King 's Letter From Birmingham Jail

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key figure in the civil rights movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an open letter written by King defending nonviolent resistance against racism. The letter argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust and unethical laws. The letter also stresses themes of unity among brothers in order to overcome racism. I will argue in support of King’s stance that citizens are morally justified in breaking unjust laws and that openly and responsibly opposing unjust laws is itself a duty of every citizen.

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,

Martin Luther King Jr. skillfully uses ethos throughout his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In paragraph two, he establishes credibility by writing, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference." The SCLC is a legitimate organization that has organized nonviolent resistance against racism in the south, and by saying that he leads this group King is implying that he is in a position to where he can be trusted. Throughout the letter King repeatedly establishes his ethos to his target audience, the white clergymen from “A Call for Unity”, by referencing to important biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Apostle Paul. In paragraph three, King compares his work on the Civil Rights Movement with the

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

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is directed towards the clergymen, although America is his audience, King had come to Birmingham to address the segregation problem in the United States. He refuses to stay silent, even though people told him to wait for the change to happen. King is a part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that has many organizations across the South. He felt that he has a right to be in Birmingham because his organizations have connections with it. King believes in peaceful and nonviolent protests although policemen and many other people used violent and brutal tactics against him and his people. Martin Luther King Jr. argues that people of other races should be more accepting of him

Meanwhile, in 1963 King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), continued to fight for civil rights but this time they marched to Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was the worst city for the blacks in the south. King went to the city’s leaders and demanded that they change the laws about public places being segregated, but the leaders of Birmingham refused to change. Many blacks were afraid to protest because they were scared that they would end up in jail. King responded with, “If the road to freedom leader through the jailhouse … then, turnkey, swing wide the gates!” (Hakim 18). On April 12, 1963 King led a march down the streets of Birmingham. They headed towards City Hall, but never made it because the police stopped the

Due to this protest, King was arrested placed in the Birmingham City Jail. This inspired the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which was a response to eight white clergymen of the south. The letter showed how strong of a speaker King was and his range of knowledge. In the letter, he refers to the Bible as well as several worldly thinkers. King showed his passion for the fight for equality while keeping it in a controlled, scholarly tone. “At the time, it gave a singular, eloquent voice to a massive, jumbled movement” (SparkNotes

1.In the letter “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr.King is making the charge. The charge that he is making is that if the church does not get it together, no one is going to take the church seriously.

In King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, he states he was lead to ponder on the question "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but is it possible that you are in too great of a religious hurry?" Support in obtaining equal rights for the cause of peace and brotherhood is the role King believes the church should play regarding social justice issues due to the essence of time. I agree with King’s perspective.

Dr. King takes a stance expressing the corruptive issues circling in society. While he addresses the letter to his fellow clergymen, he primarily intends to speak to the public while specifically involving minorities. The minorities are being spoken to directly without being called out by the references and examples that Dr. King chose to use. The simple yet horrifying symbols of the time period such as segregated bathrooms and simply not being able to attend somewhere due to the color of one’s skin was thoroughly represented with the everyday struggles of a minority. Since the references used in the letter relate to the minorities, the majority are then being called out to secondly. The minorities are able to feel that their points are coming

“The letters from birmingham jail” is a very inspiring piece, it inspired me to want to know more about my roots and learn what actually happened to black people and why. Martin luther King states that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” by that i think he means that black people are a threat to justice any and everywhere and white people often diminished black people’s importance because of their skin color. " the letter from Birmingham Jail" is an emotional letter addressing the issues and critics of white clergymen thrown at him and his black American staff about his non-violent demonstration actions against injustice and racial discrimination among black Americans in Birmingham. King addresses those that were discriminative

Dr. King’s earnest “Letter from Birmingham Jail” seeks to both justify the past and forthcoming actions being taken within the Civil Rights Movement as well as create an understanding of the importance and urgency of what was considered to most at the time a disruption of the public peace.

In both the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luthor King Jr. and “Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, race relations are a main topic. While King writes about the effects and injustices of segregation, Beverly writes about the causes of self-segregation. These two works have a few things in common that is discussed, such as the inferiority complex that may stem from the segregation, racism and segregation cause mistrust and contempt, and racism is the cause for segregation. These three things are common between the two works, while King writes about the injustice’s taking place, and the urgency to take action in order to fix the problem. Beverly shows that while minor compared to the past, racism still effects the way black kids act and grow.

All three works by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. narrow their purpose of their piece on fighting against social injustice by using the rhetorical skills contained in They say, I say to provide legitimate, persuasive, and well thought out arguments.

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.