Page "Southern Christian Leadership Conference" Paragraph 16

: One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely.

...

Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was " well timed " in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.

For years now I have heard the word " Wait!

" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity.

This " Wait " has almost always meant " Never.

" We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that " justice too long delayed is justice denied.

" We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights.