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.

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.

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).

Do you have what it takes to make the morally correct choice? An even better Question is: What are you willing to give up to save another? Martin Luther King gave up his freedom in an attempt and to gain civil rights for the people of Birmingham. Peter Singer explains if you give up just $200 you can save the life of someone with nothing. King and Peter Singer both used honesty to convey their message of what is right and what is wrong, but they both describe very different situations that hold their case and point. King wrote his letter from Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963. Dr. King wrote this letter to his fellow clergymen who defamed the action of Dr. King and the Southern Christian leadership Conference. In King’s response he honestly told his fellow brothers of the church that he was angered by their criticism and explained his actions in Birmingham. Peter Singer wrote “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” on September 5, 1999 for the “New York Time”. It is an honest piece that describes the difference between morally right and wrong. Singer talks about two people who both make the morally choice in the eyes of society and explains to the audience how we as America choose to do nothing to help but they can still buy expensive cars.

Martin Luther King Jr, an civil rights activist, fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their distress and opposition to King and his followers actions. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. Although King’s reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the “white moderate”. King understood that if he gained support from the average, indifferent white American that the civil rights movement would reach it’s goals much faster. In his

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 junior’s letter from the Birmingham jail is a letter that is peculiar and consequently, it attracts the attention of many readers. Having written it in the year 1963 while Luther was serving his jail term after being arrested for parading without a permit from the local authorities, the author had applied writing styles that made it seem more of literature than a mere letter (King, 2012:177). This paper will discuss the contents of Luther’s letter and the reasons why it remains relevant in the modern setting of our civilized society.

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.

Bringing about social change is no easy task, and there are specific components that Dr. Martin Luther King outlines in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” that are necessary to nonviolently protest injustices. He mentions four main steps: the collection of information to demonstrate the injustice, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. After trying to make changes from within the system through the demonstration of information and negotiation, self-purification is completed. This step includes preparing and steeling oneself for suffering that will come during the last step of nonviolent social change, direct action which is a physical demonstration and frequently involves breaking a law. Suffering is often inevitable and necessary while attempting to achieve non-violent change, and this is because the “people in power” need to see that the protesting group is serious. When the people in power realize that this is a matter they should consider more, it causes creative tension to be established in their minds. Creative tension, at its core, is creating a tension in one’s mind, and one questions their current beliefs and what has been seen as acceptable in society because of it. Self-purification is a necessary part of civil disobedience because it prepares a person for the suffering they will endure, suffering that is necessary to instill creative tension in the minds of the people in power to bring about social change.

A long time ago before he had a "dream", Martin Luther King Jr., taught many minorities how to be brave and soldier on through the words of God. He made him self aware of religion and politics in order to ensure he could lead the people to triumph through peace showing he was educated, knowing what needed to be done in order to help fix segregation. His article "Letter from Birmingham Jail," proved that though he was such a strong figure in American society many had no idea he was way more to American history and segregation other than his I had a dream speech. He was revered in American Society because he saw the need to be the change that society at the time needed. Through his vast knowledge of religion, politics and the people

The 1960’s was the peak of the nonviolent civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Junior. MLK Jr. traveled all along the South fighting against racial discrimination and equality between all races. MLK Jr uses sit ins, protests, demonstrations and marches to fight for his cause; he always stayed nonviolent even when there were police and white supremacists using violence against him. During one of his marches in Alabama, MLK Jr. was arrested, not for the first time. While in jail, MLK Jr. took the time to respond to a letter written to him by eight different religious leaders. Even though some people may argue that Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is not radical, his letter is radical because he refuses to conform to the world’s expectations and he expects the same from the religious leaders whom he is replying to.

Martin Luther king Jr. was American Baptist minister and activist who was visible spokesman and leader in the civil rights movement. King was a one of the most important figures in the civil rights movement of black people in the US. He won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35 for helping to end apartheid and peace marches. “The letter from Birmingham jail” was written from jail to response to several white clergymen who did not approve of his nonviolent protest against African American rights in 1963.

There has been a lot of change since the time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail compared to the social issues of today’s American society. Back in the 1960s, society was a forced set of rules and social correctness. Unfortunately, this politeness did not apply to any segment of culture except white society. It was a hard battle for African Americans to win equal rights against a society, which acted polite, but was actually racist and suppressant to everyone, who did not fit in to their accepted group. Actually, the Civil Rights Movement demanded the respect and acceptance of every distinctive group in America, which we should be proud of. While the Civil Rights Movement won this battle, now history seems to be

Just as Sophocles's Antigone presents topics that are culturally radical and politically contentious, Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail achieves the same purpose and goal. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a very inspiring and well-written piece that Dr.Martin Luther King wrote from his small jail cell in order to express his feelings and help make a salient difference in the world. Dr. King proposed topics that indeed are socially uncomfortable, politically contentious, religious irreverent, and culturally radical. He did so by conveying a big amount of thought in his word choice and language as he wrote about his feelings and experiences in this letter.

On April 16, 1963, King wrote his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” which not only became the most important document in the civil war era, but it also focused on how the colored were having a difficult time trying to end injustice and have the freedom of equality. August 28, 1983, the day Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have A Dream speech, a date in which the hope of all African Americans rose, and the eyes of many opened to see the reality of the world. Throughout the works of Martin Luther King, he conveyed logos and pathos in every way in order to reach out to the hearts of many and show what the true meaning of brotherhood is in a nation with freedom.