Letter From Birmingham Jail By Dr. Martin Luther King

Patience is the ability to accept and tolerate trouble and suffering without having a negative response. When one is put in a situation where they are feeling oppressed or mistreated, their tolerance on not attacking is put in a thin line; at that moment the decision is to either react in a negative or positive way. Throughout the Civil Right Era, patience and toleration was tested as many African Americans lived in oppression and segregation were they were denied their American rights. With tactics such as sittings in cafes and nonviolent protests they hoped to establish a country with justified laws for all men and women.

Letter to Birmingham Jail is a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. from a solitary confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march on grounds that he did not have a permit.After a court order was issued forbidding the display, King, who is obedient to the law, decided for the first time to break the unjust law. He was held for twenty-four hours on April 12, without being allowed his constitutional right to contact a lawyer. Segregation laws

Dr. King had to serve his time in Birmingham jail because he was involved in protest activities to end racial segregation, an act that was said to be violating the laws and orders of his society. During the time that he served, he read an open letter from eight clergymen who mentioned that the objections were “‘unwise and untimely… [and advised the] Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham’” (King 425). Dr. King was disappointed by what he read, and in response to the clergymen—and indirectly to the general public—he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to explain that his nonviolent protest was necessary. With

“Each day brings a new adventure” is a saying that holds true in any individual’s life. With each day, individuals should seek for new adventures to have a broader perspective of life. With diverse outlooks, a person does not only develop and find their true self, but can also reflect betterment of their society. The amount an individual is influenced by society can limit the person’s capability to play a more important role in life. Society tends to hold individuals to certain norms and perspectives; so, an individual must embrace diversity around them to not only find oneself, but to also offer more to society. Evidence of this type of relationship between society and an individual is apparent in the speech “The Danger of a Single Story”, given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. Both pieces explore the ideas of how one might find a sense of individuality and community, and the conflicts and balance that comes with them

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.

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. makes appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to convince the clergymen that colored people have been waiting for too long for political, economic, and social justice and freedom. He argues that it’s unfair to promise someone, or a group, for a change and not fulfill that promise. Along with demonetizing and/or belittling a person to the point where they don’t feel as important or as worth as they should; making them feel hatred and anger towards the person(s) that inflicted the pain on them, and anger towards their ethnic/culture. Also, that he is needed and wanted in Birmingham. King appeals to ethos to establish credibility and biblical allusion. King uses logos to process his

America has a long history of oppression, discrimination and injustices towards African Americans, however the 1960s has brought important political and social changes. People who have not lived through this decade of change can gather some information of this time through historical documents such as letters and films that portray true events. An example of a film that is based on a true story is “Mississipi Burning” and a powerful historical document is “A Letter from Burmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther king. Each of these materials describes/portrays some of the issues African-American faced during the 1960s, specifically in the south. After analyzing these materials, we are able to understand some of what African-Americans endured during the 1960s.

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.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a well-known advocate for justice and civil liberties. His biggest devotion was for equality of African-American citizens, usually revealed in marches or peaceful demonstrations; in Birmingham, however, one of such protests rendered King and hundreds of his fellow protesters in jail. From that cell, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in which he proposed the idea that “it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture but…groups tend to be more immoral than individuals” (par. 12). Regarding King’s quote, it could be ammended to state that groups are more likely to influence the upkeep of a practice of privilege while individuals hold more power over their own decisions.

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.’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.

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

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

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s , “ Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King responds to the judgments of a group of clergymen , after King 's arrest, by writing a letter explaining why the clergymen 's judgments were wrong. In his letter, king brings very reasonable and valid points that challenge the judgments of the ministers. The main arguments that king makes would be the reason of his existence in Birmingham, white power structure and its racial injustice, and finally why negotiation has brought up impatience and little to no solutions. The overall structure of King’s letter was well organized and the letter delivered valid explanations as to why the clergymen 's judgments were wrong and why it is that action had to be taken in order to grasp the attention needed to settle the conflicts of racial injustice the black community in Birmingham was facing.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail was written by Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963, as he sat, as the title states, in a Birmingham, Alabama jail. King had been jailed for his participation in a peaceful protest of segregation in public places such as lunch counters and public restrooms (Berkley, 2003). While jailed, King read a criticism of the protest by a group of white ministers, who felt such demonstrations “directed and in part led by outsiders” were “unwise and untimely”, suggesting that blacks should wait for the court system to work. (Statement by Alabama clergymen, 1963). Dr. King’s letter was written as a response to the criticism (King, 1963).