And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:<\/p>\n
\u201cUnity is the great need of the hour\u201d\u009d is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.<\/p>\n
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.<\/p>\n
Unity is the great need of the hour \u201d\u201c the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it\u2019s the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not talking about a budget deficit. I\u2019m not talking about a trade deficit. I\u2019m not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking about a moral deficit. I\u2019m talking about an empathy deficit. I\u2019m taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother\u2019s keeper; we are our sister\u2019s keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.<\/p>\n