Summary of the Letter In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, he addresses many criticisms from clergymen. King started out by addressing the fact that the clergymen are calling him an outsider. He also addressed how to have nonviolent cases and how laws are breakable if they are unjust. The clergymen believed that the blacks needed to be patient and that their actions were untimely, but King does not agree. Finally, King addresses the problems in the church and the Birmingham police force.
In Martin Luther King JR. “ Letter From Birmingham Jail” he responds to the criticism given to his activities. He addresses the criticism with a strong and powerful tone as well as using logos to explain why what he is doing is for the better of people while he also implements pathos to give the reader an inside view of the feelings of the people that were segregated. Martin Luther King JR. ’s saw his actions as just and not unwise.
.Historical Context of Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from the Birmingham Jail and Summary of Dr King’s arguments for social justice Martin Luther King Jr. used a policy which was linked with the nonviolent resistance in order to campaign for change. Despite of countering the violence against the aggressions, he adopted fair laws and later call for the collective social based reforms by highlighting all the nonviolent means and ways for instance boycotting.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a man who has been known for his commitment to nonviolence and his efforts to bring about racial justice in the United States. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail", he addresses critics who say that the protests in Birmingham are untimely. Dr. King thought it was untimely because he wanted to end segregation, and strongly wanted equal rights for everyone, but he was told by the clergymen that the movement was “Untimely” and “Unwise”. King explained that there will never be a right time for change in this society that would bring equality and justice to us all. He proceeded to compare himself to Paul answering the “Macedonian call.”
Martin Luther King wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" not only to reply to criticism from clergymen, but to expose the racism in this city and promote his mission. King starts off his letter by writing about how he does not usually reply to all the criticism he receives, but he feels that this topic is too important to let pass by (King 331). King appeals to all aspects of citizens. By mentioning that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King ethically appeals to his audience by strengthening his character with experience and leadership skills (King 332). Another way King ethically appeals to his audience is by writing about the many occasions that African Americans have been treated unfairly.
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written by Martin Luther King in 1963. He claims that real civil disobedience doesn’t mean succumbing to the forces of evil, but encouraging people to use the power of love to confront evil. He believes in the power of conscience which is implicit in everyone’s mind. He wants to awaken the conscience of more people, and he wants to use moral force to expose the unjust law. He also indicates that law-abiding protests and moralizing can not simply abolish apartheid.
Picture this. On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, protester against inequality, Martin Luther King Jr., was arrested for parading without a permit. It is now April 16, 1963 and he sits alone in a Birmingham City Jail cell with nothing but a pen, some paper, and a solemn look on his face. In scraggly, but intent words, he writes a letter. He was writing to the church clergymen, determined to make them change their ways.
The Letter From Birmingham Jail was written on April 16,1963 by Martin Luther King Jr. in response to being sent to jail after a protest. The letter addresses to the clergyman and explains his reasoning for the protest as well as why he is in jail. Him and his people protested in order to gain attetion which would lead to fair negotiations. He claimed to have gone to jail to fight injustice. He also speaks of his thoughts in segragation and what a just and unjust law is.
Letter from the Birmingham Jail, a letter created by the one and only Martin Luther King Jr.(MLK). This letter was inscribed April 16, 1963 within the walls of MLK's cell at the Birmingham jail. The contents of his writing defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Martin Luther King Jr states a commonly asked question “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth?
In “Letter to Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states that, “We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied.’” His statement expresses his view that the term “wait” is much thought of as “never” to many Negroes, for if change does not happen immediately, the change will never be made. King’s main rhetorical strategy is taking his periodic sentence in paragraph fourteen and attempting to grab at the reader’s emotions, placing them into his and many other Negroes’ harsh daily situations. He goes on to state that, “It is easy for those who have never the stinging darts of segregation to say ‘wait’.” King’s meaning behind this statement reveals a fact of whites being unfamiliar
Martin Luther King Jr.'s usage of classification in Letter From Birmingham Jail helps to prove why peaceful protests are necessary to the cause. In his letter, King classifies the difference between just and unjust laws in order to show why certain laws have to be broken. He goes on to state the difference between the two, "A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." By putting the laws into two different categories, King is able to prove to the people that the African Americans who break those laws deemed unjust are not wrong in their actions.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is considered as one of the most influential Civil Rights activists during the twentieth century in a period of prejudices and racism were still prevalent. King fought against discrimination of all people, but often found himself campaigning against the unfair treatment of African Americans during the mid-twentieth century. In 1963, King found himself in an Alabama jail in the city of Birmingham. He was arrested for being a part of a nonviolent demonstration without a permit. King had been protesting because of continuous unfair treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama.
“Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious (well-known) reality. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts.” Unfortunately, Martin Luther King Jr. was right. Burning of houses and churches were the “hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts” of that time, a time known as the Civil Rights Era.
King humbly accepts the criticism of the clergymen by acknowledging their comments with this statement, “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth.” Once he set out his credentials for those that are opposing him, he makes many biblical references allowing those to remember the odds that prophets faced in the Bible. King also referenced many scholars and world leaders to reiterate his advocacy for human rights and equality. Defending himself from those that accused him of illegal activities in Birmingham, he says, “never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." ” King reminds those opposing the progress of citizens that much of the opposition all comes from the individual’s perspective.
King uses biblical allusions to appeal to the eight white clergymen and their religious affiliation when he states his duty to carry the “gospel of freedom beyond his home town... Like Paul.” His final point of this section is the clergymen’s failure to recognize the underlying causes of the demonstrations they so harshly condemn, a failure causing further ignorance and confusion on racial
