Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

This item would be a pivotal part of the Civil Rights Movement. One point that the Birmingham clergymen made was that King and his cohorts are willing to break laws and they expressed concern. Dr.King discussed this topic in his letter, he stated that there is a difference

The Letter from Birmingham Jail, also known as the Letter from Birmingham Jail and The Negro Is Your Brother, is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. The letter defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. It says that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts. Responding to being referred to as an “outsider,” King writes, “Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere”.

Martin Luther King Jr is the most iconic civil rights leader in history. If anyone is unsure of his significance, they could simply take a trip to Washington, D.C to view his magnificent monument. Dr. King in the 1950s and 1960s, led protests and spoke on numerous occasions about injustice and segregation within the African American community. Although he had many Anti- Racism protest, his most legendary took place in Birmingham, Alabama. While in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested which led to him writing a detailed letter to the city clerk.

The Letter from Birmingham Jail and the I have a Dream Speech, both written by Martin Luther King Jr., explain the same message to people in two different ways. The Letter from Birmingham Jail was to write a letter to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. He wrote this because he wants African Americans to come together and peacefully protest the unjust laws that are in place. On the other hand, his speech was to a large group of citizens, black and white, fighting for freedom, equality, justice and love. He used many rhetorical devices in his speech and letter that compared the two, and to show the differences in a clear way.

He was their voice. Throughout the “letter” Dr. King demonstrated pathos by engaging his readers of the struggle of being an African American descent. Dr. King starts off by letting his readers know that he was confined during the time of the letter was written and he was addressing the eight clergymen who called his action of a peaceful protest “untimely and unwise”. (King Jr., p. 645) However, he continues to explain his reason for being in Birmingham by saying that injustice was present and he could not just sit in another state and watch it;” Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

In A letter from Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King Jr writes to the clergy men and his supporters as “A Call for Unity”. King had been put under arrest from partaking in a peaceful march against segregation on property that he did not have permission to be marching on. In the 1960’s segregation laws and policies were under the Jim Crow regulations; separate racial schools, colored-only bathrooms, separate places for the colored to eat and they would have to sit in the back of the bus. The letter King wrote was critical because he reaches out to the Clergymen from Birmingham Prison and uses the rhetorical appeal of his own character to establish his credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice.

While contained at Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter encouraging and defending a nonviolent approach to dealing with racism. Martin Luther King Jr. being known as a public figure who has impacted the way America as a whole treats African-Americans. Having lived through a time when his rights, as well as every person of color didn’t match to their fellow Americans, he felt the need to advocate. The letter has been considered as one of the best argument pieces, persuading and convincing many, due to diction and usage of rhetorical strategies.

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, author Martin Luther King, is letting the clergymen, white moderate, ministers, police etc. to respond to all criticisms they have and to tell them why he is in Birmingham. He lets them know that they have no other choice but to employ direct action towards segregation. When it comes to the injustices that African Americans are facing not only in Birmingham but everywhere with segregation. He goes other them with the upmost intelligence and respect. King responds to the clergymen who call his actions extreme.

King was arrested 30 times for his cause but he never gave up. His most known arrest lead him to Birmingham Jail where he wrote the famous, Letter from Birmingham Jail. “Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of

The lynching of enslaved people during the 1800’s came from Charles Lynch, the founder of Lynchburg, Virginia. The term "lynch" first came to be associated with vigilante "justice" when linked to Revolutionary War militia officer and farmer Charles Lynch of Bedford County, on Virginia 's western frontier. Colonel Lynch controlled an extralegal military court that sentenced suspected Tories and Tory sympathizers to punishments of "tar and feathering," flogging, and, in extreme cases, hanging to death from a walnut tree standing in his yard. After the Revolutionary War, Lynch was cleared for his wartime activities by Virginia 's lawmakers. The “Lynch Law” as some would call it would be placed onto people to show an example to scare other slaves so that they would not try to go against the law and especially not run away.

(Floyd). “They burned down white own tire company that burned on for days and nights, and all you could see was smoke from it all the way in uptown Miami.” (Floyd). “The actions that the National guard did was arrest the rioters.” (Donnie).

This movement had its roots in the centuries-long efforts of African slaves and their descendants to resist racial oppression and abolish the institution of slavery. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, he was one of the main leaders of this movement; the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he wrote, was from a jail cell because he was given a penalty for parading without a permit. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is addressed to several clergymen who had written an open letter criticizing the actions of King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during their protests in Birmingham. Dr. King tells the clergymen that he was upset about their criticisms, and that he wishes to address their concerns. People can’t decide what race or color they want to be.

2.4 Rhetorical Analysis In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march, although several local religious groups counted on King for support. Since King’s arrest, he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King.

Martin Luther King Junior was the leader of several peaceful protests against the segregation of African American people in the American South. In his Letter form a Birmingham Jail, King responds to the eight clergymen who published an open letter in the local newspaper entitled A call to Unity that ultimately criticized King’s antics directly. King’s powerful yet eloquent use of different literary techniques, especially Aristotle’s persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, clearly delivers a potent message to his audience. The persuasive appeal logos, according to Aristotle, appeals to a reader’s sense of reason.

King traveled around the country to give inspirational speeches on nonviolent protests and civil rights while meeting activists, religious figures and other important people around the world. The town of Birmingham was a town for boycotts, sit-ins, and also marches to protest against segregation. Martin participated in the protest, but it led him to be arrested by the police on the 12th of April 1963. This arrest led to Martin Luther King Jr. organizing the March on Washington, a march held on August 28 the same year, promoting African Americans to have freedom and rights. The march was considered the biggest moment in civil rights movement