Compare and contrast WHY WE CAN'T WAIT to IF YOU WERE ONLY WHITE Essay

Compare and contrast WHY WE CAN'T WAIT to IF YOU WERE ONLY WHITE - Essay Example Why We Cant Wait primarily highlights the concerns of Martin Luther King Jr. for the black community in the United States; African Americans. The ultimate issue is the integration of the black community in the American society in terms of having their rights and freedoms observed. The year 1963 marked a critical time for the concerns spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. Specifically, Emancipation Proclamation was meant to mark a new beginning in accounting for equality between the whites and the blacks (Weatherford 81). The proclamation was meant to bring to an end years and years of slavery and segregation of African Americans. On the other hand, If You Were Only White highlights the experiences of a baseball player by the name Satchel Paige. Paige was an African American who had become a successful baseball player, climbing up the game ladder to outperform both white and black baseball players (Partridge 294). He too, just like the rest of the black community, suffered the impacts of segregation. Amid this, he stood out for what he believed was right and good for the society. His fame and performance along his career line had broken racial ties in the United States between 1920s and 1980s. While Martin Luther King Jr. and his associates pushed for Emancipation Proclamation, Satchel Paige was using his baseball career to try and unite the American people beyond racial limits. King felt that the freedom of the black community had been delayed for a hundred years if not more (Weatherford 137). As a result, he fought for the freedom of African Americans and advocated for equality in the society. Even with emancipation, the facts of the matter were yet to be operationalized in Birmingham and beyond. This aspect provides the reason why the blacks felt they could not wait any longer. For Satchel Paige, his influence in the American society has caught the attention of both whites and blacks. The context of the arguments made in If You Were Only White refers to a