Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

380 Words2 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr., who is a civil rights activist, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 when he was arrested for being in Birmingham civil rights demonstrations to fight for justice. He wrote this letter to respond to eight white clergymen who criticized his demonstrations as “unwise and untimely” (601). In this letter, he explained the reason and purpose of him being in Birmingham to clarify the criticism. He also mentioned about the basic steps towards any nonviolent campaign that need to go through and describe each steps that they took in Birmingham. Lastly, he distinguished the difference between the two types of laws; just and unjust laws. First of all, King was being criticized for making troubles in people’s city

Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
249 Words | 1 Pages
Martin Luther King uses many different types of appeal to prove his credibility to the clergyman. One of the types of appeals he uses to convince his audience is ethos. Ethos appeals a person through credibility. So in this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. has to establish his credibility in order for the argument to be convinced by his argument. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. uses allusions and first person plural pronouns in order to convince the clergyman of his credibility.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
295 Words | 2 Pages
In turn, King planned to protest. King starts off early in his letter saying, “So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here.” He claims there is injustice in the city and he’s there to put an end to it. Or at least try. He hoped to find middle ground with business owners by having them remove racially insensitive signs.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
371 Words | 2 Pages
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., King writes about being arrested in Birmingham, Alabama after peacefully protesting against segregation during the 1960s. While King’s protest was peaceful, he was eventually arrested for not having a permit on which the grounds the parade was on. Upon being arrested, eight white clergymen wrote an open letter in a newspaper that criticized King and his followers. After reading this article, King took it upon himself to write back to the clergymen, stating his opinion on their article. King begins his remark with mentioning his importance in the colored community.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
174 Words | 1 Pages
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King expresses his point of view on the points made by several clergymen about his non-violence demonstration in Birmingham, more specifically, his disagreement with the points the clergymen made. By presenting the ideas the white majority supports and responding to it, King effectively identifies the flaws in the arguments the white majority supports. An example of this would be when King explains that the white majority believes that the non-violent demonstrations are forms of extremist. After he points out the argument the white majority makes about non-violent demonstrations, King mentions the flaw behind this idea. He goes on and explains that if the white majority believes that his non-violent
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
950 Words | 4 Pages
.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.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
165 Words | 1 Pages
“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.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
388 Words | 2 Pages
Letter from Birmingham Jail “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” Martin Luther King, Jr states. He admits that he feels forced to support and maintain freedom in Birmingham (prg. 4). Martin Luther King, Jr. holds that he is aware of the corruption occurring in communities and states. He cannot avoid worrying about the situation in Birmingham, King explains. The author claims, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 5).
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
898 Words | 4 Pages
Sitting in a jail cell in the city of Birmingham, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter to several clergymen in regards to their criticism of his and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)’s protests. Despite the fact that he never responded to any sort of criticism, he decided to respond as he felt angered by said criticism, but chose to convey it patiently and reasonably. Immediately in response to the comment that “outsiders are coming in,” Dr. King defends his right to be at that location as the SCLC was operated all throughout the South as well as the fact that they were invited by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights to perform a “nonviolent direct-action program” if necessary. He felt that they came to battle “injustice”, judging the clergymen who failed to seek out the racism that have caused said “injustice.” Dr. King goes on to show that he completely understands the clergymen’s want of negotiation instead of protest, however he notes that this cannot happen due to the “crisis” and “tension” that occurs which leads to those unwilling to do so.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
676 Words | 3 Pages
A Letter from Birmingham Jail Analysis Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist that wrote an argumentative letter in response to an article written by the white moderate clergy of Birmingham Alabama. Dr. King’s letter was called “A letter from Birmingham Jail,” it was called this because he was in prison when he had wrote this. He was arrested for parading without a permit.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
726 Words | 3 Pages
In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to the criticisms of other clergymen that his nonviolent campaign to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama is “unwise and untimely” (1), as well as presenting his concerns of the white moderate and the limited power of the church. Although his fellow clergymen urge King to wait for the inevitable end of segregation, he refutes that “time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation” (21) showing that rather than wait for change, the civil rights campaign must take advantage of the time provided. With the mayoral elections in Birmingham occurring during the time of the planned action (8), the movements plans were further deterred causing their window of opportunity to shrink without them getting in the way of Birmingham’s political agenda. King goes on to invalidate the claims of the religious leaders by stating that “freedom is never voluntarily
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
1098 Words | 5 Pages
Dr. Martin Luther King penned the letter from Birmingham jail to address the criticisms directed towards him and the praise of the bigoted police by the clergyman, in an attempt to illustrate the reasons for his civil disobedient protests and action. The letter was addressed to the Birmingham clergyman who opposed his stance and actions, residents of Birmingham and people who also opposed Dr. King’s opinions and action. In the Letter, Dr. King mainly relies on pathos with a hint of logos to develop his essay in order to convey the message effectively. Dr. King’s demeanour when he begins the letter by addressing his fellow beloved clergyman (mlk) is admirably restrained despite him discovering the statement issued by the Birmingham clergyman
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
1277 Words | 6 Pages
Why African Americans can no longer “wait” “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin L. King, Jr is a response to the eight white clergymen who wrote him a letter criticizing him, his movement, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King first addresses why he came to Birmingham. Though King does not usually respond to criticism, he responds to the men because he believes they are “of genuine good will.” Martin Luther King, Jr. had been arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham in 1963 regarding his protest activities. Birmingham at the time was a segregated city, known for the mistreatment of African Americans.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
694 Words | 3 Pages
In Birmingham, Alabama 1963, African Americans roamed the streets of Birmingham protesting for their civil rights. Many people who protested went to jail including Martin Luther King Jr. During MLK’s time in jail, he wrote a letter . In the MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", MLK, being a preacher and a civil rights activists, argues that the people in Birmingham, and others, who believe in civil rights for African Americans should act now. MLK writes to the authors of “Call for Unity” to justify his points on why the segregation law in Birmingham has to end and by doing so it will end racial inequality.
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
607 Words | 3 Pages
After reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” I was able to realise Dr. King’s stance on issues of peace, direct action, oppression and working class rights. In Dr. King’s letter he explicitly explains that peace can be a powerful weapon and should be a right. This is shown when Dr. King writes, “Such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (4). The topic of direct action is also mentioned when Dr. King states the most important aspects of campaigning. This is shown when he states, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps… determine whether injustice exist, negotiation, self purification,
Read More
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
751 Words | 4 Pages
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King responds to the clergymen’s critics of his actions by justifying why action is needed. King describes the long-awaited freedom and equality the black community has been waiting for. He discusses about time being neutral, and how it can be used constructively or destructively. King explains that action needs to be taken, and used constructively in order for things to change. Just like King, Terry Tempest Williams, in her own ways uses time constructively to take action for her family and the rest of the victims of the atomic bomb testings.
Read More

Open Document

Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail