835'te siyah öğrencileri kabul etmeye başlayan ilk Amerikan kolejlerinden biridir. King, sivil haklar hareketine “bekleyin, zaman adaletsizliği kendiliğinden düzeltir” diyenlere cevap veriyordu. Zaman tarafsızdır, dedi; kurmak için de kullanılabilir, yıkmak için de. Aynı düşünceyi iki yıl önce Birmingham Cezaevinden Mektup'ta da dile getirmiş, doğruyu yapmak için zamanın her zaman uygun olduğunu yazmıştı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Martin Luther King Jr.
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