Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

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.

Dr. Martin Luther King wrote a letter from Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963. The letter was written in response to his “fellow clergymen,” stating that Dr. King’s present activities was “unwise and untimely.” The peaceful protest in Birmingham was perceived as being extreme. The letter from Birmingham Jail was a letter of grievance to the white clergy, and their lack of support in the civil rights movement. Dr. King explained in his letter the difference between what is just and what is unjust and his reasons being in jail at Birmingham. He believed clergymen are men of genuine good will and that they deserve a response, so Martin Luther king wrote a letter from Birmingham Jail.

Letter from the Birmingham City Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr argues about how defending the use of nonviolent civil disobedience brings out legal change. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a boycott defending racism and later on becoming the prime spokesman for the American civil rights movement. However, during the 1960s, many public businesses were segregated and blacks experienced acts of discrimination and violence. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for practicing nonviolent disobedience acts that blacks encountered. While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail, he wrote an open letter that was intentionally meant to his clergymen using a pen that was smuggled in by his lawyers along with sheets of paper that was lying around. After time past, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in the year of 1968. Surprisingly, his letter became the most famous document during the movement and printed nearly a million copies.

The similarities between these two are most evident in their desire for freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted freedom from segregation and Plato wanted freedom from ignorance. They both wanted justice, and knew that it was immoral to take deny another being justice. For example, Plato has said,

Letter from Birmingham Jail was a letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from a solitary confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama. Some portions of the letter were written and gradually smuggled out by King 's lawyer on scraps of paper including, by some reports, rough jailhouse toilet paper. Violent racist terror against African Americans was so horrible in Birmingham in the summer of 1963 that the city was being referred to by some locals as “Bombingham”. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march on the grounds that he did not have a parade permit. He had been called to Birmingham by one of the affiliates of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group of which King was president, to help in the protests of the extreme racism present in Alabama. Segregation laws and policies were part of the Jim Crow system of separate schools; restaurants, bathrooms, etc. for blacks and whites that existed far beyond the era of slavery, especially in the American South. Several local religious figures Dr. King had counted on for support simultaneously published a letter entitled A Call for Unity, which was critical of King and his supporters. King 's letter, in turn, identified and responded to each of the specific criticisms that he understands are being made by these men, specifically, and by the white church and its leadership, more generally; however, this letter was also deliberately written for a national audience.

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.

After being arrested in downtown Birmingham on a Good Friday, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous letter, “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” responding to the criticism exhibited by eminent white clergyman, this letters’ direct audience was intended for the critical white clergymen, but was also directed towards the people of Birmingham and attracted a worldwide audience. This letter has been found important throughout history because it expresses King’s feelings toward the unjust events. Most importantly, this letter explains current events in Birmingham in 1963 as well as in the rest of America. Dr. King was a very intelligent

Aristotle, a famous philosopher once said: “ It is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason, when the use of reason is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs” (Aristotle). He believed that rhetoric was more powerful than fists would ever be. Another man, a very influential social activist, shared the same ideals, preaching to his people to fight for their freedom with words and not their fists. Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of rhetoric during the civil rights movement to gain equality for the black community. MLK was a master of rhetoric and used his knowledge of proper arguments to sway the

Well known speaker, writer, and so much more, Martin Luther King Jr., in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, provides a powerful and insightful look into what it is like being a black person during the time when America was in a battle, so to speak, against segregation. Kings purpose is to provide his readers, eight clergymen whom called his actions “unwise and untimely” (King 800), with an insight on what it is like trying to make a change in the world through peaceful negotiation but continually getting little to no result. He provides a compelling tone in order to gain the sympathy of the eight clergymen he was as addressing along with all his present and even future readers.

The pressure of racial segregation was reaching a boiling point in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. After being arrested for his part in the Birmingham Campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter in response to “A Call for Unity”, written by eight white clergymen from Birmingham. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a true call for unity, as he clearly states and points out facts that the clergymen have omitted from

Civil disobedience as identified by Martin Luther King is a form of direct action, and an outright refusal to conform to laws as a form of protest. Martin Luther King addresses this method of resistance in his text, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Martin Luther King Jr personally drafted the text as a response to criticisms made in a statement by clergymen whom apposed King’s nonviolent methods of resistance to continuous issues of racism occurring in Birmingham, Alabama. As expressed by King and described in his text, civil disobedience should meet certain criteria to be considered so. One of these criteria is that the law being disobeyed should be unjust. Also, according to King, this direct action should be non-violent, as this was the basis of his teachings. Furthermore, the individual should be aware of consequences, and willingly accept them as he/she performs this act of civil disobedience. Finally, there must be no alternative to this act, meaning that some form of protest must have been attempted in the past, to no avail. Consequently, the only alternative would be to break the unjust law at hand. Martin Luther King executed this form of action in his efforts to challenge racism in Birmingham Alabama. Similarly, famous fighter Muhammad Ali used the same tactic in order to achieve justice decades later. Muhammad Ali bravely refused to be drafted during the Vietnam war because of his religious beliefs and was therefore convicted of violating the selective service laws.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas K. Gandhi were civil rights activists who practiced a form of movement to gain equal rights amongst their nation. King and Gandhi were most important for their allegiance to nonviolence. King demonstrated his notion of nonviolence in his letter titled, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", and Gandhi in his writing, "from Non- Violent Resistance". The two are closely related and share common and distinct themes; both held considerably comparable belief toward nonviolence, laws, and religion.

confined to the Birmingham jail, imprisoned for participating in civil rights demonstrations. “Alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell,” King pondered a letter titled A Call for Unity that fellow clergymen had published pressing him to drop his crusade of nonviolent resistance and to leave the battle for racial equality to the courts. Within that document, King’s fellow clergymen caste him as an ‘outsider’ and ‘extremist’ interfering with life in the City of Birmingham. They criticize his use of direct action, instead advocating for negotiation; they criticize the fact that King breaks the laws, and they ask for patience from the black community, stating that blacks must wait for society to move gradually toward civil rights. In response to these criticisms, King drafted his most extensive and forcefully written declaration against social injustice. Teeming with the energy and resonance of his great speeches, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is both a compelling defense of nonviolent civil disobedience and a rallying cry for an end to social discrimination. Through the use of powerful emotional and logical appeals, King is able to effectively refute the clergyman’s condemnations and is able to sway the hearts and minds of his moderate white readership.

Throughout history speeches have reassured people that everything is fine, or that situations will improve. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used both emotional and logical appeals to raise awareness for the betterment of the lives of African Americans.