An Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

In Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King responds to the eight clergymen, who just so happened to all be Caucasian, that wrote to him disagreeing with his views and actions referring to the very much long awaited issue of equality amongst the people. The clergymen understood, or so they claimed in their letter, that the people of color were tired of their dreams of equality not being reached, but they called their nonviolent actions “unwise and untimely.” They would have much rather have had these issues debated whilst in front of a judge rather than the way they were handled on the streets stirring everybody up about the issue. King replies by saying that they tried to make the undeviating action at a time convenient

The question of whether the law of the land overrides human morality has been a popular topic that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discusses in his letter titled "The Letter From The Birmingham Jail." King's letter uses both the Rogerian and Classical model to argue that the law of the land can not deem justice or injustice, but rather morality must be the judge.

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

:"Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a powerful piece of writing that graces the writings by Martin Luther. Part of the power lies in the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos, and pathos in the letter. Luther used these stylistic devices and literary approaches to express his message, intention and express the mood of the letter making a masterpiece like no other letters before.

Martin Luther King Jr was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He was sent to Birmingham Jail during the movement because of his involvement. During this time, he got alot of bad press. As a response, he wrote a well-written peaceful letter.The letter informs the audience that his use of the strategy of nonviolent resistance is an appropriate response to racism. He is saying that people in that time have a moral responsibility to help in the breaking of unjust laws. He wants people to take direct action instead of just waiting forever for justice to happen by itself. He used Biblical allusions in his letter because of his loyalty to God. In this paper I will talk about his references.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. On the day of his arrest, a group of clergymen wrote an open letter in which they called for the community calling King’s activities as “unwise and untimely” (601) which causes crisis in the community. It was that letter that encouraged King to write the famous written communication known as “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. King uses ethical, logical, and pathetic appeals to address against racial injustice among Black Americans in Birmingham and to responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro-black American organization.

The Civil Rights movement has aimed to gain rights for African-Americans for decades. Over the course of the semester we have looked at movement’s that have helped advocate for civil rights. One of the movements of that we looked at specifically in class was Martin L. King Jr’s movement and his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”. In this letter, we hear Dr. King's honest opinion about the criticism he received from his opponents of timely protest. We gain a lot of insight about King's honest opinion about his political motivations of his movements and why he felt that it was critical to act when he did. Another movement that we discussed but didn’t directly look at was the Black Panther Party. An outside article that discusses the Black

Martin Luther King in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” argues that “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” (110). King believes that God creates man in his own image, and for that reason King dedicated his life to fight for the equality of all American, and for the civil rights. According to King unfair laws have never had any presence of a single gain in civil rights without legal determination or nonviolent pressure. The support of some laws causes people much displeasure with the constitutional law surrounding abortion. King states the four stages of protesting injustices to black people, which were: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. These same principles should be applied to protect the babies that have no voice simply because the baby has yet to be born. Anti-abortion protests has been effective because protesters have influenced changes in some state laws which also has created awareness on the topic and has even get more people saying the unborn is a baby instead of a fetus.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail Martin Luther king jr. argued in his letter many points as to why it was morally justified to use direct nonviolence to increase tension in the community to intact change. One of those arguments was without tension there would be no change. In the letter to Birmingham he says “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” He is arguing here that there had been enough waiting.

During the course of living human being are subjected to many controversial arguments and ethical stations. Education in concept of ethical reasoning and in the fundamentals of the principles are important for one to be skilled in ethical reasoning. Ethical reasoning is a very important element in human nature of living either professionally or individually. Ethical reasoning offers critics with the capability to represent viewpoints, ideas and make judgement. Moreover ethical reasoning enable critics’ to consciously give examination for them to reach a solution that does not harm anybody else. Ethical reasoning can be defined as arguing the wrong and the right of human behavior.

From 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States (NAACP). African Americans accounted for 72.2% of recorded lynchings, yet close to none of these lynchings were ever brought justice. Racial injustice was a huge issue until the mid-late twentieth century, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was one of the first documents to address the issue. It is one of history’s most important documents regarding racial injustice, as it is considered a classic document of the civil-rights movement. King wrote the letter while he was in jail for parading without a permit, one of 29 misdemeanor offences King was arrested for (history.com). He wrote it in response to a previous letter from eight southern white

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

Throughout history, there have been many significant documents and speeches that enlighten and inform us on what is and was happening during those times. Abraham Lincoln’s speech, The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail are two important pieces of history. In Lincoln’s speech he speaks about the dangers of slavery in the United States and warned everybody that people who disrespected American laws could destroy the United States. On the other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. defended the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, and argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws. Based on these facts, Martin Luther King Jr does not agree with Lincoln’s counsel.

We are comfortable breaking the law when we feel it does not apply to us, that laws such as the speed limit are not real laws because everyone breaks them. In 399 BC, Socrates would have disagreed with this assertion, and died in part to keep this idea from spreading. Socrates was sentenced to death by an Athenian court, though the punishment did not fit the crimes he was accused of. We assume that any knowingly innocent person would have escaped this sentence if given the opportunity and support to do so, yet Socrates refused to and died soon after. Over 2,000 years later, Martin Luther King is also imprisoned on petty crimes and sees his actions in line with Socrates, as they were both unjustly jailed for questioning their societies. To

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham jail”, King talks about his imprisonment for his involvement in a nonviolent protest and defends his rights and moral grounds for organizing nonviolent protest activities. In this essay, I will look at his views on nonviolent protest and how they differ from todays violent protests.