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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” King responds to the criticisms written by a group of clergymen about the work that he and his followers (the oppressed black people, members of the SCLC, and a select few of white supporters) are pursuing in Birmingham. Although King directly addresses his fellow clergymen, he expresses deep disappointment in the white churches and moderates of the south as well. Throughout the letter the audience can read how the actions committed against black people by religious and nonreligious white moderates alike causes for injustice to take place in falsely depicted ‘just’ ways. King explains the flaw of how those who fight against him are not solely fighting against their own brothers and …show more content…

In a portion of King’s letter he list several different instances that people in support of the civil rights movement faced. All acts that white moderates and law enforcement executed against black people would have been punishable by death or required restitution to those who were treated unjustly. Cases such as the death of William Moore, a white member of the Congress of Racial Equality, who was killed by a white Alabama man on April 23,1963 during his one-man civil rights march would have been refuted by Exodus 21:12. In this account that man and all who supported what he did would have been murders and guaranteed to be put to death as a consequence. The vast amount of black homes and businesses destroyed by the strength of hatred would have been critiqued by Exodus 22:6, thus requiring any individual who committed such acts to make a restitution for all that was lost. On June 22,1961 10 activists were convicted for unlawful assembly at the Tallahassee Airport, but were simply traveling as a mixed group of blacks and whites. They were sentenced to 30 days in jail. The assessment of this unfair treatment would come from Exodus 23:6-7 where they would not be allowed to falsely charge a person; moreover, making any individual who let the accusations sustain themselves would be guilty of Exodus

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