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

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” emphasizes the need for civil disobedience when faced with unjust laws. This idea contradicts Socrates’ claim made in Crito, that one must follow the law under all circumstances. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not a proponent of civil disobedience based on King’s definition of civil disobedience and Socrates’ charges. Moreover, I will argue that both Socrates and King disagree with one another based on the concept of civil disobedience—breaking the law and rejecting certain ideals.

Written by Martin Luther King Jr., the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a paragon of persuasive writing that takes advantage of ethos, pathos, and logos in order to convince its readers to take MLK’s side during the American civil rights movement. The use of ethos defines MLK as a credible writer; the use of pathos appeals to his audience on a personal level; and the use of logos layers his arguments and claims with irrefutable reasoning and logic. By using all three techniques, MLK is able to hold the attention of his readers and persuade them to take his side in the battle against segregation.

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.

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.

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.

Topic: Read Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (in your Nexus book) and Brent Staples’s “Black Men and Public Space.” What do these works say about racism, prejudice, and bias? Have we made any progress in these areas since their publication? What problems do you still see and what solutions can you offer?

Bringing about social change is no easy task, and there are specific components that Dr. Martin Luther King outlines in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” that are necessary to nonviolently protest injustices. He mentions four main steps: the collection of information to demonstrate the injustice, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. After trying to make changes from within the system through the demonstration of information and negotiation, self-purification is completed. This step includes preparing and steeling oneself for suffering that will come during the last step of nonviolent social change, direct action which is a physical demonstration and frequently involves breaking a law. Suffering is often inevitable and necessary while attempting to achieve non-violent change, and this is because the “people in power” need to see that the protesting group is serious. When the people in power realize that this is a matter they should consider more, it causes creative tension to be established in their minds. Creative tension, at its core, is creating a tension in one’s mind, and one questions their current beliefs and what has been seen as acceptable in society because of it. Self-purification is a necessary part of civil disobedience because it prepares a person for the suffering they will endure, suffering that is necessary to instill creative tension in the minds of the people in power to bring about social change.

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.

:"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.

Dr. Martin Luther King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in response to seven clergymen who misinterpreted peaceful protests by the Southern Christian Leadership. Dr. King, being the president of the Southern Christian Leadership, organized these peaceful protests for part of the black community of Alabama, which were desperate for change. King’s definitive goal for his letter to the clergymen was to explain what he, and majority of the blacks in Alabama, were experiencing. He wanted to give them insight on the actuality of the amount of oppression received by blacks from whites, including the police officers that were ultimately supposed to enforce legal equality. The clergymen claimed that Dr. King and his colleagues were outsiders that had no real business in Birmingham, Alabama. In King’s response, he counters by stating the reason for his appearance. He states that he was invited to Birmingham by the Alabama Christian Movement, on behalf of the African Americans that resided there. He went to Birmingham to confront the racial injustices that lived there. He and his associates had peaceful marches and sit-ins in order to gain the attention of the white community; however, their gatherings and protests, not approved by the city, were unpermitted, thus against the law. King acknowledges that they were breaking a law, but the fact that blacks were being so mistreated by whites caused him to make the sacrifice of disregarding that unjust law in order to gain the oppressor’s attention. He also argues that people of color should be able to have a peaceful protest, and should be supported by the rest of the community because they are protesting equality and justice. Dr. King argued that the Birmingham government failed to compromise with the African American community on rights that they were very much entitled to. After witnessing this firsthand, he acknowledged the clergymen to clarify his intentions, as well as to address the amount of obvious oppression that blacks were forced to face.

The 1960’s was the peak of the nonviolent civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Junior. MLK Jr. traveled all along the South fighting against racial discrimination and equality between all races. MLK Jr uses sit ins, protests, demonstrations and marches to fight for his cause; he always stayed nonviolent even when there were police and white supremacists using violence against him. During one of his marches in Alabama, MLK Jr. was arrested, not for the first time. While in jail, MLK Jr. took the time to respond to a letter written to him by eight different religious leaders. Even though some people may argue that Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is not radical, his letter is radical because he refuses to conform to the world’s expectations and he expects the same from the religious leaders whom he is replying to.

African American have been under slavery throughout 17th to 18th centuries. African American were deprived of the rights and equality. They were not free to do work on their own. They had to follow the order of white majority of the United States of America. Segregation was worst in southern part of the USA. Condition of African American in Birmingham was agonizing. To gain equal rights for African American Dr. King led a major protest, which was criticized by eight fellow clergymen, who criticized King’s act as “unwise and untimely”. In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, by Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King present Counter argument against the eight fellow clergymen of Birmingham to persuade them to believe his argument is morally right. In response to clergymen’s statement “outsiders coming in” Dr. King argues them by saying that he has been invited to Birmingham, he is in Birmingham to eradicate injustice amongst African American; King argues against clergymen who examined King’s protest to be “untimely” by saying that they waited so long for the equal rights of African American but nothing happened, so he needed to take actions; clergymen has expressed a great deal of anxiety over King’s willingness to break law, King argues against this by saying that the law he has broken are unjust law and are meant to be broken, he differentiate just law and unjust law and says that he always obey just law and disobey unjust law. In order to persuade clergymen, Dr. King

Martin Luther King addresses his letter to many church officials and tries to acknowledge that African Americans have and are still experiencing racial discrimination. King uses people who told about in the bible in order to connect with them and to gain readers on a religious ground. For example, he states “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” This means that King is calling for aid in racial prejudice.

Just as Sophocles's Antigone presents topics that are culturally radical and politically contentious, Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail achieves the same purpose and goal. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a very inspiring and well-written piece that Dr.Martin Luther King wrote from his small jail cell in order to express his feelings and help make a salient difference in the world. Dr. King proposed topics that indeed are socially uncomfortable, politically contentious, religious irreverent, and culturally radical. He did so by conveying a big amount of thought in his word choice and language as he wrote about his feelings and experiences in this letter.