Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, The police arrested and jailed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers for demonstrating against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. That same day, the local newspaper published a statement by eight prominent white Alabama clergymen that portrayed Dr. King as an outside agitator whose actions incite hatred and violence and as a result, urged the African American citizens of Birmingham to withdraw their support for the demonstrations and instead rely on the courts and negotiation the achieve change. Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” responds to this criticism and serves to awaken the American conscience to the injustice and marginalization that African Americans suffered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Throughout his piece, King uses quotes said by famous historical figures to support his central claim that black oppression needs to be addressed. King quotes St. Augustine, a highly respected religious figure, “an unjust law is no law at all” in the middle of his logical reasoning about why there are laws that we should and should not obey (84). He uses St. Augustine’s words to differentiate the two types of laws, just and unjust laws. King agrees with St. Augustine’s words

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.

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.

Martin Luther King Jr once said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. He enforced this belief that Americans need to stand up to injustice. Even when African Americans weren’t receiving the same opportunities given to their fellow white Americans. To illustrate, some of the significant inequalities were in job income, voter turnouts, education, and societal norms. As one could imagine, quite a bit of Americans stood up against this inequality to secure a better future for the African American populations. One man in particular was named Martin Luther King Jr, who gave outstanding speeches across the United States, and gave a voice to the suffering Americans. At one of his events in Birmingham, Alabama, he decided to assemble and protest for their rights against the opposition who desired to take away their momentum on obtaining equality. Furthermore, because King decided to assemble a protest, without obtaining a permit, resulted in him ending up in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail, Martin Luther King decided to write a letter to the clergymen in one of his famous writings. During King's time in the Birmingham Jail, he refuted specifically to the clergymen’s criticism with a letter known as the Letter From Birmingham Jail to prove his actions were just and that they made an impact among the American people.

Martin Luther King junior’s letter from the Birmingham jail is a letter that is peculiar and consequently, it attracts the attention of many readers. Having written it in the year 1963 while Luther was serving his jail term after being arrested for parading without a permit from the local authorities, the author had applied writing styles that made it seem more of literature than a mere letter (King, 2012:177). This paper will discuss the contents of Luther’s letter and the reasons why it remains relevant in the modern setting of our civilized society.

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.

:"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.

At one point in his letter he does acknowledge the fact that he indeed violated a law, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit.” However, he goes on to say that when a law is unjust a citizen has the right to “openly, lovingly” do so as long as that person is willing to accept punishment. According to King, this technically displays “the highest respect for the law.” In terms of arguing for his stance on the declaration about the courts, he responds analytically relating experiences of him and his followers as support. King describes how he had recently had the opportunity to speak with the economic community in Birmingham regarding “humiliating racial signs” posted outside local stores. Merchants had promised to remove these yet many remained and those removed had soon returned. He further develops his argument by stating that he “sought to negotiate with city fathers… latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation,” proving that the issue in reality is not his fault rather the fault of community

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

40th President Ronald Regan once said that ‘peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means’, --Dr. King certainly proves this to be factual! In Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's "Letter From Birmingham Jail", Dr. King's makes use of logical arguments directed towards the whites, clergymen, and the general public in order to educate the reader about the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism—and how they are not causing any troubles by nonviolently protesting for racial justice and equality for African Americans. By doing so, Dr. King successfully persuades the reader to understand that what he is doing by nonviolently protesting is justifiable, and that the tension created by these nonviolent forms

In the past there were many protest operated to fight for something injust or needed awareness for others to know the wrong doings that are present in our country. People fought for their rights and against the prejudice that they have to face, accomplish justice that every single one of them are fighting for. Dr. Martin Luther King, a leader of the protest against prejudice was able to pursue the rights for African American people. However eight of his fellow clergymen criticized his procedure to protest, but they still supported him. In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail", King wanted to encourage others to rebel against the wrong, even if it is not wise it is right, he was optimistic and yet disappointed. In order for him to convey his tone and purpose he reaches out to people by using allusion, analogy, and ethos.

Martin Luther King Jr. lived from 1929 to 1968. His specialty was being a Baptist minister.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was put in jail for 11 days because he was forbidden to hold protests in Birmingham. During his time in jail, King had time to think about what was going on with all the people and the critics and write a letter. In this letter he spoke about his thoughts and his perception of what was happening and gave people a better interpretation of what he perceived and was understanding.