Analysis Of Martin Luther King 's Letter From Birmingham Jail

By 1963, when Martin Luther King planned a campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. During the demonstration he was arrested and lives in the jail for eight days. While he was in prison, he wrote his "letter from Birmingham Jail" to explain his actions and those who urged him to call off the demonstrations. Martin Luther King Jr. Birmingham Jail is important because, he explains the reasons for the non-violent demonstrations, he shows that black people are intelligent, and he criticizes the unjust laws of black people.

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King responds to the clergymen’s criticism on his non-violent actions being “unwise and untimely.” In his introduction, King uses front loading to provide a preview and background of what his letter will discuss. As he justifies why his actions were not “unwise or untimely” King addresses the bigger issue of the black community suffering injustices and the need to take action for justice. To convey his arguments King effectively uses quotations, allusions and pathos to support his argument and to refute what his opposition is saying.

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.

The question of whether the law of the land overrides human morality has been a popular topic that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discusses in his letter titled "The Letter From The Birmingham Jail." King's letter uses both the Rogerian and Classical model to argue that the law of the land can not deem justice or injustice, but rather morality must be the judge.

Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail", a rhetorical masterpiece, was written in response to eight clergymen’s statements condemning his nonviolent direct actions. He defends the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights nonviolent, direct action against individuals, institutions, and laws that look the other way while unjust racial prejudice against African Americans runs rampant in Birmingham. Using three main appeals, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Dr. King communicates the struggle that was the essence of human rights, equality. Appealing to the logic, ethics, and emotions of the reader strengthens his rebuttal of the opposition, helps him gain support, and clearly justify the recent direct action he led. King uses logos to illustrate his argument and invalidate the opposition to his claim, leading the reader to side with his position. Exampling this, he demonstrates that direct action is not opposed to negotiation, contrary to what his fellow clergyman believe, and states “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (King par 9).

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

Martin luther king uses examples of ethos in his letter in multiple ways. In the beginning of his letter he is answering one of his fellow

Martin Luther king through his letter “letter from Birmingham jail” he revealed his ethical thought by enunciating real facts furthermore he did not only consider his own viewpoints rather he considered viewpoints of many other people in relation to churches hypocrisy and unjust laws versus just laws. Despite the fact that martin Luther king was in jail, Luther uses ethical thought to critique the ministers by articulating his beliefs and ideas via displaying descriptive and meaningful illustrations of ethics of law and sensible thinking. In his letter king exceptionally introduces his point of view via observation of multiple people by using coherent thinking and more to that having a mentality that is fair minded.

A multitude of his words possessed an ethical essence and he turned these words into one of his greatest weapons to persuade the clergymen. “Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber” (King 4). This may have been one of the more direct quotes that stuck in the minds of many, perhaps even the clergymen. King demonstrated how there was a problem in society; the blacks were being wrongly accused and punished for crimes that were made against them. To any human, this would have made sense. Connecting on a higher lever, in a rhetorical analysis, “Rhetorical Distance in ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’”, the author, Michael Osborn, conveyed a quote by King saying, “It will triumph because of its vital identification both with America and with the will of god” (29). This quote established an ethical conclusion made by King; he stated that his efforts would succeed because they agreed with the identification of America and the will of God. King made the assertion here that his cause aligned with what would be best for his country, and he also ethically tied his cause to God. “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty” (King 3). Here, King stated that everyone had a moral obligation to rebel against an unjust law, but everyone also needed to rebel peacefully and take on the punishment to come. By connecting these ideas together, King had a greater chance of pulling his audience in, especially since his audience were men and women of Christianity. Not only did King connect to his audience on a moral level, but he also connected with them on an emotional

Dr. King begins his argument by declaring he was the president of the SCLC and was called upon by the Alabama Christian Movement to assist in implementing a nonviolent direct-action program in form of protest for the injustices within the black community. Utilizing ethos

Every immigrant man, woman, or child has a story to tell, whether they travel alone or together, they have a reason to travel and start a new beginning. If a immigrant travels to America from a foreign country, they aren't always treated equally or fairly. Martin Luther King Jr. writes in his essay, "Letter from Birmingham Jail", about various topics regarding equality. Even though King writes about African-Americans and equal rights in America, he's writing about every person who is not welcomed in their country. He would have helped anyone in any country who was treated unfairly, "Had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers"(King 227). Immigrants face the same issue that King had to deal with during his time. There are five main issues that prevent immigrants from being accepted; equality, justice, oppression, freedom, and the advantages and disadvantages to allowing immigration.

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 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.

Peacefully resisting laws does have some negative consequences, like more people in jails that are already full. Yet the benefits of peaceful resistance outweighs any negative outcome. If a group or person believes in a cause so much, that they risk themselves being incarcerated or charged with an offense, then that cause needs to be looked at more closely. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here." He believed that it was his duty to take action against the unequal treatment African Americans were facing. His resistance to Jim Crow laws, along with other moral reformers like him, caused a change to be made in a progressive way. Racism is still a relevant problem in American society, yes. But compared to the 1960's, I would say that we are moving in a progressive way due to peaceful resistance for what is right.

Ethos is a way of referring to aspects that the writer has authority in and experience hence uses them to convince the reader or listener. It also comes out as the guiding beliefs and characters that characterize a community or group of people. King refers to the intended readers as 'fellow clergymen' since he was one of them and used that platform. He also quotes other authorities like "I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all'". In his use of ethos, also borrows from personal experience for instance "we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public school". In so using these ethos, he commands authority in the subject matter he is talking about and also attracts attention of the