A Cry For Justice By Martin Luther King Jr.

It takes a strong human being to fight racial injustice and that is what Martin Luther King Jr. was, In “Letters from Birmingham jail” Martin Luther King, responded to his fellow white clergymen who opposed his nonviolent approach to get racial justice for African Americans while he was confined in Birmingham jail. Throughout the letter King Use rhetorical devises such as allusion to biblical and historical figures, metaphors, and anaphora, that allows the reader to think about the issues King is talking about. In the letter the author use allusion to biblical and historical figures to allow the reader to create parallels in their minds. The parallels leads to comprehension of what King is saying through his letter.

First, in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s purpose is to show his fellow clergymen true imagery of how racism and segregation is affecting the citizens of Birmingham. Dr. King states, “There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this

seems to address the entire country and whoever reads the letter, instead of his main audience who are the eight white clergymen. This letter was written to certainly impact anyone who read it and to persuade people and the clergymen to take effect. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. remains calm, although he is in jail for leading a nonviolent protest for equality and ending segregation. His tone is urgent but remains gentle. King remains stern and speaks about his cause and what he believes in. King's main themes of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is justice and action. Martin Luther King does a great job convincing his audience that justice was lacking, and action needs to occur. When reading the letter, the reader is convinced King presents a very effective and persuasive argument. King tries to convince his readers that the time to act is now. Dr. King uses a lot of ethos in his letter by using his audiences’ morals and ethics and evidence that supports his argument to convince the clergymen and people reading that segregation is wrong and the matter needs to be addressed. Dr. King also uses pathos, emotion, to try to appeal to his audience to make his letter more effective. Some examples of pathos throughout the letter where Dr. King tells about elderly African Americans being mistreated, imprisoned people being mistreated, King also uses his young child's bitterness toward

Time and time again, King had been told to just wait it out, that it wasn't the right time and when he finally did go through with his plans, his non-violent protest was confined and charged with parading without a permit. Martin Luther King talks about how he should be able to protest and talk about his cause as much as he likes because the only other way to reach out to people is through acts of violence. And violent measures would not be too much to ask considering how much Negroes had been harassed, treating differently by law enforcement and in reference to the article, even amusement parks and churches.

King’s use of many rhetorical devices in these three paragraphs of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” solidify his conviction that segregation needs to be quelled immediately. Dr. King’s explanations justify the demonstrations and protests that he is participating in. Although this was a letter meant for clergymen, Dr. King simultaneously taught all of America a very important lesson: justice is a universal natural right, and when it is denied, it needs to be demanded. Racial equality is the form of justice in this case, as segregation was the culprit that divided society into two racial groups. Thus, Dr. King successfully advocated civil rights through this letter with powerful, clever

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a powerful and eloquent letter that effectively argued the point that segregation is fundamentally unjust and should be fought with nonviolent protest. This letter, through describing the injustice taking place during the civil rights movement also provided some insight about Dr. King’s view of the government in the 1960s. Three mains themes present in Dr. King’s letter were religion, injustice, and racism.

After being arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote one of his most famous works to the people of Birmingham, titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963. This piece speaks of the evils of the segregation laws and how the blacks had been treated unfairly in Birmingham, in an attempt to get the white people to support the desegregation of Birmingham. He had been imprisoned because of his participation in a civil disobedience protest, and he is arguing that, even though the white people of Birmingham see the black’s way of protesting as wrong, it is a justified way to fight back against the unjust laws. In “Letter From Birmingham

In 1963, the rights and the equality for African Americans was a cause constantly fought for. Protests and marches took place in order to push for a change in the society, to make a world where equality is achieved. In a Birmingham jail, sat a civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr.. Placed in this cell due to a protest held in Birmingham, Alabama when there was a court order stating it was not allowed, King wrote a letter that has become an influential and infamous piece of writing. This letter became known as, “The letter from a Birmingham Jail”. This letter calls out to the criticisms placed on King and confronts them all. In this letter, through rhetorical devices such as pathos, logos and ethos, and other rhetorical devices.

In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. informs the readers of the reasons how and why he is giving a nonviolent protest to racism. King begins the letter stating how he was invited to Birmingham and how he is trying to fight against the “injustice.” In his letter King continues on to explain that the black men have waited to long for justice and they are still fighting it in the present today through the unjust laws. The white churches were brought up negatively through the letter numerous times especially since the letter was specifically written to the clergy members. Dr. King ends his letter in personal hope that the clergy men will see what is wrong in the overall picture of injustice in Birmingham and

In Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK uses ethos, logos, and pathos powerfully and effectively to present his argument that the discrimination of African Americans all over the country is unbearable and should be outlawed forever. King wrote the letter in Birmingham, Alabama after a peaceful protest against segregation which was King’s way of reinforcing his belief that without forceful, direct actions (such as his own), true civil rights could never be achieved.

Martin Luther King letter from a Birmingham Jail has been one of the most powerful text that I had ever come cross during my time in school. When I started reading it, I just couldn’t stop and contained my excitement of how much truth and power lies behind every word. It is very sad that this racial issue that happened so long ago is still happening among us. Is not a secret that racial discrimination still exists up to today. What is crazy is that not only people are still being judged by their skin color but by their ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic class. As an aspiring social worker to be I do hope that one day we can live in a society where there’s no prejudice and everyone is treated equally, but that day seems very far away.

“Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity (pg. 941).” In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for leading a peaceful march in Birmingham in which the city officials issued no parade permit. From the jail cell in Birmingham, Martin Luther King Jr. composed “Letter From Birmingham Jail” in response to the eight clergymen who had attacked his character and work for civil rights through the publication “A Call For Unity”, insisting he was an “outsider” influencing the actions of hatred and violence. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes himself as an authority in the eyes of his audience, shows the trials blacks encounter in America, justifies his

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” after an unjust proposal made by eight white clergymen. Their claims were to be that no Negro “outsider” should be allowed to establish or lead any protest and should leave them to their local neighborhoods. King replied directly to the clergymen, but used religious ties to also have his voice heard in the public. In his counter argument, King strategically used logical evidence, emotional aspects and good motives to present his perspective to the clergymen.

Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was arrested and placed in Birmingham jail after leading a non-violent march to protest racism in the streets of Alabama- a highly segregated state at the time. There he received a newspaper containing “A Call for Unity,” which was written by eight white Alabama clergymen criticizing King and his movement’s methods; this prompted King to write a letter in response to the critics. Martin Luther King Jr. employs ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade and demonstrate to the critics and other readers the many injustices of segregation.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail was written by Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963, as he sat, as the title states, in a Birmingham, Alabama jail. King had been jailed for his participation in a peaceful protest of segregation in public places such as lunch counters and public restrooms (Berkley, 2003). While jailed, King read a criticism of the protest by a group of white ministers, who felt such demonstrations “directed and in part led by outsiders” were “unwise and untimely”, suggesting that blacks should wait for the court system to work. (Statement by Alabama clergymen, 1963). Dr. King’s letter was written as a response to the criticism (King, 1963).