Justice Versus Order





I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. - Martin Luther King in Letter From Birmingham Jail
We can draw comparison between the moderate whites (whom King was frustrated with) who stagnates the quest for justice because they are afraid to stray from the current order with the state of the educated Malaysian class who falls into the dilema of making choices of conscience which they are not used of making. Sure we hate the old man, but "I agree with you that what's been happening is wrong, but toksah lah kecoh-kecoh". Like King, I believe this good people are the ones who might be most responsible and accountable for progress in any social change. They, us, all of us have to seek the moral courage to uplift ourselves from mere guardian of order to champions of justice.