Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Dr. King wrote the letter as a response to the criticism of his church peers. The letter was his way of addressing the injustices happening around him. More than anything else, he wanted equality. Not for himself but for his children and all the other children growing up in this dark era. It is one of the greatest pieces of writing I have ever read that uses emotion, ethical appeal and logical appeal in the perfect combination. The essay has a way of capturing the readers’ attention, and wanting them to fight alongside him for his cause.

By 1963, when Martin Luther King planned a campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. During the demonstration he was arrested and lives in the jail for eight days. While he was in prison, he wrote his "letter from Birmingham Jail" to explain his actions and those who urged him to call off the demonstrations. Martin Luther King Jr. Birmingham Jail is important because, he explains the reasons for the non-violent demonstrations, he shows that black people are intelligent, and he criticizes the unjust laws of black people.

King uses strong rhetoric efforts and appeals to his primary audience with tone, knowledge, and religion. Dr. King’s tone in this letter varies but it was all done with a specific purpose- to move his audience.

Dr. King uses the basic argument of logos to describe the unjustness of white people. For instance, he uses Reinhold Niebuhr as an example to refute an element of argument. Dr. King adds the

At the time of writing, King wrote this letter because felt disappointed because the men of the cloth were criticizing him on his peaceful protest. King felt as if these men should support him because King’s purpose of trying to defeat segregation was based upon his church background. When writing this King tried to understand as to why the man of faith were going against what he practices. But while trying to understand

Dr. King shares in his letter a sense of kindness, a trait that reveals ethics as his citation for presenting his argument. He begins his letter by addressing the clergymen by simply stating, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” (1301), proving that he is writing this letter as a follow up to their letter about ending the protest that were non-violent. Dr. King believes that the clergyman are good people with a misdirection, so he adds to the letter, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (1302). As King writes about what

Martin Luther King in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” argues that “a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law” (110). King believes that God creates man in his own image, and for that reason King dedicated his life to fight for the equality of all American, and for the civil rights. According to King unfair laws have never had any presence of a single gain in civil rights without legal determination or nonviolent pressure. The support of some laws causes people much displeasure with the constitutional law surrounding abortion. King states the four stages of protesting injustices to black people, which were: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. These same principles should be applied to protect the babies that have no voice simply because the baby has yet to be born. Anti-abortion protests has been effective because protesters have influenced changes in some state laws which also has created awareness on the topic and has even get more people saying the unborn is a baby instead of a fetus.

The author, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote this letter in an effort to stifle the plight of injustice that has taken over the city of Birmingham. Also, King wrote this letter "in response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South" (King). These men, called the Birmingham clergymen, published an open letter criticizing the actions of Dr. King and the SCLC. Also, King is talking to the people who represent the power class and dominant group, but shows that they support the foundations of justice. As the letter progresses, King makes it clear that the audience is a much larger group, particularly white and Christian. Throughout the letter, King plays toward Christian morality by continually asking whether "just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God" (King) ? and ends the essay by asking God to forgive him if he has offended anyone. By continually showing his faith in God, King strategically tries to connect with the so called "Christians" that the Birmingham clergymen claim themselves as. To achieve this, King structured and

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King responds to the clergymen’s criticism on his non-violent actions being “unwise and untimely.” In his introduction, King uses front loading to provide a preview and background of what his letter will discuss. As he justifies why his actions were not “unwise or untimely” King addresses the bigger issue of the black community suffering injustices and the need to take action for justice. To convey his arguments King effectively uses quotations, allusions and pathos to support his argument and to refute what his opposition is saying.

At the beginning of the letter, King had already manifested his great ethos. He showed his sincere attitude to readers to better answer their questions, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (King), which enabled him to establish his trust in some demanding readers. Moreover, at the end of the letter, he wrote, “I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother” (King). This shows

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

During the course of living human being are subjected to many controversial arguments and ethical stations. Education in concept of ethical reasoning and in the fundamentals of the principles are important for one to be skilled in ethical reasoning. Ethical reasoning is a very important element in human nature of living either professionally or individually. Ethical reasoning offers critics with the capability to represent viewpoints, ideas and make judgement. Moreover ethical reasoning enable critics’ to consciously give examination for them to reach a solution that does not harm anybody else. Ethical reasoning can be defined as arguing the wrong and the right of human behavior.

In April of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. and a group of men prepared to rally around stores on Easter weekend, in order to convince store owners to remove the harsh signs prohibiting African Americans to shop in that store. Martin Luther king, along with several others, were arrested. This is where Dr. King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This was written primarily to a group of ministers who had publicly condemned Dr. King and his actions. Dr. King had no way of knowing if his letter would be published, but he knew there would be a chance.

Throughout history, there have been many significant documents and speeches that enlighten and inform us on what is and was happening during those times. Abraham Lincoln’s speech, The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail are two important pieces of history. In Lincoln’s speech he speaks about the dangers of slavery in the United States and warned everybody that people who disrespected American laws could destroy the United States. On the other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. defended the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, and argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws. Based on these facts, Martin Luther King Jr does not agree with Lincoln’s counsel.

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.