...outlawed many years earlier, many whites still used racist laws in states to separate whites from those who are ‘colored.’In Birmingham, Alabama, especially, segregation continued to exist in numerous cities. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, an anti-segregationist and leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, protested and held non-violent demonstrations and marches in many cities, such as Birmingham. After his famous march in Birmingham, white police officers arrested him and put him in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail, he read a public statement delivered by eight Alabama clergymen from local churches, claiming that King's demonstrations were unnecessary. King, responding by writing "Letter from Birmingham Jail," refutes all of the clergymen's claims. In paragraphs 12-14 of his letter, King attempts to persuade the clergymen as to why he must act now, rather than later, for social change, dismissing the claim that the march was "untimely." King raises the clergymen’s awareness of the situations affecting the...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a knowledgeable speaker, letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963) defends himself against the eight clergymen in which he explains his motive towards civil rights and tries to justify the needs for nonviolent actions. Dr. King’s primary focus was to answer the criticism of the church leaders. His secondary audience was the white moderate and the religious population. Dr King’s letter addresses that the white attitudes towards African Americans were hostile as they were unable to accept the civil rights movement, especially in the South. Throughout the letter, he uses various literary and rhetorical devices to justify his actions and show why they should not be illegal. King creates an irritated tone in this letter, to proclaim his annoyance to the clergymen who were criticizing him. He feels he...
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...Logos in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. states his argument against racial injustices and responds to accusations made by eight white clergy men against him and his fellow Negroes that their non-violent direct action protest was “unwise and untimely” (739). One of the ways that Dr. King responds is with the use of the rhetorical appeal, logos. He presents logical reasoning along with citing specific examples, facts, and evidence for his actions. The information he presents is truth and therefore convincing. In paragraph six, King points out that the actions of his organization were well-planned out and justified by listing the four basic steps that were taken leading...
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...Civil disobedience is referred to as “the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences”. It’s a pretty touchy subject because you have to keep in mind WHAT they are opposing; but it’s all opinion. You might think ___ is unfair, but that doesn’t mean everyone globally thinks it’s unfair. It’s a touchy subject because there is no unanimous, decisive, global thoughts or feelings on everything. When someone asks for an example of “civil disobedience”, what comes to mind? For many, Dr. Martin Luther Kings “Letter from Birmingham Jail” comes to mind; where a peaceful demonstration against segregation and racial terror throws one of the most influential civil rights leaders in jail. The...
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...A Letter From a Birmingham Jail The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal turning point in the battle for equal rights for African Americans. Among the many leaders and supporters of the movement, one of the most notable activists of all was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King dedicated most of his life to the fight for equal rights. He did this through the use of nonviolent direct action. Although his actions were appreciated by many, just as many people were annoyed, offended, and disagreed with his actions. Consequently, King ended up in jail numerous times. However, upon his arrest in Birmingham, Alabama for demonstrating without a permit, King decided to utilize his time in jail to write a letter to certain clergymen who criticized his actions. In this letter, King addresses his thoughts, feelings, actions, and the criticism that he was subjected to by his fellow clergymen. Through the creation of this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. has created an influential and thought provoking piece of literature. While incarcerated, Dr. King had lots of time to collect his thoughts. After thinking about everything that had happened and about all the things that have yet to happen led King to write a letter discussing all of theses things. This letter clearly states King's goal multiple times. He writes, “But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here (King 1).” He goes on to write, “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for help (King 1).” In those...
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...Martian Luther King, arguably one of the most influential and respected social activists of all time is best known for his I have a dream speech. However King was also the author of a persuasive masterpiece in the form of a letter that he wrote while incarcerated in a Birmingham jail, that up until recent years wasn’t as highly regard as his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On April 16, 1963, while imprisoned, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter addressed to eight clergymen who were allegedly concerned about what King was doing for civil rights. Dr. King’s response in the letter uses a great sum of rhetorical devices. Throughout his letter Dr. King used Ethos Pathos and Logos effectively. In order to support his avocation of non-violent protest and his reason for being in Birmingham. At the very beginning of his second paragraph in his letter, Dr. King quickly establishes his credibility, by explaining to the clergy men of his affiliation with the SCLC. King states: “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and organization operating in every southern state” (164). Kings ability to use Ethos here is adequate, because he uses his position and affiliation with the SCLC; in order...
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...Letter From Birmingham Jail Vs. “I Have a Dream Speech” The first way that a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “ I have a Dream” differ are in their intended audience, as one is intended for a group of white clergymen while the other is intended to rally a large group. This difference in audience and how Dr. King chooses to appeal to each of his audiences causes for the choices in language and the purpose of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I have a Dream” to differ. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is addressed to white clergymen, and the purpose of the letter is to defend the demonstrations that were taking place. As Dr. King is trying to defend the demonstrations to these white clergymen, his language choice is quite interesting. One brilliant way that he chooses to defend the demonstrations is by appealing to the white men through his choice of Anglo terms. For instance, in the letter, Dr. King writes, “Just as the prophets of the eighth century century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saint the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town” (King). This choice of wording makes Dr. King’s argument stronger since as these white men disagree with Dr. King and his form of peaceful protest, the white clergymen will not be able to argue back because he is using religious references that if the white men chose to argue against, it would make them look like hypocrites (Eubank). While...
