Letter from Birmingham Jail

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was serving a prison sentence in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama for nonviolently protesting through sit ins and marches.. It was during this time that King, outraged by the criticism of his methods of nonviolent direct action, wrote one of the most thoughtful arguments for civil disobedience and direct action against unjust and immoral laws. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was a poignant rebuttal to critics and clarified his argument, inspiring much of the American youth to rebel against the racial injustices occurring in America at the time. Martin Luther King’s arguments in Letter from Birmingham Jail are effective because they draw the reader’s attention to the dehumanizing nature of systematic racism and force them to consider the ethical implications of large scale racial discrimination through intense imagery, articulate through reasonable rhetoric the philosophy behind civil disobedience and why direct action is the only path to achieve racial equality, and use practical and logical arguments to methodically refute the arguments of the Alabama clergymen who criticized him.

First, King uses multiple examples of violent figures in his letter, such as Adolf Hitler. King explains, at the time, Hitler’s actions were considered “legal”, much like the segregation laws in Birmingham. Discrimination against African American’s was considered “legal” at the time the letter was written too. The next violent event King mentions is Elijah

“But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This short sentence hits deep, because it shows readers that King is working to help others and not just himself. This can cause the reader to admire King’s selflessness and his ability to risk his life to attain equality for his people. “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” This sentence also jostles the reader, as it tells how King’s point is not just some bandwagon fueled rebellion, but a solid and justified movement. It also appeals the the religious and patriotic majorities who wish to uphold the words of God and the government. “I have been arrested on the charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.” Once again, King uses the constitution to support his claims. People feel that to be good Americans, they should support the constitution and follow King’s claims. This is how King uses people’s emotions to make his

As King notices that the clergymen are “holy” and “religious” men, he uses that to his advantage by pointing out that segregation is immoral. He shows this to the Clergymen as he writes, “Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?” (King, paragraph 16) Through pathos, King shows the clergymen that segregation is something that is completely apprehensive in a way that provokes emotion. In addition to proving that segregation is sinful, King uses the style of pathos to prove that even if he is labeled an extremist, he is not evil. This is shown as King compares his actions to Christ when he writes, “The other Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, or goodness.” (King, paragraph 27) It is intended for the clergymen to be emotionally affected by the mention of their savior, who had ideas that are similar to King’s philanthropy. Despite the fact that ethos and logos are used throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the application of Pathos is clearly the most important and

In the course of the letter, King uses philosophical, religious and historical examples to get his points across. In the third paragraph he compares his participation in Birmingham to that of the prophets of the eighth century and the Apostle Paul who also traveled to a foreign place to communicate their messages. Since King is also a man of the cloth (reverend) he is able to use these biblical characters in his letter to illustrate his knowledge of the bible and by justifying his actions on their terms he is also able to show his intelligent. In the next few paragraphs he talks about the demonstrations and the four steps in a nonviolent campaign which consist of collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification and direct action. He goes on to give the facts of the injustices occurring in Birmingham such as their record of brutality, Negro's unjust treatments in the courts and the unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches. He tells them that the Negro leaders had indeed tried to negotiate in good faith but the white leaders refused. In the next negotiations, promises were made so the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to postpone all demonstrations, but soon realized that they were lied to. In paragraph 10, King foresees the questions that are

Letters from Birmingham Jail, was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to an open letter from eight Caucasian clergymen in the state of Alabama who had condemned the actions of King Jr. and black civil rights leaders. Dr. King Jr. made an impassioned argument addressing the concerns of the clergymen and vigorously discussed shock at their response. His letter covered a multitude of factors clearly and succinctly in a stinging critique of the clergymen’s views. In his infamous letter, Dr. King Jr drafted a fervent argument with a central claim focused on the plight of black Americans whose voices were silenced, existence ignored, and value dismissed. His words also described a heightened sense of urgency and the civic responsibility

“ The Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, he attempts to address the biggest issue in the United States but more so in Birmingham, Alabama during 1963. In his letter, he makes known the significant injustices towards the black community in Birmingham and in order to get his point across, he uses appeals to emotion, ethical and logical appeals throughout his letter that was never actually intended to be published.

