Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Heading The Call'

One technique King supports his argument is by using logic. In King’s letter he states, “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.” (649). This quote shows that King and every person, black, white, asian, hispanic, etc… has every

African American people have come a long way from the illiterate slaves, who were once picking cotton in fields, to powerful political leaders. A prime example would be President Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States of America. But first we must ask ourselves, how did this occur? Who lead African Americans to better living standards? Civil rights leaders, such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, just to name a few. However, among these great names in history, there is one that stands out, and that man is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King gave hope to those in need with his awe inspiring sermons he performed at the church his grandfather founded. He changed foes to

To begin, it is important to first reflect on the childhood experiences and the culture that King was raised. In his book, God and Human Dignity, Burrow poignantly notes, “Martin Luther King was a human being, no more or less so than any member of his family tree, or any other human being.” This is to say that the significance of King should not be entirely placed upon King as an individual, but on the context that King was raised. Therefore, it is important to briefly illustrate the racial landscape that King inherited as well as touch on major influential experiences that contributed to King’s ethical and theological development.

‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be

King brings up several emotions in his letter. King uses his children and how they ask him why the white men are so mean and why can’t they do what the other kids do, and how he would have to concoct an answer for his five year old son on why colored people are treated like trash. This is very sad on how a father has to explain to his kids why they can’t do anything and why they are called niggers instead of their first name, while the women aren’t even granted the respect of being called “Mrs.”. Imagine telling your child that they couldn’t do anything just because they were different. King also appeals to his beliefs in God, often quoting bible verses such as “I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus”(6) referring to how Jesus was whipped just like the black men were for standing up for his beliefs or his people.

when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, raise empathy in the hearts of white conservatives, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.Ethos are present throughout the “Letter” but there was one specific example that caught my attention. “Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code

He states that it its easy for others who have not experienced segregation to say, “Wait.” King claims that many have watched as an angry mob lynched their fathers and mothers and drowned their siblings. Another experience was watching twenty million African Americans being smothered in an “airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.” King also tells a story about how his daughter asked why she could not enter into an amusement park the was advertised on television. King had to tell his daughter that the park did not allow people of color as he watched her eyes water up. King was also asked by his son why whites treat African Americans so badly. These are just a few examples American Americans had to go through.

(King 3), King continued with these “when you” statements to reiterate the fact that they keep “waiting” yet no action was being taken by the whites. The level of cruelty from good people is what bothered King the most, “shallow understanding from people of good-will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will” (King 5) reveals pathos because King is showing that those that want segregation are knowledgeable, just

Letting your daughter know what the world is going through for her color at such a young early age. They do not see that deep into that a little girl heart was broken, there was hope, she had huge dreams. Same as every child, but her dreams were crushed. As a little girl she wants to enjoy and have fun in that amusement park. He tells whites that “… when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (King 162-163). Being called a “nigger” (King 162). Both these quotes have a similar meaning. When the word “nigger” is being in use it is an insult to African Americans, they are being categorize with one name when their birth name is ignored. Not given the opportunity to have your wife, mother or daughter a respected title like Mrs. King just hopes that they can hear him out in every respectful

As a student, King excelled in his work, and became a high school graduate at the age of 15. He had attended Atlanta University Laboratory and Booker T. Washington in his high school years. In addition, he began to attend Morehouse College on September 20, 1944. As a matter of fact, his father and grandfather had also been there. As a result of King’s early completion of high school, he graduated College at the age of 19. Still, in these years, and his years at Crozier Theological Seminary, which he attended after college, he began to question how to exterminate or confine the problem of social status and race in the country and society. It was evident, that King had the education to become a good leader in mending this issue, but it wasn’t known he would actually be imperative to changing modern day society in terms of race and equal treatment.

King speaks from personal experience how difficult it can be to have to tell a child that they are hated because of their skin color. “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to dorm in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people” (12). King talks about his own experience because he knows others have to face this as well, and the children can never be free to live good lives because segregation ruins their self-esteem. Dr. King explains to his audience how segregation can damage people physically and emotionally. “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damaged the personality. It gives the segregation a false sense of superiority a false sense of inferiority” (12). The meaning behind this is all segregation will ruin all who are involved, mentally and physically. It will break the people most involved and destroy the person’s mental state. Dr. King has some very strong points. His personal opinions makes his argument

He questions the audience about society and what they have done for their community. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity,” (King). King knows how to bring the people into the speech to involve every single person standing before him and make them feel like they are apart of the speech. He mentions what has been taken away from them which creates anger within the crowd. King’s ability to appeal to the audience through emotion affected society for decades after and changed the sense of pride the African Americans had.

Dr. King’s frustration about this whole unfair laws and treatment of blacks started to show when in his letter, he stated “I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say wait”. He then follows that with a list of negative statements and names that has been put upon blacks that whites have never experienced. The whites have not been in the black man’s shoes. Whites calling blacks “niggers”, “ boy’, and “John” as well as spitting on the black man showing that the blacks, in the eyes of whites are below dirt, uncivilized,

King is extremely emotive in his speech, and uses incredibly descriptive and poetic phrasing to demonstrate the eloquence of his argument. His use of words like "Now" and "today" imply a great need for immediate action regarding civil rights; the fact that he is so well-spoken is intentionally utilized in the speech to lend credence to his words. Given the stereotype at the time that blacks were unintelligent and uneducated, King 's responsibility to show the capabilities of black rhetoric was great. King, as a religious man, brings spirituality into the speech itself, but not in a self-aggrandizing way; he merely states that racial justice should be done as it is according to God 's will.

His speeches were based upon his beliefs and the dreams of a better society. King had high hopes and spoke of his high hope for the black people. King didn’t make racial slurs against the white people, but he put the white and black people on the same level. He argued that every man, black or white should have equal rights.