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...8/20/2012 “Letter From Birmingham Jail” 1. Why was Martin Luther King, Jr., in Birmingham? Martin Luther King, Jr., was in Birmingham, because of the injustice to the American Negro. He felt compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his own home town. 2. What is a law? A law, as defined by dictionary.com, is the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision. I other words, laws govern or enforce the quality of life of the citizens in a community or locale. They are usually put into effect by the form of the majority vote. 3. What is a “just/unjust” law? A just law, according to Martin, is a law that is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. So in other words, just laws are typically for the betterment of all people and unjust laws seeks to oppress a minority group. These unjust laws do not bind to the makers of such laws. 4. What does Martin Luther King, Jr., use to build the contents of the “letter?” Dr. King effectively uses The Bible, former demonstrations, the white church, white supporters, Muslim theories, constitutional rights and past experiences that reflected inhumane treatment by the oppressor. These were the primary contents that appeared throughout his letter. 5. Is there...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of The Letter from Birmingham Jail Influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement and active agitator for justice, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. in his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, argues passionately that injustice anywhere automatically creates the timely situation for organized retaliation in seeking freedom for the oppressed. King was arrested and placed in Birmingham Jail after a peaceful protest in downtown Birmingham. King was “the foremost civil rights leader in America in the 1950s and 1960s” (Kirszner and Mandell 799). “An ordained minister who held a doctorate in theology, King was the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” (799). “King and his followers met opposition not only from white moderates but also from some African-American clergymen who thought King was a troublemaker.” King’s opposition labeled his demonstrations and acts against segregation as “untimely”, “unwise”, and...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements. The majority of the sentences in King’s letter can be connected to logos, pathos or ethos and his incorporation of appeals is masterful. On more than one occasion, King uses various strategies to appeal to his audience, in the letter he writes, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” In this excerpt, King presents his ethos very tactically. The Alabama clergy presents him as an outsider in the letter, but demonstrating his ethos, King presents himself as an insider. He is not just a man who chose to protest in an outside community, but is in fact the president of the Conference. He...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. He was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. During the civil rights protests, he was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama because for protesting without a permit. Some realized arresting Dr. King is the best idea. However, Dr. King did not let jail block his...
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...In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a Letter from Birmingham Jail after arrested for peacefully protesting against segregation and racial discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. The Jim Crow system created segregation laws for blacks and whites having separate bathrooms, schools, and restaurants that existed after the era of slavery. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had expected the support of numerous local religious figures in hopes of uniting to end racial terror. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail King recognizes and replies to every nine detailed criticisms created by the white church and its leaders. What is evident in this letter is that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses emotional, rational, and ethical to persuade those who read his letter. To get his readers feeling emotion King...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the letter from Birmingham jail in 1963. He wrote it while he had been in jail for eleven days. Dr. King at the time had many supporters, but he also had several haters who disagreed with his beliefs and values. Martin Luther King, Jr. received hate from people in leadership position, but he continued to proclaim freedom and racial equality. The purpose of “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” deals with a response from Dr. King to his critics and “ clergymen”. Dr. King desired to make his followers aware of the problems that were occurring in Birmingham, so that they could in some way help him. Dr. King’s letter serves as a historic and well-known document that became part of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King begins...
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...Courage and Moral Leadership Olivier Faye Dr. Mark Pantaleo PAD 515 Sunday, February 5, 2012 What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy? According to Webster’s Dictionary, a leader is one who leads. As a leader, you can put ethical values into action and set the example you want followers to live by. You can resist pressures to act unethically just to avoid criticism or achieve short term gains. (Daft, page 167). Leadership is not merely a set of practice with no association with right or wrong. All leadership practice can be used for good or evil and thus have a moral dimension. Leaders choose whether to act form selfishness and greed to diminish others or to behave in ways that serve others and motivate people to expand their potential and as a human being. Moral leadership is about distinguishing right from wrong and doing right, seeking the just, the honest, the good and the right conduct to achieve goals and fulfilling purpose There are a select few individuals who have come variously to be called great or brilliant because they and their accomplishments have forever changed society and the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was on those individual. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) would have been 83 on Jan. 15, 2012. Unfortunately his birthday has been turned into a three-day weekend by being recognized as a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January each year...
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...content is more important than style. In the case of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prominent style creates a platform for the development of the context of his opinions. A stylistic device King uses in both essays in order to convey his message is the allusion. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King references the Boston tea party, destruction that was then deemed gallant by the American public. King references this occurrence from the past to clarify that when he was arrested he was in fact doing the ethical thing, but it just happened to be illegal. Doing the moral thing, in Kings opinion, and doing the legal thing do not constantly have to correlate. This allusion also showcases that civil disobedience is not...
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