Martin Luther King's The Letter From A Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his views for obeying “Just” laws, while disregarding “Unjust” laws because of moral purposes. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King speaks on how he “Urge people to obey laws,” as well as “urge them to disobey segregation ordinances”. “I agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” Dr. King’s reason for following certain laws and not others is because he believes there are two types of laws. Just laws are beneficial to all races and “Is the man-made code that squares with the moral law or the Law of God”, unjust laws neglects certain human races needs and personalities and “Is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” Dr. King does not disapprove Supreme Court decisions, yet if it involves segregation he feels as though it “Distorts the soul and damages the personality.” Dr. King states, “Segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is also morally wrong and sinful.” At this point, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is past describing how segregation affects people, but is now saying how segregation for example affects the political system such as denying Negroes the right to vote. “Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters.” Negroes make up the majority population in the counties of Alabama “Not a single Negro is

Furthermore, Martin Luther King was the main leader who led these marches and was a man who wanted racism and being separated from everyone else, gone. “At age 6, Martin Luther King Jr. was jarred when a parent of a white friend said the boys could no longer play together because he was black. Another time, King’s father, a minister, was driving a car when a white policeman pulled him over for no obvious reason. Listen, boy, he began, only to be cut off when the Rev. King pointed to his son in the passenger seat. That is a boy. I am a man (Atkin).” Martin Luther King Jr. was bumped when a parent of a white companion said the young men could never again play together on the grounds that he was dark. Some other time,

Time and time again, King had been told to just wait it out, that it wasn't the right time and when he finally did go through with his plans, his non-violent protest was confined and charged with parading without a permit. Martin Luther King talks about how he should be able to protest and talk about his cause as much as he likes because the only other way to reach out to people is through acts of violence. And violent measures would not be too much to ask considering how much Negroes had been harassed, treating differently by law enforcement and in reference to the article, even amusement parks and churches.

In the text, “But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise”The clergymen call the demonstration unwise because they do not understand the rationale behind the “outsides” creating sure demonstration. They also deem these demonstrations unwise because they support the notion of negotiations rather direct action. MLK claims his decisions on demonstration is wise to pursue in Birmingham. He states, “Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the united states.” MLK defends his demonstrations as wise because they are in the most segregated place in the U.S so there really is not better place to pursue them in. It make logical sense to help the people that are most in trouble, and that is why is starting here in Birmingham. Next, he says “We were the victims of a broken promise. a few signs, briefly removed, returned: the others remained.” He explains how the city of Birmingham broke a promise to the oppressed. His demonstrations are wise because they are in response to the broken promise not out of randomness. They are fighting for their fairness in this situation and they are going about it in a respectable way. Lastly we see MLK say, “we began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: are you able to accept blows without retaliating? are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?” MLK here proves that

Dr. King had to serve his time in Birmingham jail because he was involved in protest activities to end racial segregation, an act that was said to be violating the laws and orders of his society. During the time that he served, he read an open letter from eight clergymen who mentioned that the objections were “‘unwise and untimely… [and advised the] Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham’” (King 425). Dr. King was disappointed by what he read, and in response to the clergymen—and indirectly to the general public—he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to explain that his nonviolent protest was necessary. With

“Each day brings a new adventure” is a saying that holds true in any individual’s life. With each day, individuals should seek for new adventures to have a broader perspective of life. With diverse outlooks, a person does not only develop and find their true self, but can also reflect betterment of their society. The amount an individual is influenced by society can limit the person’s capability to play a more important role in life. Society tends to hold individuals to certain norms and perspectives; so, an individual must embrace diversity around them to not only find oneself, but to also offer more to society. Evidence of this type of relationship between society and an individual is apparent in the speech “The Danger of a Single Story”, given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. Both pieces explore the ideas of how one might find a sense of individuality and community, and the conflicts and balance that comes with them

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

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.

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,

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” emphasizes the need for civil disobedience when faced with unjust laws. This idea contradicts Socrates’ claim made in Crito, that one must follow the law under all circumstances. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not a proponent of civil disobedience based on King’s definition of civil disobedience and Socrates’ charges. Moreover, I will argue that both Socrates and King disagree with one another based on the concept of civil disobedience—breaking the law and rejecting certain ideals.

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

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s , “ Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King responds to the judgments of a group of clergymen , after King 's arrest, by writing a letter explaining why the clergymen 's judgments were wrong. In his letter, king brings very reasonable and valid points that challenge the judgments of the ministers. The main arguments that king makes would be the reason of his existence in Birmingham, white power structure and its racial injustice, and finally why negotiation has brought up impatience and little to no solutions. The overall structure of King’s letter was well organized and the letter delivered valid explanations as to why the clergymen 's judgments were wrong and why it is that action had to be taken in order to grasp the attention needed to settle the conflicts of racial injustice the black community in Birmingham was facing.

Martin Luther King Jr. has landed himself in jail. He blocked off a roadway as a sign of protest, and ended up getting arrested for doing what was right. As Dr. King planned this he understood that he was most likely going to jail, but he needed people to see the bigger problem. Dr. King states, “you deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.” What he means by this is that the people of Birmingham are upset that he was blocking a roadway and that he deserves to go to jail for that. But does not have the same anger towards the reason why they blocked the roadway in the first place. They don’t have the same anger for the injustice, discrimination, and racism that was happening during that time. So that is why Martin Luther King Jr. felt that it was necessary to take a stand and make a protest against all the hatred that was happening in Birmingham. Although Dr. King knew he was going to jail for doing this protest he felt that the message of it we be worth the risk. So he broke an unjust law

While attending this sit-in he was arrested and thrown in jail for breaking the law for “parading without a permit”. This law inherently denies any protestor of their first amendment rights and that was only one point that Dr.King was trying to make. Birmingham’s economic council convened with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and they agreed to remove any inappropriate signs and let any race enjoy their stores. But, the economic council broke their promise and kept the signs and didn’t allow any black people into their stores causing more unrest. This irritated and incited more frustration among the already angry black population.

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham”, he addresses the public statement of eight Alabama Clergymen written in 1963. First, he discusses reasons why he was not an outsider, as called by the Clergymen, because he was part of America and was invited to justify the injustices in the South as President of the Southern Christian Leadership Council. He and the other African-Americans believed that only the morally, justified laws were easy to follow while the unjust laws were unwise to follow and difficult to obey because they felt as though they degraded them as human beings. He then discusses the four step plan he uses to nonviolently take action. He explains why his march was not untimely saying that the rights would prevail