Machiavelli's Letter From Birmingham Jail

In paragraphs 12-14 of “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King begins addressing the clergymen’s belief that the peaceful demonstrations conducted by him and his associates were untimely. King starts answering questions frequently heard by opposing or moderate forces, as well as essentially denouncing the resistance to desegregation. King then introduced the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed; concluding that the oppressor is not inclined to act on things that do not directly affect them. Therefore, providing a platform of his argument as to why blacks could no longer wait to be given their basic human rights. Action needed to take place because fair treatment was no longer a hope to be given, it had to be taken.

King Jr.'s definition of social justice within his essay is civic equality between Caucasians and those of African and African American descent. This form of civic equality includes equitable access to facilities and to rights that all Americans allegedly have. Moreover, King Jr. also is alluding to and end of segregation and a full-fledged integration of the races (King Jr., 1963). He certainly advocates an end to the violence African Americans had to endure while simply asking for, and demonstrating their need to access, civic rights.

In, “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King writes about the criticisms placed on him by the Clergy and to all the white Americans who believe they are superior and do not wrong. For example when King writes, “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 3), King is speaking to the clergy who dislike his motives and actions. King is stating his innocence and that he is doing nothing wrong and that action needs to be taken in order to initiate a change. The purpose of King’s letter is not all to inspire a change in America and just address the criticism towards him and his actions but it is also a call to action. King takes on the time of a courageous, righteous, and disciplined man who

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.

Black people could not express themselves, have a better life, or have opportunities, same as white men. King had hit the nail on the head, no one could answer the question King was asking; Why is it that they, blacks and whites, kill and die side by side, but they do not have the same equality in society?

In order to understand both paragraphs I will first explain what both authors life was like during this time. King wrote “Letter in the Birmingham Jail” to address his audience. King started his movements for equal rights in the 1960s. He wrote over 450 speeches and spent years traveling the country. He did this to make a movement and get people to join his cause in a nonviolent way he wanted his audience to know that it was okay to be an extremist . Many people had crosses burned in their yard and objects thrown at them on the streets. In April 1968 King was arrested for parading without a permit. African Americans did not have the same rights as white citizens did. King wanted to convince people that African Americans were the same but kings showed his action through nonviolent actions always. At a motel in Georgia King was assassinated in 1968 and left behind his wife and four children. Years later Kings movements made a difference allowing all people to be treated equally .

dives deeper into the meaning of injustice and what it meant to the people of this time period. He uses events that African American people have gone through to describe the injustice as “…living constantly at tiptoe stance, never knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’” (70). To be a person, you have to be regarded as a human being who is an individual within your society. When you are regarded as a non-person, you are nonexistent or are unimportant within your society. This “nobodiness” that many African American people experienced in the South was a struggle between human dignity and their intrinsic worth. They were fighting to fit into a society that disregarded their human dignity, while feeling like within themselves, they had a strong intrinsic worth. Because of this, you cannot solely look at a textbook definition of injustice to truly understand what people who are being treated unjustly are going through. Society makes certain oppressed groups feel on edge at all times, making them feel that they have no place in our society. You cannot have legal and political justice without social justice. King makes a point in his letter to describe all three of these injustices and how they were

King organized one of the most know boycotts in the U.S history. The Montgomery bus boycott goes down in the books for resulting in desegregated buses in Alabama. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” is stated by King, explaining how we must come together as one, or we will be shot down. Today, we still see Defacto in the U.S, however now we are coming together as one and fighting against those negative stereotypes. King’s displays of non-violent protest that actually got the change he wanted, is influencing how protesters are protesting. Now, there is more peaceful protest being used in the U.S more than there ever was. Nevertheless, we still have figures in authority saying peaceful protest should be a crime, that we should punish those who are fighting for what they believe in. Despite the people having the right to peaceably assemble, meaning the president is attempting to deny us of our constitutional rights, being unconstitutional

King writes as a Clergyman, an American Citizen, a Judeo-Christian leader, a Christian Brother, a Political Moderate, a Nonviolent Direct Activist, and Anti-Segregationist, a United States Negro, a Creative Extremist, an Integrationist, and a Civil Rights Leader. All are intertwined by the common thread of moral and just activism for the betterment of Negroes in the United States, specifically Birmingham. As a member of all of these communities, he brings credibility to his argument and can speak on the behalf of both sides, even those that conflict with one another. He defines his own membership within each community according to the overall effect it will have on his refutations of the four main accusations in the public statement.

As King stood before the massive crowd of Americans, he urged the citizens of the United States to turn their hatred of colored people into a hatred of the true evil: racism. King continually states that the black people are being held back by the “chains of discrimination.” King uses this to make the audience

King’s speech is a long educational essay on how and why everyone should be equal and become family and close friend with one another like we are today. King said “ I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” What Dr. King meant was in the future he want his children - all children to be able to have the chance to be judge on how they act and not their skin color . In the Nobody Turns me around: A People’s Story History Of The March On Washington , Dr. King states ,”We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation . He meant that we as people can not just be satisfied with nothing there is more out there waiting and we are not just watch it go down the drain .

“We are inevitably our brother’s keeper because we are our brother’s brother. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” This is a highly influential quote by Martin Luther King Jr. This inspirational man was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, into a loving home. His father was a minister and he had two siblings.

Most people throughout history and today are probably in agreement that those who are in power, with rule over peoples should keep their word; however, as Machiavelli notes, those “princes” that have accomplished the most have done so through deception. A prince can fight with laws, in a civilized manner, or with force if needed. Machiavelli believes a prince should “imitate the fox in cunning as well as the lion in strength.” So a prince must seem virtuous, while simultaneously deceiving those individuals who are willing to be deceived in order to fulfill his own interests. Machiavelli justifies this way of carrying oneself in that other princes cannot be expected to keep their word to you, so you must act in ways that are prosperous to your

He elaborates that often times in a successful government there is a major discrepancy between who a leader appears to be to others and who they are in reality. Prince lecturer, Professor William validated this idea in that, everyone sees how you appear to be, but few see who you really are. As power and leadership become more desired and popular, the importance of appearance to the people becomes more prevalent. “Thus, it is not necessary for a prince to have all the above-mentioned qualities in fact, but it is indeed necessary to appear to have them” (Machiavelli, 70). During Machiavelli’s time, he proclaimed that a political leader actually proving to have certain qualities was not so important, but simply showing the people you care about what they care about is what is essential. Machiavelli states that you aren’t voting for the specific person but for the attributes that that person claims they have. Both currently and during the Renaissance, faking certain qualities to be in good standing when in power, keeps the leader’s reputation in tact, and makes them seem more likeable to the

1. Communities King writes about are Clergyman, Negroes, creative extremists, Christian leaders and brothers, anti-segregationists, nonviolent direct activists, integrationists, and civil rights leaders. All of these communities are connected by moral and just activism for the equal rights of African-Americans in the United States, and in this letter, specifically Birmingham. King is a member of all of these communities, and defines this by speaking for all the communities. Additionally, King uses these communities to refute the four accusations against him. By being part of the nonviolent direct activist community, he refutes the news article statements that he should negotiate instead of protesting and holding demonstrations. He is able to counter the claim that there is no justification for breaking the law by alluding to significant people in paragraph 31, such as Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson.