Martin Luther King Jr.’S Persuasion in “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.

“Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly” wrote Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” At the time, King, being the president of the Southern Leadership Conference, was an influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement and was imprisoned for holding a nonviolent protest in Birmingham, Alabama. On April 16, 1963, from his jail cell, King wrote this famous and lengthy letter, which was a response to a statement issued by eight white clergymen. Although the letter was directed towards these clergymen and represented his rebuttal, King’s letter had a much greater audience, which was all of those who were exposed to his powerful words. His letter spoke of many controversial issues involving racism at the

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a response to clergymen defending his actions that placed him in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. King did not respond to all the criticism that crossed his desk, but this time King felt he was compelled to respond. This obligation King felt was due in part to men with good will and intentions stating that his actions were “unwise and untimely” (Pg. 835). King’s purpose in writing “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was to defend the strategy of nonviolent direct action in Birmingham and to justify the process and characteristics needed to attain the goals of both nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience in a just manner.

Through establishing his credibility, King prepares the readers to be open as to how his actions were justified in Birmingham. He simply establishes in paragraph 6 that “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, (2) negotiation, (3) self-purification, and (4) direct action. He later goes on in the letter to describe how before they even left to go to Birmingham, they realized that the city was full of injustice. Secondly, King describes how they attempted to negotiate with local leaders and business owners to start implementing laws for desegregation, only to realize that it was a waste of their time since none of the leaders were actually being truthful in their promises. At this point, King states that they decided to go through a process of self-purification. They went through the self-purification process by establishing workshops on nonviolence, training themselves by asking, “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating? … Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?” (King 8).

As an African American growing up in a multi-generational household I appreciated the stories my grandparents told about Martin Luther King fight for civil rights for human being; regardless of the color of your color. He is known for many speeches but one of his most profound letter called “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written while he was sitting in solitary confinement jail cell. The foundation for the letter is to address statements made by eight white Alabama clergymen against King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during their protesting in Birmingham. The clergymen agreed that that social injustice existed and should be handled in the judicial system rather than the streets. King took the time to address

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. On the day of his arrest, a group of clergymen wrote an open letter in which they called for the community calling King’s activities as “unwise and untimely” (601) which causes crisis in the community. It was that letter that encouraged King to write the famous written communication known as “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. King uses ethical, logical, and pathetic appeals to address against racial injustice among Black Americans in Birmingham and to responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro-black American organization.

He then begins to state the opportunity that had risen to speak with the leaders of Birmingham, which leads to action and negotiation. Even though things were negotiated, as weeks and months went by Negros “realized that [they] were the victims of a broken promise” (King 2). He explains that laws have the ability to be just and unjust and that he will only follow and obey the just laws that agree with moral code and disobey laws that degrade human personality. Just because segregation is a law, doesn’t mean that it is just. The purpose of King making an argument against the Alabama clergymen is because he knows that in the Negros will win their freedom in the end simply because it’s their right and God’s

Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most recognized, if not the greatest civil rights activist in this century. He has written papers and given speeches on the civil rights movement, but one piece stands out as one of his best writings. “Letter from Birmingham” was an intriguing letter written by King in jail in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. He was responding to a letter written by eight Alabama Clergyman that was published in a Birmingham Alabama newspaper in 1963 regarding the demonstrations that were occurring to stop segregation. The intended audience for this letter was of course the eight clergymen, but he also had a wider audience in mind because instead of

“Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity (pg. 941).” In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for leading a peaceful march in Birmingham in which the city officials issued no parade permit. From the jail cell in Birmingham, Martin Luther King Jr. composed “Letter From Birmingham Jail” in response to the eight clergymen who had attacked his character and work for civil rights through the publication “A Call For Unity”, insisting he was an “outsider” influencing the actions of hatred and violence. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes himself as an authority in the eyes of his audience, shows the trials blacks encounter in America, justifies his

Martin Luther King Jr was jailed for peacefully protesting in Birmingham, Alabama. From the Birmingham City jail on April 16th, 1963, he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”. This letter detailed King’s views on his current situation, protest, and his hopes for America. For example, he commented about how proud he was of those peacefully protesting in Birmingham. Martin Luther King’s purpose for the writing the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” was to send the message that the African-American community was being oppressed and needed to continue to peacefully protest for equal treatment.

By offering a reason for the demonstrations in Birmingham, King defends the actions of the activists and appeals to the logic of the religious leaders. King declares, “we realized we were the victims of a broken promise… so we had no alternative except that of preparing for direct action.” King further argues to the religious leaders that the demonstrations of the activists were justified because merchants in Birmingham went back on the promise of taking down their racial signs. King offers legitimate reasons for the actions taken by the protesters in Birmingham. He displays that the only option in dealing with the injustices in Birmingham was “direct

In this article, King makes the claims that he has come to Birmingham as an “outsider” and that he had organizational ties with the people there. He states the big reason he is here in Birmingham is because of injustice that is all around them. King feels that he cannot stand and be in Atlanta without doing something about what is happening in Birmingham. He feels he needs to step in and figure out how to bring the people together and solve all the segregation problems that are occurring. He feels that he needs to work wherever there is injustice being practiced. The SCLC put into realization that the white business leaders have been practicing racism acts in Birmingham and the SCLC tried putting a stop to these actions. With that boiling up, the people ended up protesting and leading to more problems.

By the 1960s, the American Civil Rights movement was at its peak. Years of segregation and discrimination of African Americans led to several outbursts of disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” delivered a critical response to Alabama clergymen’s letter and did so by accurately depicting the struggle of African Americans during 1950s-1970s, specifying the cruel segregation of the time and defending his methods of extremism and civil disobedience.

Fighting for freedom is fighting a war where there are no treaties or compromises. Yet the bloody truth is that in the end there is only one victor. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently brings to the forefront of the readers mind that not only is it time for this particular war, but it is long pass due. The brutal truth of this letter written in the margins of a newspaper spun from a web of lies shows the need for action in the aspect of freedom and prosperity. Not only does King rally together a group of people with the many allusions to how past always repeats itself but the indispensable references to authorities that effect everyone and the heart wrenching use of pathos keep the reader enticed to go onto

People over the year have died, been in imprisoned and fought all in the name for freedom .One that show people be imprisoned is in a story call “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” the show the cost of freedom.Another one is an article called How many Americans have died in U.S. War that show the cost that people are will to take to protest freedom.But some people believed it do not cost anything to have.