In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, author Martin Luther King, is writing the clergymen, white moderate, ministers, police etc. to respond to all criticisms they have and to tell them why he is in Birmingham. In doing so he lets them know that they have no other choice but to employ direct action towards segregation. When it comes to the injustices that African Americans are facing not only in Birmingham but everywhere with segregation. He goes over them with the upmost intelligence and respect. When the clergymen complain and call his actions extreme. King begins to emphasize how he was sad that they thought of him that way but wasn’t anymore until he thought it over. He explains to them about two forces and how he stands in the middle of …show more content…
King does not deny he is denying breaking laws but challenges them by saying that laws can be broken if they are unjust. He talks about an early bishop of a Christian Church by the name of St. Augustine. Who also believes that you can break laws that are unjust. He then gives ways to differentiate the two. “Unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with moral law.” “Any law that uplifts human personality is unjust.” He supports this by giving evidence as to why the segregation law is unjust. “All segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.” He then compares unjust law to him not having a permit. King argues that he didn’t need one because he is protesting for the end of segregation in a peaceful …show more content…
King says that he thought white moderate would understand the tension in the South was needed. That we needed growth from the pretending that there was peace between everyone. He also states that tension has always been there he is just bringing it to light. He says the white moderate always say that they agree with you just to say they don’t like direct action and that’s the only reason they can’t help you. He then talks about why it is acceptable for them to create these tensions by talking about Jesus and how he was perceived evil. Then brought up one person who wrote something to him saying that “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry.” He feels it is the duties of African Americans to work through the works of god this way they can get what they want out of life. King addresses the churches because he is disappointed in them for not taking his side. He believed that they would help them get justice and have the strength to march with them. But instead they didn’t they just choose to ignore the problems and keep their heads down. “So often the contemporary church is weak, ineffable voice with an uncertain sound.” He advocates instead of following the new ways in which churches act they should follow the old standard. So they can influence the
He emphasizes the fact that he helps all the organizations in his church community and that they did not do the same in Birmingham where they needed it the most. King gives many specific accounts from the Bible to help tell his argument and to tell the Clergymen
Nonviolent resistance is one strategy that can be used in any movement or retaliation. In the 1960s, one man, named Martin Luther King, Jr. very much supported that idea. In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King writes back to the eight clergymen as a response to their criticism towards his nonviolent movement and actions. Throughout his letter, King discusses how necessary his movement is, especially by using credibility, emotion, reasoning and various figurative language, and the effectiveness it can have towards social reform. Although all that content contained in the essay proved to be valuable to his argument, King’s three concluding paragraphs appeared to be more effectual because of how he ends the letter with a satirical
Dr. King brings up the anxiety that willingness to break laws can cause. He decides next to answer the question, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” He feels that, “there are just laws, and there are unjust laws” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 2). Dr. King explains first that, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 2). He next explains that, “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (Letter from Birmingham Jail 3).
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote this as a reply to “A Letter from the Clergy” which was written by eight clergymen. This essay’s style is inspirational. “Let us all hope that dark clouds of racial prejudice…over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty” (King 500-501).
Martin Luther King's thesis or his argumentative claim, clarifies that injustice must not be tolerated anywhere. King challenges the differences between an unjust law and just laws that play a major part in his reasoning to justifying civil disobedience. Additionally, King mentions how he is viewed by the Clergymen and by others in the state, labeled as an "outside agitator. " In his letter, King addresses their claims of segregation and critiques of King's actions to challenge the issue using perceptions from both sides. Through the constructive use of pathos, King introduces the term wait, a word that the oppressed or harshly treated are familiar within a government that takes slow action to intervene.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter in response to a published statement by eight clergymen while incarcerated in a Birmingham jail. In the statement, the clergymen defined King’s “present activities ‘unwise and untimely.’” (King 806) King wrote the response to correct the misconceptions held by the clergymen and to justify his nonviolent campaigns. He felt that the white power structure left the black community with no option but to persuade the community to face the issue directly. King targeted his “fellow clergyman”, the community, and churchgoers.he responded to the clergymen’s criticisms with patience.
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was written in answer to eight white clergy men who denounced his actions regarding protest activities. In this letter, King Jr. defends both his right and his moral grounds for organizing nonviolent demonstrations against segregation and racism. He argued that breaking laws can be justified, especially when those laws are prejudiced. King Jr.’s sole purpose for this letter was to convince the clergymen that the uprising created by his followers and him in the demonstrations were an essential force needed for progressive action. Martin Luther King uses powerful and persuasive tones and often mentions how unethical and unjust the system is.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an argumentative letter in response to an editorial written by the moderate white clergymen of Birmingham, Alabama. “The Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. MLK use Dr. King or his full name. argues about the injustices going on in Birmingham and how it’s his business to be involved.
In the 1950s and 1960s, it was evident that racism was at its all time high with African Americans being lynched, segregated, and most of their rights taken away. According to the Washington Post, Researchers concluded that 3,959 black people were killed in multiple Southern states between 1877 and 1950. The injustice that was occurring in the United States is what fueled Martin L. King Jr to prevail and expose the issues. In his letter from Birmingham jail, he argued about many of the issues one specifically was the christian churches. In order for him to get his point across, he highly expressed upon nonviolent direct action, he used many profound examples of the injustice, and he showed anger towards his religion.
Martin Luther King Junior wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in 1963, when African Americans were fighting for their equality. The letter was written when Dr.King and hundreds of other protesters were under arrest for their non-violent demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. He begins the letter by explaining to the white religious leaders why he is in Birmingham, one of his reasons was the prejudice that was being held in Birmingham. He also describes the torture African Americans go through in their everyday lives. The author argues that if the white people in Birmingham, Alabama don’t start treating the African Americans with proper respect, then it’s going to cause more problem and there will be other alternative actions.
A Great Society? Martin Luther King Jr. and president Lyndon B Johnson letters both took place in the 1900’s. As for Martin Luther King Jr. he explained why he was in the South to protest and also why he was so upset with the different allegations. President Lyndon B Johnson explained how he wanted everyone to come together and ask themselves if they were doing enough to make peace in the world. As, I further read I realize both of these men in some way helped society today.
Although many believe that the clergyman always do what is morally just for society, King refutes this belief as he points out the flaws in the religious positions that the clergyman take, “I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.”. King does this purposefully to point out that church leaders should bring people together, yet these clergyman intend on bringing people apart. He cleverly accuses them of not listening to the church, but instead listening to the hateful mindset of the government. One way he does this is by mentioning how the voice of God and the church is weak. All the religious appeals he makes are to word it in a way that is relevant to the clergyman.
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.
Although he was defending a racially charged question his fellow clergymen questioned, King’s argument seldom categorized the racial issue of segregation as a “Black and White” issue; however it was presented on the basis of what was moral or “just”. To demonstrate that his civil disobedience was that of a moral issue, King states in his letter “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that I what has happened to the American Negro. ”(King137-138) He has taken the racial charge out of the situation by referring to the fellow American Negro as “oppressed people” as opposed to using racial terms.
A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.