Surname 4 Student's Name: Professor's Name: Course: Date: Martin Luther King’s Letter Martin Luther King signed the message from a Birmingham jail after being arrested for leading demonstrations in the city. Birmingham was the biggest city in Alabama was segregation was openly practiced. In the famous open letter, Martin Luther King was defending his constitutional and moral right to organize nonviolent protests in the city to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans. Martin Luther King famously stated that breaking laws was justified as long as such laws were deemed inhumane or unjust. Although some people disagree with Martin Luther king's letter, many came to believe later that the methods advocated by King were just, and they were meant to protect the civil rights of the African Americans. For instance, Martin Luther King argued …show more content…
The city of Birmingham was the center bed of segregation and racism as the city's mayor had won the election with the promise of continuing with segregation forever. King justifies the move to break the Birmingham laws on segregation because the laws were unjust and were meant to racial abuse the African Americans. As such, the blacks were under no moral or constitutional obligation to follow laws which were meant to make their lives more difficult. Martin Luther king's push to break unjust laws awakened the African Americans in other parts of the United States as they realized that they did not have to follow laws which were meant to segregate them. King led peaceful demonstrations which were meant disrupt the normal operations of the city and push its officials to act on the issue of segregation. Even though he was arrested for such
Martin Luther King's letter written from the Birmingham Jail was mainly about standing up for the rights of his people. Not only did he want to fight for freedom in his home Atlanta, but throughout the USA as well. He did not look to violence to spread his message, but peaceful protests. In his writing I find he held himself
He went to Birmingham because he said that “injustice is here. . . .Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (King). Martin Luther King, Jr advocated for change and equality, and when he saw the injustice conditions going on he knew something needed to be done as the the white power in the city was leaving the black community with no other
On April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight clergymen while he was incarcerated. Dr. King wrote this letter to address one of the biggest issues in Birmingham, Alabama and other areas within the United States. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discussed the great injustices that were happening during that time towards the black community. Dr. King wanted everyone to have the same equal rights as the white community, the he went into further details about the struggles that African Americans were going through for so many years, which he felt like it could change.
In this essay, I will be writing my perspectives and my interpretations of Dr. King's writing, “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”.
Martin Luther King “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, was written in 1963, while African and Americans were fighting fblak and white. King wrote this letter in responses to a publish statement by eight fellows clergymen from Alabama. His argument against the belief that his actions in the Human Rights Movement. King’s purpose is trying to convince clergymens that him demonstrate because it was absolutely necessary in that time. King used logos, pathos, and ehos throughout his piece. He also use condemnatories and persuasives tones to try to influence of the reader to agree. By appealing to the masses, King is able to convey his argument effectively and powerfully and makes it difficult to disagree after reading such a moving and compelling piece of literature.
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.
Martin Luther King Jr., a well-known civil rights activist, was arrested on a Friday for protesting about delayed rights he felt African Americans deserved without a permit. Even though the first amendment grants all Americans the right to assemble and protest peacefully he was still sent to jail along with other African Americans who he protested with. King wrote this letter while he was in jail responding to eight white religious leaders of the South in concern of the treatment African Americans have endured over the past decades. Whites have made African Americans feel inferior to them for years and King was always the person to bring attention to all their wrongdoings. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail to express his strategies of using nonviolent tactics to break unjust laws that were against racism. As King wrote the letter he expressed his strategies by using ethical, logical, and emotional appeals to the readers in different readers and draw them in more.
The letter here seems to serve several purposes. First, it is consistent with his ultimate goal of justifying his case as in the name of justice. He does not want to confirm the deeply selected fear of his audience - that the black movement is an extremist set that will engender violence. Thus, by using restraint, he receives a sympathetic hearing, to which he then declares his proud embrace of extremism and tension. There are times when he distinguishes himself and his reason from this of his opponents, especially in terms of race. Nevertheless, it mostly says that all people are responsible for everyone in this world, an idea that would not be as effective if the tone of the argument was too fiery and confrontational.
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.
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.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the "Letter From Birmingham Jail" in order to discourse the tremendous issue in Birmingham and the U.S at the time. The "Letter From Birmingham Jail" discusses the great injustices happening toward the black community in Birmingham. Martin Luther King, Jr uses emotion, ethical, and logical appeals in order to justify his desire for racial justice and equality.
Topic: Read Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (in your Nexus book) and Brent Staples’s “Black Men and Public Space.” What do these works say about racism, prejudice, and bias? Have we made any progress in these areas since their publication? What problems do you still see and what solutions can you offer?
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
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” letter from Birmingham Jail” is about a letter King wrote to his opponents about why he is taking a nonviolent action against the unjust rule that blacks had to follow. His opponent argued that now is not the time to protest even though they agreed with what he is doing. His opponents said the timing is not right, he should wait a little bit longer. Dr. King addresses his critics by telling them he disagrees with them, what he is doing is right he can no longer wait. He wrote this letter while in jail for protesting without permit. He told them why he disagrees with them by explaining in this letter. He said they have been waiting for 340 years, their patience is running out. King believed nonviolent protest is the only way to go. He understood that by protesting they will break some laws that were there to prevent blacks from doing things in public. But he believed the law that makes illegal for his to protest is unjust law and it’s okay to break unjust laws. To make his point he talked about how civil disobedience was done in the past; how it was illegal for anybody to help the Jews escaped the Nazis and how it was legal to do what the Nazi regime did to the Jewish people. How everything the Hungarian freedom fighters were illegal. He talked about how civil disobedience was used in the past by Christians when they were being forced to follow unjust laws by the Romans.