One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some
have asked: "Why didn’t you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. What is King’s claim in this passage?
King's claim in this passage is that a "determined legal and nonviolent pressure" must be mounted to end segregation in Birmingham.
Explanation:
A claim is an assertion or a statement that something or an event is correct as stated. A claim may not be true. It is therefore subject to proof. That is why claims usually require evidence to substantiate them. For instance, in preparing a set of financial statements, the principal officers (the chief executive and the chief financial officers) make assertions (claims) that the information presented therein is factual, fair, and truthful, etc. Such assertions remain mere claims until they are proved to be true. This is why external auditors, who are supposedly, independent of the management of the company, are expected to confirm or disconfirm such claims before the financial statements can be relied upon for any decision.
