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Segregation In Dr. King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail

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In Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King addresses his fellow peers for calling his protest ending segregation “unwise & untimely”. King hopes to clarify their actions in this letter. Dr. King couldn’t remain mutual while in other places across the United States horrendous segregation acts were taking place. He said, “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly”. Like many before him, he too felt the need to help his fellow brothers and sisters’ fight for their cause. Just as Paul of the ancient world left his village to spread the word of Jesus Christ, King felt the need to spread the word of equality. In order for segregation to cease, it must stop across the nation. He gave four basic steps for a nonviolent protest leading …show more content…

King and his protesters breaking the law. King’s rebuttal is arguing there are two types of laws, just and unjust laws. Just laws were created by man and goes along with the ethical law or law of God. Whereas unjust laws contradict just laws and it degrades human character. All segregation statures are unjust because segregation degrades human traits and harms one’s inner core. So if segregation is morally wrong, it can’t be a just law and Dr. King looks at it as being acceptable to violate the segregation ordinances because it is an unjust law. Another example of an unjust law is when a larger group creates a law that the smaller group couldn’t have a voice in because obstacles prevented them from voting. At the time period different methods kept Negros from becoming registered voters. In other words it wouldn’t be fair to say the governing body that enacted the segregation laws were voted in by the majority, when a large portion didn’t a have voice in the matter. King argued it was justifiable to break this law because a law couldn’t be just when the Negro communities weren’t given the same rights to vote on the segregation laws. Sometimes a law can be righteous but when actually enacted wrong. King needed a permit to parade in Birmingham Alabama, nothing is wrong with this law. However, he was denied the permit and his god given first amendment right. Earlier stated, unjust laws go against the law of god and when he was denied his own rights. King felt the law was no longer just and could be broken on the condition of accepting the punishment. He wasn’t promoting rebellions. Instead he believed when one breaks an unjust law they must do it on their own will and accepts whatever happens to them. By doing so, King himself stayed in Birmingham jail for breaking the unjust law. Hoping to ignite a fire in people to see the injustice happing in Birmingham and in other places across the

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