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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King makes a powerful statement in Birmingham jail after being imprisoned for peacefully protesting. His authoritative letter addresses the issue of racial injustice towards African American people. His goal was to act in a nonviolent way so that the poor treatment towards the black community was changed. He was fighting strictly to end discrimination. King makes radical points in his letter to his fellow clergymen about the treatment that colored people in the south were receiving. Martin Luther King’s tone and style makes this an overall effective letter. The main point of King’s letter is to inform the public that discrimination cannot last forever and a change must come. However, a change will not happen unless the oppressed people speak out. King states, “We know through painful experience …show more content…

He is speaking through experience as he has been fighting for the rights of himself as well as the other oppressed minorities. He feels betrayed to know that the clergymen are not giving him his constitutional rights. King says, “At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist” (King 4). The other clergymen are supposed to be an ally to King, but instead they are discriminatory just like everyone else in Birmingham. His letter from Birmingham jail called out the oppressors for their wrongdoings in hopes to get his basic human rights. Martin Luther King makes his opinion on the subject clear which makes his letter compelling. His use of tone in this letter should make any person reading it feel sorrowful for the discrimination he is experiencing. He explains, “But when you have seen

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