Martin Luther King Jr 's Letter From Birmingham Jail

After being arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote one of his most famous works to the people of Birmingham, titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963. This piece speaks of the evils of the segregation laws and how the blacks had been treated unfairly in Birmingham, in an attempt to get the white people to support the desegregation of Birmingham. He had been imprisoned because of his participation in a civil disobedience protest, and he is arguing that, even though the white people of Birmingham see the black’s way of protesting as wrong, it is a justified way to fight back against the unjust laws. In “Letter From Birmingham

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.

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

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.

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,

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

Injustice is a big problem in today’s society. Martin Luther King wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he addressed many forms of injustices that was present then and continue to be present in today’s world. Martin Luther King did a lot of things that still effect today. He got in trouble for some things as well; such as like protesting how blacks were treated. He was arrested and was sent to Birmingham City Jail. He wrote a letter to defend the strategies of nonviolent resistance to racism. He employs the use of pathos, ethos, and logos to support his argument that nonviolence resistance is definitive. Based on the pathos, ethos, and logos present in this letter, the article is overall effective to this argument.

During the Civil Rights Movement in the mid 1960’s one of the most well- known civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and was placed into a jail in Birmingham Alabama for eleven days (Westbrook 1). Martin Luther King did not commit a crime that was in violation of any law in the U.S Constitution. King was arrested for taking a direct action for the Black community that was harassed and judged every day for there color of their skin. In King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail on the 16th of April 1963 he illuminates the daily brutality on the streets of Alabama, and focuses his argument on the church and christians for ignoring their moral obligation to their community. Christians and followers of God worship the Holy Bible

King uses logos to counter argument the clergymen’s claim that the actions at Birmingham were untimely. For example, “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry (pg. 941).” King counters that claim with the logic that time itself is neutral and can be used either destructively or constructively. It’s what we do in the time were given that is important. Martin Luther declares that the white power structure left the Black community with no alternative and logically describes the actions the Negro community took and the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. He supports his claim saying that Negro leaders sought to negotiate with city fathers but they refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. Some merchants agreed to move their stores’ humiliating racial signs but they briefly remained unseen. As weeks

Martin Luther King, Jr. was imprisoned in Birmingham jail because of his contribution and participation in nonviolent demonstrations opposing the segregation championed by the southern leaders. The essay explores his longhand letter in response to civic statement of alarm and threats from the letter written by white religious leaders.

Throughout his piece, King facilitates emotional appeals to convince and strengthen his argument, as well as building it. His introductory sections stirs towards the emotions of his audiences, and full of emotionally-charged experiences why to “wait” for racial segregation to end is difficult and “unwise” for black people. By urging the clergymen to view things from a black man’s perspective, King build a more convincing argument that strengthen his case because the clergymen only sees the court as the rightful place in which blacks will gain their freedom and not by nonviolent protest which they see as “untimely.” Since African Americans are tired of waiting for that freedom time that never seem to come, King proclaim that the time for waiting

In “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr argues that there is racial injustice in the United States. In his letter that was published in the Atlantic, he shows us the racial injustice he faced as an African American in the US. Martin Luther King is writing to us in Birmingham Jail in Birmingham, Alabama. He was arrested for not having a parade permit. He talks about the injustice he has witnessed. On one occasion he saw, “vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your brothers and sisters at whim” (King 2). He also talks about how as a black man he is labeled obscene names because of the color of his skin. He talks about how he was arrested and how US law failed to justify what he did was to march for his First Amendment rights. Since he was treated this way he feels the need to break the laws because he has been oppressed by the set by the government. Martin Luther King Jr feels he should be forgiven and laws need to be reformed. In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. is arguing that there is oppression against

During the Civil Rights movement, Birmingham, Alabama was a place of great controversy for the many African Americans fighting for the rights. After the election of Albert Boutwell for mayor in 1963 (“Alabama Lieutenant Governors”), a campaign for African American rights, led by Martin Luther King Jr, took place within the city. Near the beginning of the campaign, King was arrested and placed in jail with other members. From inside his jail cell, King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he responds to many criticisms of his campaign, many of which came from clergy men from across the country. Within the letter, King addresses the concern of just and unjust laws, and why one should be followed and one shouldn’t (King). The mode of thinking of laws as unjust and just laws pose a moral question for those who it affects, and those who are placing the laws into effect; these moral questions have become important within the current Political climate and how to determine between an unjust law and a just law. In this response, I will explain how King differentiates the two and I will respond to the writing and how it affects us today.

In the 1960’s, discrimination against African Americans was prominent in America. Innocent people were lynched and deprived of their right to vote and other human rights. To change this, Martin Luther King Jr., a minister, and the most prominent activist of the Civil Rights Movement, led many events like the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, as well as many other nonviolent protests for equality for African Americans. King is very well known for his “I Have a Dream” Speech at the prestigious Lincoln Memorial, but another famous piece of his was a letter he wrote after his arrest in Birmingham, Alabama. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written to defend his method of nonviolent protest against discrimination and segregation, as well as to emphasize his cause in the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and placed in jail for his protests against the maltreatment of African-Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. Eight clergymen wrote in response an open letter criticizing civil rights leaders and King for their “untimeliness” in protests and suggested waiting for court orders peacefully. King wrote in response, explaining his disappointment with the White moderate for their position on the civil rights movement. He appealed to his credibility as a church leader himself and as an American citizen to balance between the appeals of religion and patriotism throughout his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” By doing this, he justifies the civil rights movement as a subject of importance in the lives of Americans.