Martin Luther King's Response To Racial Discrimination

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King’s wrote this letter for eight white clergymen who unapproved of his nonviolent protests for racial equality and segregation. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King been arrested and is writing to the clergymen about why he felt the need to be protesting also reasons why the clergymen should care. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. uses persuasion to show that the clergymen and the church should be ashamed of themselves for discontinuing his nonviolent protest. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. remains calm, although he is in jail for leading nonviolent protest for equality and ending segregation. King believes that if

       Martin Luther King Jr's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written during his 8 day sentence in jail in 1963. He chose to travel and protest in Birmingham due to the fact that it was widely known as one of the most segregated city in the U.S. The letter not only addresses the issues of unjustly being arrested for being an "extremist" of his approach to the protest, and of the incompetence of the church but its also an appeal for things to be seen from his point of view.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. motivation to write “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was to address the injustice he received during his time of his incarceration. King felt distraught and deeply offended by the treatment of the clergymen. He decided that it was useful to put his emotions on paper to express how to best explain his unlawful situation. King wrote this letter with disapproval, sorrow, and disappointment to convey his principles were wrongly tried. He used this letter to justify his reasoning for nonviolent acts of defiance against segregation. Dr. King structured his counterargument for the clergymen after listening to his view, then used ethos, logos, and pathos to make an appeal to his readers his perspective about the unfair treatment of African Americans.

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

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

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.

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.

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” discusses the life of Martin Luther King Jr. He became a leader in the civil rights movement to end racial segregation and discrimination in America during 1950s and 1960s. According to the letter, “I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, … So, I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” Also, he became a leading spokesperson for nonviolent methods of achieving social change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” after he was arrested for peacefully protesting segregation and racial terror in Birmingham.

In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. informs the readers of the reasons how and why he is giving a nonviolent protest to racism. King begins the letter stating how he was invited to Birmingham and how he is trying to fight against the “injustice.” In his letter King continues on to explain that the black men have waited to long for justice and they are still fighting it in the present today through the unjust laws. The white churches were brought up negatively through the letter numerous times especially since the letter was specifically written to the clergy members. Dr. King ends his letter in personal hope that the clergy men will see what is wrong in the overall picture of injustice in Birmingham and

When he was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama he then fell under criticism by white clergy for coming to Birmingham as an “outsider” to cause trouble and increase tension through public sit-ins and marches. I feel that Martin Luther King was able to both set aside that criticism by establishing his credibility to have not only been invited to come to Birmingham to help end the injustice to the Negro people via peaceful means, but he was able to identify moral, legal and ethical cause to promote his quest to put a stop to what he identified as “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States” (King, 2017, p, 3). I will provide a summary that will show what Martin Luther King believed were the cause of the injustice that he was striving to end to as well as his concern over the white community’s ability to make the Negro “wait for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is a response to a public statement of caution that was issued by several religious leaders of the South. During the midst of the nonviolent demonstrations against segregation in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested and felt compelled to respond to their statement as he saw these fellow religious men as sincere and of good nature. In this letter he defends the use of nonviolent resistance to the racism occurring. He states that there is a moral responsibility to break unjust laws when taking direct action, in order to further the cause for justice which does not occur on its own.

Letter from Birmingham Jail is an open letter that Martin Luther wrote expressing his feelings about the racial injustice during his time period. He was put in jail when he wrote this letter for peacefully protesting for justice for African Americans. Dr. Luther writes about what he did and why he did the things he did. In his letter he doesn’t just focus his bias opinion on the African American culture and the horrific treatment that they have been given from the whites. No, his letter gives you an insight on a wide variety of perspectives of people about his feelings towards justice. He references many historical theologians and biblical characters who would have done just as he has done. This letter was widely used during the American Civil Rights Movement during

Today’s society emphasizes the need of equal opportunities; everyone should have equal chances despite their race, gender, or other characteristics. However, there are still many barriers and biases, often unconscious, which do not let to embrace the potential of everyone. Even though Civil Right Era made a good improvement, because of the long years of legal racism and sexism, ethnic minority members and women are still disadvantaged by the system. It is obvious that something should be done about it and one of the ways to reduce inequality is affirmative action.

The Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King The Civil Rights movement is still identified by people across the world with Dr Martin Luther King. His day of birth is remarked with a national holiday in the United States and there are many historic sites dedicated to MLK across the nation. His funeral in Atlanta on 9th April 1968 was attended by political leaders from around the world and later in 1977 King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which stated that MLK was “the conscience on his generation” who…”saw the power of love could bring down segregation”.

In my opinion, racism is a disgust to our society. It is so shameful and foolish that people think it is ok to treat others differently based on the color of their skin. As Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shows us in his life’s work to end racism, we can act to bring people of all races together as we peacefully demonstrate a love for humanity. We can end the violence of racism by starting some friendly protests to make awareness to the situation, and being more mindful to the way we act to others with a different race than you. We need to demonstrate a love for humanity because people are getting hurt and dying because of the current racial situation.