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Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wyatt Walker was a Baptist minister who came to Birmingham, Alabama in 1960 to work with Martin Luther King, Jr. An intelligent and cunning man, Walker enjoyed tricking racists like Bull Connor, the city’s public safety commissioner. Because of this, Dr. King asked him to create a situation that would trick Connor into doing something unwise, hoping this might help them show the nation the terrible racism of Birmingham’s segregationist policies. In keeping with this, Walker capitalized on the fact that the white members of the press couldn’t distinguish between black protestors and black bystanders, making sure that everyone in the black community knew when a protest would be happening—in turn, black people would flock to the streets simply to watch the march go by, but the white members of the press would assume that everyone present was a protestor. Later, Walker and Dr. King enlisted the help of black schoolchildren to fill up the Birmingham jails, forcing the police to resort to more aggressive measures of handling protests. As a result, a picture circulated nationally of a chaotic scene in which a police dog is attacking an innocent young black man. This photograph incited rage throughout the country and kickstarted the civil rights movement. Gladwell tells this story as a way of illustrating the fact that underdogs are often forced to think outside the box in creative, beguiling ways.
Wyatt Walker Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Wyatt Walker or refer to Wyatt Walker. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6: Wyatt Walker
Quotes
In the traditional fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, told to every Western schoolchild, the Tortoise beats the Hare through sheer persistence and effort. Slow and steady wins the race. That’s an appropriate and powerful lesson—but only in a world where the Tortoise and the Hare are playing by the same rules, and where everyone’s effort is rewarded. In a world that isn’t fair—and no one would have called Birmingham in 1963 fair—the Terrapin has to place his relatives at strategic points along the racecourse. The trickster is not a trickster by nature. He is a trickster by necessity.
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Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire David and Goliath LitChart as a printable PDF.
Wyatt Walker Quotes in David and Goliath
The David and Goliath quotes below are all either spoken by Wyatt Walker or refer to Wyatt Walker. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6: Wyatt Walker
Quotes
In the traditional fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, told to every Western schoolchild, the Tortoise beats the Hare through sheer persistence and effort. Slow and steady wins the race. That’s an appropriate and powerful lesson—but only in a world where the Tortoise and the Hare are playing by the same rules, and where everyone’s effort is rewarded. In a world that isn’t fair—and no one would have called Birmingham in 1963 fair—the Terrapin has to place his relatives at strategic points along the racecourse. The trickster is not a trickster by nature. He is a trickster by necessity.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
