ipl-logo

Discrimination In Birmingham Jails

483 Words2 Pages

Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, was perhaps the most racially segregated city in the United States and Dr. King believed it was the perfect time to speak up. He proclaimed “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation [we] cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper (p. 3).” African American’s had reached a point where they were no longer moving towards freedom, but rather, asserting it. One of King’s major strengths involved changing the function of jails in society. Previously, jail was used as a threat of pain, intimidation, and isolation. However, later on large groups of activists, filled up jails, and made jail less of a punishment. The African American population was done waiting for equality and fed up with being told …show more content…

It teaches that non-violence methods are just as productive and practical, if not more. Furthermore, today is the perfect time for discussion about the discrimination and prejudice that still exists and can be traced back to this book. There is still slavery in many countries, and sex trafficking is a huge issue. Even today there still exists in the South, and some places in the North, some unjust officials implement their authority in the name of justice to practice injustice against minorities and people of color. Racial profiling, which is the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin appears in the news every day. Just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could not wait any longer, we should not either. Even if we do not individually purposefully feel discriminated or disadvantaged, we need to care about one another. Empathy and sympathy play a role in these types of conversations. Throughout the the book Dr. King tells the stories of people hundreds of miles away from each other, yet connected by the same thing: a desire for change. King uses stories of brutality in the book, such as how mayor Bull Conner, would turn on water hoses and spray unarmed protestors, to portray the truth of how they were being treated. Today, we continue to see these stories played out for us in the news using the slogan #blacklivesmatter. These reports tug at people’s emotions and motivate them to want to make a

Show More
Related

  • Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis Essay

    866 Words  | 4 Pages

    Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at it’s peak in the South. When King was making his mark in American history, the United States was experiencing great social unrest due to the injustice towards their colored citizens, which would lead to social rights rallies and unnecessary violence. In response to King’s peaceful protesting, the white community viewed “[his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist,” and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Letters To Birmingham Prisons

    616 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Letters to Birmingham Prisons,” the author, Martin Luther King, an equal rights activist, highlights many harms of society through his rhetorical strategies. The purpose of this letter was to speak to the primary audience of the clergy, who limits the freedom and independent of some. Martin Luther King when shifts to the secondary audiences of the State and the people. Both audiences are called to act in civil disobedience. When MLK introduces separation of populations, he writes of it as the “disease of segregation.”

    Read More

  • Identity In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    251 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King defends the protestors’ thirst for justice by demonstrating the unjust society they live in. Over fifty years after the letter was written, it is still read today. Often times it gives people a sense of identity. However this letter gives me more than an identity. This letter gives me reason and motivation to always fight for a just society.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

    740 Words  | 3 Pages

    While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.

    Read More

  • What Is Mlk's Argument In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    333 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.

    Read More

  • Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    452 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Injustice In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    866 Words  | 4 Pages

    King’s, purpose for “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” was a justification of civil rights procedures and a rebuking of white individuals who wanted more composure when it came to social change. He identifies and works through the issue of segregation by telling the individuals who believe it is not the time to have justice; that it is easier for them to judge so quickly when their people are not the one suffering. Throughout the letter he points out that the answer to this problem is that there is no such thing as the right time for justice and the time to act is now. One of the major concepts of the letter is that you cannot just tell anyone to wait or stop when they have been yearning for the moment to be free and treated equally. “This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.”

    Read More

  • Examples Of Injustice In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    1205 Words  | 5 Pages

    Injustice in Birmingham Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” written in April 1963, is a passionate letter addressing the social and racial injustice in America. It was written as a response towards the eight clergymen who wrote an open letter criticizing Dr. King’s exploitation of what happened in Birmingham as he defended the actions of his organization. King beautifully composed his letter through the three rhetorical appeals: pathos, ethos, and logos. The letter, remarkably persuasive, provides compelling evidence to both the black and white communities and to the American society as a whole of the unjust treatment through the underhandedness of the city government.

    Read More

  • Essay On Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

    Read More

  • Persuasive In Dr. King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    336 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Letter From Birmingham Jail, the part I find most persuasive is when Dr. King tells why African-Americans can no longer wait to gain the justice and equality they deserve, and there is not a “right time” to try to gain this justice and equality. It is true that African-Americans cannot not just wait and hope that one day they will gain the equality they deserve. Instead, they must act to gain justice and equality. When people are comfortable, change is unlikely to occur. If African-Americans did not create any tension, they may have never gained the equality they have today.

    Read More

  • Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.

    957 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Letter from Jail” On April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight clergymen while he was incarcerated. Dr. King wrote this letter to address one of the biggest issues in Birmingham, Alabama and other areas within the United States. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discussed the great injustices that were happening during that time towards the black community. Dr. King wanted everyone to have the same equal rights as the white community, he also went into further details about the struggles that African Americans were going through for so many years, which he felt like it could change. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, expressed his beliefs and his actions about the Human Rights Movement.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter To Birmingham Jail

    1546 Words  | 7 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    895 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

    1522 Words  | 7 Pages

    King believed that if he could just go to Birmingham, and protest non-violently, that he could make a difference. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned, in Birmingham, for protesting the civil rights of Black Americans. While in jail, he began writing a letter addressing the clergymen. His main audience in writing this letter was to the eight clergymen who criticized his actions and also the majority of the population as well. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, argues that injustice

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King Figurative Language

    113 Words  | 1 Pages

    King uses figurative language (“engulfs,” “ugly . . . brutality,” “unsolved bombings”) to create vivid images that evoke fear, injustice, and inescapability, and toshow that King and his affiliates have completed the first step of the nonviolent campaign: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive” (par. 6). King uses alliteration (“its ugly record of police brutality,” “its unjust treatment of Negroes,” and its “unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches”) to create a rhythm in the text, which strengthens the persuasiveness of his explanation that the “city fathers” have “refused to engage in good-faith negotiation” (par. 6), because if they had these injustices would not be so present in Birmingham.

    Read More

More about Discrimination In Birmingham Jails

Open Document