These people would rather stay at a comfortable, albeit unjust, state than fight for fairness. He connects this point to another, that we should not stop trying to gain our rights if we might cause violence in doing so. Together with other supporting points, like how some African-Americans are also inactive, these points urge people to take action. He moves into a section about the criticism about him being an “extremist”. King says that extremists might actually be needed and compares to historical figures, like Jesus, who might have been considered extremists. This part appeals to religious folk who admire figures such as Jesus and might be swayed to take action. King wraps up with a criticism of the church, specifically the white church, who had not taken action in favor of the Civil Rights movement. This section could also have stood to be shorter, as his major points, how the church has gone from forging new paths to following those already forged and how there are some exceptions in people that have been prosecuted for their choice to help the blacks, could be given equally as effectively in much fewer words. Much of King’s piece was wordier than necessary and would have been more engaging for the general

While King speaks heavily of nonviolence in his 1963 letter, he speaks heavily about the violence of others. King has come to the realization that in order for “white moderates” to side with him, he must first show them that there are worst alternatives. For example, he goes into great detail about the black nationalists, specifically Elijah Muhammad who was the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), an African American religious and political movement, that King refers to as a force of “bitterness and hatred”(King, Letter). While Muhammad brought together a movement that ignited a pride amongst African Americans in their cultural heritage, one cannot deny that much of Muhammad’s actions and rhetoric promoted violence against whites. King was able to capitalize on Muhammad’s violent behavior, and transformed it into an “us versus them” argument in his letter, with King being on the side of the “white moderates” and Muhammad and his followers being on the side against them. King is basically pleading for whites to join his cause because if

When King begins talking about the hardships African Americans went through he uses repetition to show the severity of segregation in the city of Birmingham. “...when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers...when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters…” By repeating the

King continues to write about how he respects the law, but how he does not regret his actions and he was fully prepared to accept the consequences. ”But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” He goes on disagreeing with the comment of “unwise and uniformly” and states when will be the right time. “For years now I have heard the word “Wait!”…This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never.” He addresses and comments on every excuse the clergymen would have as to why his actions shouldn’t have been done such as; he’s and “outsider”, they were breaking the law, they were promoting violence, the church should not intervene in political situations, etc. He does this with smart and thought out comebacks that held a very proud tone that leave you sort of speechless. One of them included Hitler and the holocaust leaving you thinking. “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." He finally ends the letter respectfully and hospitable, even going as far as to apologize to the clergymen and begging for God’s forgiveness is he “overstates the truth” or “understates the truth” showing his self-aware and good-natured

The most important and relatable comparison for Martin Luther King Jr.’s peers must have been the comparison of the clergymen’s claims that King was an extremist to Jesus’ claim that you should “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, or persecute you.” (p. 6) King argues that because of the similarity between Jesus’ and his own missions of using nonviolence and love to overcome hate, his label of an extremist must be a good thing and so much so that it began to give him

In paragraph 24, Martin Luther King emphasizes the greatness of other individuals who sought out their beliefs. He portrays the use of many rhetorical devices to create a deeper interpretation and understanding for the word “extremist.” The individuals who he describes each have their belief that leads them to being an “extremist.”

King uses figurative language in his speech to connect people to what they already know and create images

King was initially shocked by this classification of an extremist, he writes “ At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist.” . King uses his similarity with the other clergymen as an appeal to ethos for his credibility of thinking how a fellow clergymen would usually applaud to. An extremist is (of a person or their opinions) advocating severe or drastic measures; far from moderate, especially politically. King later states “ But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label.” He realises that many who were in similar categories are great influential people . King goes on saying “ Was not Jesus an extremist for love: … Was not Amos an extremist for justice:... Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel :... Was not Martin