Martin Luther King Jr Strength To Love

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

“America needs to end racial injustice and make justice a reality for God’s children”(Martin Luther King Jr., 3).

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s response to a public statement of concern from multiple Southern white religious leaders entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is perhaps one of the most important and influential pieces dedicated to the fight for equality written in the last one hundred years. It is striking just how much of the content within this letter continues to ring true. Numerous arguments King makes are still extremely relevant today, and it is nearly impossible to engage with and reflect on this text without drawing parallels to the current political landscape. This paper will discuss exactly how particular points

To begin, it is important to first reflect on the childhood experiences and the culture that King was raised. In his book, God and Human Dignity, Burrow poignantly notes, “Martin Luther King was a human being, no more or less so than any member of his family tree, or any other human being.” This is to say that the significance of King should not be entirely placed upon King as an individual, but on the context that King was raised. Therefore, it is important to briefly illustrate the racial landscape that King inherited as well as touch on major influential experiences that contributed to King’s ethical and theological development.

‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be

On April 12, 1963, eight clergyman wrote an open letter, “A Call for Unity”. In this published letter, the clergyman expressed their strong disapproval of the civil rights demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. Consequently, that same day, civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting without a permit. In his short eleven day jail sentence, Dr. King directly responded to the clergymen with a letter of his own. In his letter, Dr. King informed his readers about the protests in Birmingham. He explained why the protesters were civilly infringing racist laws and city ordinances; why the protesters had truth and justice; and how he was thwarted with the clergyman and white moderates in the South who said they supported his cause. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King incorporates biblical and historical allusions to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Dr. King’s allusions gave him credibility with his target audience, the clergymen. Additionally, Dr. King subtly asks rhetorical questions and logical conclusions to force his audience to consider his purpose.

In his "Letter," Martin Luther King Jr.'s ability to effectively use pathos, or to appeal to the emotions of his audiences, is evident in a variety of places. More particularly in paragraph fourteen, King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, invoke empathy in the hearts of white moderates, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.

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.

In his correspondence to his fellow clergymen entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King, a promoter of peace and brotherhood, analyzes his act of non-violent resistance to clarify the necessitate of producing creative tension. King begins by elucidating the differences between just and unjust laws. According to King, unjust laws are human laws that are not harmonized with the natural laws of God that cause the degradation of personality and damage the soul. According to this ideology, King states that when injustice occurs there is a correct approach to civil disobedience. First, King expects one to collect information regarding the immoral implication of law with the intent of proving injustice. This requires one to be able to distinguish between the laws of man and the laws of good, the immoral laws and moral laws, the unjust laws and just laws. Next, negotiation is used to establish an understanding of the endured injustice; however, this purpose is not to humiliate or defeat the adversary, but to promote friendship through a form of selfless and spiritual love known as agape. As Martin Luther King Jr. points out, “It is an overflowing love which seeks noting in return. And when you come to love on this level you begin to love men not because they are likeable, not because they do things that attract us, but because God loves them and here we love the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does” (“Non-violence” 2).

Martin Luther King’s adherence towards peace and especially social justice is clearly shown in “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this letter King writes with passion and conviction. Through this suggestive yet powerful letter Martin Luther King uses various rhetorical devices to get his point across by saying “justice too long delayed, is justice denied.” Through the clergymen’s arguments and use of ethos, pathos, and logos, he demonstrates to them that they need to take action immediately.

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr extensively establishes his ethos and proves his authority on the matter of racial injustice. “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights” (King 1). King was the focal point of the Civil Rights movement and continues to symbolize the equality of all races to this very day. His authority to advocate on the

King goes on in the letter and gets on a personal level with the clergymen. He opens the doors of emotions with his reader’s. With referring to words of religious icons, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." (740). Martin Luther King was able show the clergymen that segregation was happening and unjust acts toward African Americans were still occurring in the United States. King also knew that he was going to need to get the White majority to listen. King used personal experiences from his children,

Unlike DiAngelo’s White Privilege essay, a group of religious authorities under the umbrella of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. wrote a response letter to Dr. Reverend King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” First quoting a portion of Dr. King’s letter then responding to the quote, the group takes a Biblical stance on the racial issues that continue to preside in modern day American culture. Beginning the essay, the group differentiates between merely acting upon the symptoms of racism. “... (a) superficial kind of social analysis…” and discovering and fixing the root of the racial. By investigating the racial issues at hand and striving towards Dr. King’s dream of a community of equal opportunities for all races, then the conversation of racial inequality can begin. Realizing that fostering a multiracial community centered around radical love that forsakes “safety of our social order,” we, as the Christian body need to develop a society that eliminates the social prejudices currently penetrate into every aspect of

Perhaps the reason Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is so well known even to this day is because it is a model of persuasive writing that makes great use of ethos, logos, and pathos in order to aid the readers in understanding and sympathizing with King and his followers. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was a civil rights leader, who was arrested and put in jail after being part of the Birmingham campaign in April 1963. He was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was asked by an Alabama group to come to Birmingham. A city that at the time was known for still participating heavily in segregation even though the supreme court had ruled against it in 1954 (Brown V. Board of Education 1). King and members of his organization joined The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and organized a non-violent protest against racial segregation. Everyone involved in the protest was arrested including Dr. King. While King was in jail eight white clergy men released a public statement that was published in a Birmingham news paper, titled “a call to unity” which addressed the protests that king led and described his activities as “unwise and untimely”. King’s response to this statement was “The Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, in which he also tried to open the eyes and minds of the average middle class white American.

During his lifetime, Martin Luther king dared to not only dream about a better future but also fight for it. He was not afraid from having confrontations in order to promise a change. We can see his decisiveness when his arguments for stopping discrimination against black were not enough to change the situation. He decided to make a direct action in order to make society confront the issue.