A Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary
In “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963) Martin Luther King Jr. states who he is, why he is in Birmingham, and that action is needed in response to the letter “A Call for Unity” signed by eight clergymen. He felt the need to respond to them because they were “men of good intentions” but don’t understand the brutality in Birmingham or why the Southern Christian Leadership Conference took direct action. King talks about how he would have rather negotiated; but when no action is taken from the negotiation the direct action gets the white moderates attention to negotiate as they call him an “extremist”; which king felt was a little out reached because its apart of our civil rights. Informing the clergymen
…show more content…
talks about the brutality injustices and the action taken in A Letter from Birmingham Jail. According to King, when there is a threat to one minority in one area in the world it affects us all indirectly. I agree with King when he says, “Whatever affects one directly affects us all indirectly” (1) because when something happens somewhere it can show another, somewhere else, that it’s okay. For example, the police brutality outrage around the states or the black lives/all lives mate conflicts happening now; just like the police brutality towards the blacks in Birmingham. I believe we must all take a stand to stop the riots and injustice taking place and look at facts rather than what media posts. It is starting to cause an indirect affect to others around the states for just being a certain race, having a certain job, or just because someone else is doing it …show more content…
King, Jr. also talks about how there are laws that do justice to all and laws that are unjustified by degrading a minority and their constitutional rights. I agree with King when he restates Augustine’s statement, “an unjust law is no law at all” (3). I say this because when a law takes away your constitutional rights within a group of certain people it’s not a law it someone trying to show their authority over another. What showed this was when African Americans where being arrested for showing nonviolent action of protesting and being brutally beaten and hosed for their civil right to protest. King also got called an extremist for this action taken. He talks about how we use this action to get a negotiation from the other side of the situation. Now of days there are riots, fires, and brutality taking place in or streets. These actions are the ones to arrest someone over. There’s also how the government is trying to take away guns and ban them but they use them in their security system for protection. This would be an unjust law because it singles out someone from
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to address the issue of racial injustice in Birmingham and the United States at the time. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" discusses the great injustices happening toward the Black community in Birmingham, as well as serve as a rebuttal to the eight clergymen arguments. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses his appeals to emotion to establish his credibility on the topic of the racial discrimination and injustice that was occurring during that time, as well justify his reasons for protests. King wanted to make his letter come from an emotional standpoint to make the audience of clergymen feel the strong emotion and pain he was feeling about the outrage of acts and justify his cause of writing. “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and
“ A just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow, and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness legal.” In contrast he defines unjust laws as amoral and degrading to human personalities. He also explains that unjust laws are laws that majority impose on minority, but don’t obey themselves. Martin Luther King proves himself very credible, dependable, and intelligent by appealing to the reader ethically.
“Martin Luther King Jr’s Use of Authorities in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” In Martin Luther King Jr’s argumentative letter, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King argues his position on his nonviolent protests, segregation, and his disappointments with the church and Birmingham’s city officials. This letter was written to clergymen that called King’s peaceful protesting “unwise and untimely” (para.1). King explains his positions by providing examples that strengthen his argument. Overall King makes it clear that little has been accomplished in the civil rights movement to end segregation and the hatred Caucasians have towards African Americans.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in 1964 was in response to an open letter by eight white clergymen in the Birmingham News called “Call to Unity”. Kings rebuttal letter describes his clear purpose working to ensure that equal rights for all were accomplished. King writes about how it is his life’s mission to not sit idly by and watch injustice happen in the world. King was determined to change laws and ensure that all men and women were treated equally and fairly. He did this through many avenues like speeches, meetings, and writings like the "Letter from Birmingham Jail".
King references many prominent figures in history and religion. Discussing how he was put in jail because he disobeyed an unjust law, King references three men who refused to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, and “Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions” instead of following the unjust laws of the Roman Empire (King 266, par.21). Then, King reminds the audience that not all laws ever made were just laws. “Everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal” though it was wrong and those who sheltered Jews were doing the right thing, as we know now, even though it was illegal then. After being called an extremist for racial equality, King references people like Jesus, an extremist for love; Amos an extremist for justice and then Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson who were extremists for equality for all people.
King hints that as a citizen he should care about all citizens not just the ones where he lives. The result of this is logical because it causes the reader to understand that they should begin to have the same views of thinking towards the society. He also appeals to the reader’s mind when he debates the difference between the just and unfair laws. “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” (King 92)
I agree with him that unjust laws are giving a false idea of superiority and just laws as something that will uplift other personalities, he states, “any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King 3). This is important because he wants to informs his brothers and sisters that the government shouldn’t just focus only on themselves but think of the communities around them. For instance, King states “all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent negroes from becoming registered voters,” which in some countries African-Americans make up most of the populations yet their rights are taken away. Through the use of logos; the appeal to logic, King mentions, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit..”
In the letter that he deliberately wrote for national audience, King states, “To put it in terms of St.Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. ”(293)
Analysis on “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist created a piece of history while confined in the Birmingham jail, which helped the civil rights movement for freedom take off. The emotion, credibility and logical effect he gave in the response to eight religious leaders left them speechless. Dr. King didn't want to attack anyone, just explain his own perspective to justify what was right and what wasn't. The reasonable statements the Rev. King presented made anyone with common sense acknowledge him.
King supports his statement was nonviolent civil disobedience. When people break the law, they are willing to accept the consequences for their actions; when one's conscience tells them that a law is unjust and they break it they are willing to pay the penalty in order to get the law changed. If the Negro communities are not allowed to protest in this way it is likely to become violent. This was not meant as a threat; just a statement of what he feared may come in the future if things were not handled. He explained black people engaged in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension.
The oppression facing trans women throughout history and the racism discussed in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” are similar in many ways. Including, but not limited to, social rejection, and restrictive legislation. First, what's the definition of a trans woman? According to The Oxford English Dictionary, it’s, “A person who was registered as male at birth but who lives and identifies as a woman; a transgender woman.”
Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: Just and Unjust Laws Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a letter to eight white clergymen while he’s sitting in a jail cell, the result of a protest in Birmingham, Alabama that King, a Georgian, traveled to attend. Due to the criticisms of the clergymen, he commences his letter by explaining why he needed to come to Birmingham. King states that he was there for a multitude of reasons, the first being that he had organizational ties to Birmingham, the second being that he was there because there was injustice in Birmingham. He states that as a citizen of America, injustice in Birmingham is not removed from justice anywhere else because everything is interrelated, and that injustice
Birmingham Jail Summary Paper Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an important figure during the civil rights movement. He is an influential speaker and leader throughout the south. When he travels to Birmingham to march with his people, he is arrested. He is placed in Birmingham Jail along with other peaceful protestors. While in jail he writes a letter addressing some concerns of those who lived in Birmingham.
King backs this up stating, “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." ” This statement shows that something being legal or illegal doesn’t make it right or wrong. This can be applied to present day, in the news recently Gay marriage has been a huge debate, and due to a Supreme Court Decision gay marriage is now legal. According to King’s definition of just and unjust laws Gay Marriage would be a unjust law because it isn’t morally right, or follow the law of God.
Martin Luther King Jr. uses both logical and emotional appeals in order for all his listeners’ to be able to relate and contemplate his speeches. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. Using emotional appeals captures an audience's attention and makes them think about what the narrator is saying. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true.