Nonviolent Protests: An argumentative essay

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.

In A Call for Unity, the eight clergyman from Birmingham published an article in the local newspapers urging blacks to withdraw support from Martin Luther King Jr. and his demonstrations. Instead of supporting MLK they believe that the local community should work together to get past their differences. The Clergymen criticize Martin Luther King’s demonstrations in their article, stating that outsiders (King) should not get involved, negotiation is better than direst action, protests were untimely, and many other premises. King responded to these criticisms in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. He justified these nonviolent measures that sent him to jail and explained why the segregation laws against blacks in the south must be changed. After analyzing both

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King writes to fellow clergymen defending his view on nonviolent protest and his actions in his protest against the racial injustices during that time. King is a reverend from the South and a Civil Rights activist. King was arrested while partaking in an anti-segregation march. Segregation laws were part of the Jim Crow Laws (any state law discriminating against black persons) arrangement of separation of races in schools, restaurants, bathrooms, and so on for blacks and whites that existed a long ways past the period of, particularly in the American South.

King acknowledges this concept throughout his letter, the most notable instance regarding the actions of the Birmingham police. King and his fellow supporters organized a peaceful protest in which children would be placed on the front lines (with the hope of people seeing the desperation behind the act); for this reason, largely, young people surmised the majority of those arrested. The most gruesome detail laid in the actions of the Birmingham police, who turned forceful firehoses and police-trained German Shepherds on the non-violent protesters. In response to a statement from eight Birmingham clergymen stating the calm manner of law enforcement

In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King demonstrates the need for extreme action by depicting Birmingham’s dire future if the Clergymen continue to simply wait for the city to change. He claims that without extreme action one of two possible scenarios will play out, either nothing will ever change in Birmingham and people will continue to suffer under injustice, or worse, the African American community in Birmingham will be forced to resort to violence in order to accomplish their goal of equality. In the quote “millions of Negroes will… seek solace and security in a black nationalist ideology - a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare,” Dr. King demonstrates the consequences of the clergymen condemning his protest by explaining that his protests are the only way for many of the African American people to work out their frustrations, and without them, the majority of the black populace in Birmingham has no way to release its

Many people turned to violence during this time, but Martin Luther King, Jr., a legendary front-runner of this movement, advocated for peace. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, one that is still quoted by American citizens today, he voiced his wish that “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will he able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King). Rather than using his position of power to communicate rage to the masses of people gathered before him, King relayed messages of optimism. As a result, the Civil Rights movement was one built on the notion that peaceful resistance was the key to equality. The Montgomery bus boycott, marches in Selma, Birmingham, and Washington, D.C. were all intentionally nonviolent. Protesters, calm in the face of brutal police retaliation in order to defend their rights, eventually achieved equality under the law (Simkins). Footage from the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, displaying passive African-American protesters being beaten down by police, was rapidly spread through the media, eventually reaching President Lyndon B. Johnson and motivating him to take action against racism, passing measures such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act (History.com) Though radical protesters did resort to violence during the movement, we remember it and teach it for its emphasis on

As a result of racist laws that forced blacks to be segregated and refused them their right to peacefully protest, Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960’s, was considered the most racist part of the United States and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked towards removing segregation laws from being enforced. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. publicly addressed the issue of racism on a religious, political, and social aspect by addressing his letter to the clergymen, disobeying the law through nonviolent civil disobedience, and expressing disappointment when he did not receive support from the white moderate, respectively. Advocating against the extreme racial injustice in Birmingham, Dr. King’s support of St. Augustine’s belief that “an unjust law is no law at all” caused a controversial debate across the country over who has the authority to decide which laws should be disobeyed (King 3). Although Dr. King addressed his letter to the white clergymen, his target audience was to the entire white moderate of the country whom he hoped would help him gain support in order to change unjust laws that promote segregation and refuse citizens of their First Amendment rights to a peaceful protest (King 4). Dr. King was looking for support from other members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

Through establishing his credibility, King prepares the readers to be open as to how his actions were justified in Birmingham. He simply establishes in paragraph 6 that “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, (2) negotiation, (3) self-purification, and (4) direct action. He later goes on in the letter to describe how before they even left to go to Birmingham, they realized that the city was full of injustice. Secondly, King describes how they attempted to negotiate with local leaders and business owners to start implementing laws for desegregation, only to realize that it was a waste of their time since none of the leaders were actually being truthful in their promises. At this point, King states that they decided to go through a process of self-purification. They went through the self-purification process by establishing workshops on nonviolence, training themselves by asking, “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating? … Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?” (King 8).

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

Although buses were no longer segregated, the majority of restaurants and shops had 'whites only" signs in their window, indicating that black people were not allowed in these places. Protests and rebellions against these places were mostly unsuccessful and the protestors were usually arrested or beaten After these groups of protestors received such acts of discrimination and violence, they began to question the effectiveness on Martin Luther King's non violent approach An example of a non‑violent protest that Martin Luther King led would be his peaceful demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963, in which he was arrested and his supporters were attacked with fire hoses, tear gas, dogs and cattle prods. 3300 of the peaceful demonstrators were also arrested as a result of the demonstration. This made doubtful black activists even more reluctant towards accepting Martin Luther's non‑violent ways and led them to believe that violence was the only way to obtain their goals, as the non‑violence approach had failed them.

Not only were many laws changed and created, but even more were broken in an attempt to better our once unjust society. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most influential leader of this movement, was an avid supporter of civil disobedience during this era. He participated in countless sit-ins and protests, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956, in which he and almost one hundred other activists were arrested for peacefully protesting discrimination in the Montgomery public transit system. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written in 1963 after he was arrested for partaking in a nonviolent protest, King offers explanation as to why he practices civil disobedience and what he hopes to achieve in doing so. In this letter, King admits, “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law…that would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty”. However, he also stated that in this fight, it is necessary to “[stand] up for what is best in the American…thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence”. In his words, civil disobedience is more than ignorance of law; it is just one of the necessary measures that must be taken to restore equality in a

The aims of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was to end racial discrimination and segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leaders of this movement and an advocate for non-violent protests and peaceful resistance. Starting with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, MLK lead a series of non-violent protests, inspired by Thoreau’s essay. Blacks marched, boycotted, and protested for their rights and were arrested in the process. In 1963, the March on Birmingham occurred, to encourage integration and desegregation in Birmingham. Children as young as six years old marched and were arrested. It captured the attention of the nation and employed real social and legal change, as the city was required to integrate and hire African Americans downtown. MLK was a part of the Birmingham Campaign and was arrested and imprisoned, writing his famed “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. In this letter, MLK expresses his reasons for the protest and his desire for equality. MLK stated “in no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law … I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law” (King). In this passage, he states his willingness to accept his punishment for breaking the law, a small price to pay for the possible change he could make in

In April and May of 1963, Birmingham, Alabama was a focal point for the civil rights movement. Birmingham was home to one of the most violent cells of the KKK and violence against black people was so commonplace (especially in the form of explosives) that it was referred to as “Bombingham.” It was these conditions that lead Martin Luther King to arrive and organize a series of non-violent protests in the city. These protests were relatively low key and weren’t very well attended. This was due to the fact that political rivalries between King’s organization, the SCLC, and other civil right’s organizations like CORE and the NAACP. However, the Birmingham protests soon became headlines due to the response of the city’s police

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King discusses the importance of civil disobedience being performed. King is confined in the Birmingham city jail and decides to respond to the criticisms of his fellow clergymen although he often does not acknowledge such statements. King’s understanding of civil disobedience is clearly reflected in his use of rhetoric and includes violating the law in peaceful terms to protest unjust laws and circumstances.