Representative Lewis,

This part of the book highlights the aftermath of the events regarding the three missing volunteers wherein they are found and you give an incensed and emotion-filled speech during their funeral service. After this, the democratic convention is mentioned and following this you tell us about your trip to the various African countries with some of the leaders in the SNCC. There you met up with Malcolm X shorty after his split from the Nation of Islam. Upon getting back from Africa, you realize that the SNCC is in a bit of a rough situation considering the leadership of the organization was gone for so many months. 

This part of the book is interesting because it brings up the possibility of different perspectives wherein one can solve one given issue. For instance, yourself and Dr. King believed that the way to get to the resolution of the issue was through peaceful protest and taking the higher moral stance so as to further show the brutal and violent nature of the resistance to the movement by southern politicians, lawmakers, and law enforcement. In contrast, Malcolm X was known for using violence in his tactics as a means to his end. This brings up the moral issue of whether violence is justifiable in this context and if it is, in fact, the more effective means by which to achieve this goal or if it is counter-productive to the true message that the movement was trying to make.

In 2019, there are still conflicts between the black community and the police force. This stems from the fact that there are instances of police brutality that are seemingly based on race. While it may seem that the police are biased against the black or other minority communities, it is something that is predicated on statistics surrounding the black community such as the fact that the male black population is responsible for 50% of violent crime in the US despite making up only 13% of the population and similar statistics involving theft and other crimes. While I do not believe that this is justification for excessive force, let alone murder, the police are instructed to defend themselves at all costs and must follow a certain protocol. This means that either there must be a change in protocol, or there must be a change in the black community so as to change the statistics and therefore end such bias.

Sincerely,

David Guevara