Letter From Birmingham Jail: Inner City Analysis

On April 16, 1963, from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. composed an extensive letter to eight clergymen who condemned the timing of the civil rights movement. Although the letter was addressed to these eight clergymen, the Letter from Birmingham Jail speaks to a national audience, especially King’s “Christian and Jewish brothers”(King, 29). His peaceful but firm letter serves as a remarkably persuasive voice to an immensely chaotic mess, and is seen as a major turning point in the civil rights movement. King believes that without direct action, the full rights for African Americans could never be achieved. He defends the impatience of people in the civil rights movement, upholding that without forceful

In her article, On the Run: Wanted Men in a Philadelphia Ghetto (2009), sociologist Alice Goffman uses data collected from her six year ethnographic study to explain how incarceration and threat of incarceration impacts daily life within a Philadelphia neighborhood. Her work focuses primarily on how policing and supervision in the neighborhood, referred to primarily as Sixth Street, impacts the lives of its poor Black residents. Gossman focused on the many men in the community that had warrants out for “minor infractions” including failing to pay court fees or breaking curfew, and the daily struggles they faced while trying to avoid identification and imprisonment. Using evaluation guidelines from Creswell (2013) and Anderson (2010), I have provided a critical review of Goffman’s research methodology and practices. I have highlighted many major flaws in her work, yet I have also recognized the promising advancements to sociological understandings that could come from her findings.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

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.

If you grew up in an average middle-class town in the United States you were probably raised on the premise that the police were there to protect and fight crime, however, in many of today’s urban centers throughout the country, the tension between the police and the citizens has a very different relationship. The term ‘police’ brings many images to mind, while the objective of the police is to prevent and detect crime, this is far from the way so many Americans feel. Far from the original purpose of the police, the use of brutal and sometimes lethal force has evoked questions regarding the skewed system and the relationship between both in the communities. Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the issue in the article, The Paranoid Style of American Policing, often bringing up complex issues, and effectively brings the issues to life through anecdotes. Coates presents a logical, thought out and well-executed argument surrounding the cracked police system in America. Due to the well-supported thesis, the structure of the argument, and lack of fallacies, Coates position is adequately supported through the use

that we had a couple hundred years ago and this comment is directed to all the

The primary goal of a sermon in church is to convince or persuade the congregation to turn to God and follow his ways and beliefs. A sermon is commonly broken up into several subsections beginning with “(1) an introduction ‘to establish a common ground of religious feeling’; (2) ‘a statement of the text’ which is often drawn directly from the Bible; (3) the ‘body of the sermon,’ which consists of repeated emotional climaxes; and (4) the ‘conclusion’ which resolves the emotional tension aroused by the sermon by drawing the sinners to God.” (Pipes 143). Based on these characteristics and King’s religious background and experience as a preacher, it is logical to argue that the structure of “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” resembles that of a sermon which is aimed at an audience much larger than that of just eight clergymen. Through his brilliant use of persuasive methods and emotional appeal, Martin Luther King turns a simple response to a letter into a national cause for white support to combat segregation.

“A Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in the margins of a letter posted by the clergymen of Alabama at this time that sparked his interest and while he inhabited the jail cell for parading around without a permit. This time allowed him the ability to respond wholeheartedly to this cynical oppressing. King’s letter addresses specific points presented in the Clergymen’s and this direct response distinguishes King’s strong points through his powerful writing.  Unethical and immoral mentions came to the attention of the Minister through the letter, and he expressed his differing views and defended his ideals and actions through Aristotle’s three rhetorical devices, ethos, logos, and pathos.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution were historical milestones in which the ever controversial topic of racial equality was first challenged. In theory, these two movements laid the groundwork for a racially equal United States of America. A country in which every member, regardless of skin color, or race were to be treated equally under the eyes of the law and to one day be treated as equals within all realms of society. As historic and powerful as these movements were, they did

In her case study, Varley focuses on institutional factors that shifted the paradigm for New York City policy since the 1990s and that may have also led to the death of Eric Garner. This paper seeks to expand upon Varley’s case study by furthering the debate on those institutional factors that led to the death of Eric Garner, identifying effective crime prevention strategies aimed at preventing similar tragedies in the future, and discussing ways to monitor progress to ensure that communities remain safe without violating the rights of their

Discrimination is a known concept that happens everywhere, yet police and prosecutors are blind to it. Their ways of preventing crime are discriminatory in every sense of the word and they categorize people based on their skin color and where they reside. The disproportionate minority contact with the stop and frisk method is one of the ways that discrimination can be seen. “Code of the Street” and “Law and Disorder in Philadelphia” help dissect why discrimination is not seen by police and their agencies and also how police officers and their administration go about ways of preventing crime. The pressure within the police, community, and courts create inequalities for the individuals going through the Criminal Justice System.

We all have one. We are surrounded by it every day, almost all the time; however whether or not we think about it is a different story. It makes us who we are, the way we act; who we know is all affected by it. Community. Most people think of it as perhaps a town, or maybe a place within their town, like school or church. What these people fail to realize is that community has become so much more than a location; it consists of many other things, characteristics that help it be successful. These crucial aspects include family, morals, and common interests, just to name a few.

This daily violence can manifest itself through gun violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, poverty, lack of access to education or health care, and other forms of violence that show up in everyday living. Specifically, policing is an arena in which being black means being a criminal in the eyes of the police and white population. Zero tolerance policing, militarization of the police, and police brutality has transformed black neighborhoods into war zones and open-air prisons (Kelley 17, 23). In the eyes of police, black people are reduced to enemy combatants, thugs, and criminals, thus making them “subject to regulation, containment, surveillance, and punishment, [. . . as well as] unworthy of [the] protection” allocated to white citizens (Kelley 28). Kelley describes being black in the United States as “living under occupation,” where all black civilians are to serve out their “collective punishment” for being born black

The authors use sarcasm to demonstrate the sweep-under-the-rug mentality help by law enforcement officers and the mayor, “—pay no attention to the broken glass, the scorched storefronts, and the data clearly showing that a white police force has targeted blacks for a disproportionate number of stops and searches“(24).It demonstrates the need for citizens to fight back through gaining attention whatever the means and the counter push from authorities to silence upheaval. In this way, the authors depict a war of man vs. man, neighbor vs.

Way, Lori Beth, and Ryan Patten. Hunting for “Dirt bags”, edited by Lori Beth Way, and Ryan Patten, Northeastern University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apollolib/detail.action?docID=1093565. This book offers information of the policies of New York City, and other large urban centers and their long living policies of “zero tolerance policing” or “order maintenance” and how these deal with catching criminals before a crime is committed. These policies have contributed to growing racial tensions and have lowered crime rates nationwide as many departments utilize these methods of catching suspects. However, they have negatively impacted the black and Latino communities as they are concentrated in the low income diverse neighborhoods. The book offers qualitative and quantitative data on the nature of the American criminal justice system and its contributions to this prevalent issue. The book also provides evidence of the existing carceral society focusing on punishment and deterrence versus reform and