Certainly Birmingham had its decent white citizens who privately deplored the maltreatment of Negroes. But they remained publicly silent It was a silence born of fear — fear of social, polit- ical and economic reprisals. MLK Jr. Why we can't wait.

Certainly Birmingham had its decent white citizens who privately deplored the maltreatment of Negroes. But they remained publicly silent It was a silence born of fear — fear of social, polit- ical and economic reprisals.