...Engl. 1213-009 29 November 2010 Letter from Birmingham Jail In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King expresses his grief for his fellow black people, after seeing and hearing about the injustice that was taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King is very explicit in the letter; he makes a very obvious argument on the immeasurable amount of injustice taking place. A reader experiences firsthand that it was about time for necessary action to take place, considering how long the black people had waited for equality through nonviolent protest. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a response to eight clergymen’s letter called “A Call for Unity”. In the letter, Dr. King addresses his critics that believed his actions were “unwise and untimely” (King 204). To achieve his personal proposal, King uses ethos, pathos and logos to convey a sense of understanding a reason for equality and sympathy. The main point in Dr. King’s letter is that black people have patiently waited long enough for their God-given rights; “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights” (King 207). And despite what anyone might have said, it time for change to take place. He starts his counterargument towards the clergymen, ministers and civil leaders of Birmingham adequately; he wrote “You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, but your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought...
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...Nick Genaris Professor Ngoh Protest Literature 21th October 2015 Letter from Birmingham Jail-Rhetorical Analysis Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in order to address the biggest issue in Birmingham and the United States at the time (racism) and to also address the critics he received from the clergymen. The letter discusses the great injustices happening toward the Black community in Birmingham and although it is primarily aimed at the clergymen King writes the letter for all to read. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. uses logos, alliteration/repetition, and ethos to back up his belief that nonviolent protesting and disobedience is the most effective means to protest anything that needs to be changed, in this case segregation. After reading King’s letter I, and almost anyone, would come to the conclusion that King is deeply motivated to help against any injustice in the US. Who else would go to such lengths if they didn’t? He knows how persuasive he can be by using his knowledge of the English language, and he uses this to speak out against people who doubt him (clergymen) and to incite a different way of thinking into the people in hopes of change. Dr. King’s letter is extremely effective because it provides an enormous amount of evidence to the reader that he and his company are being treated unjustly and also that King truly cares about making a change for the good of the city. It also re-directs attention...
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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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... was arrested and put in a Birmingham jail for demonstrating/protesting without a permit. During this time, he wrote a letter to eight dissatisfied white clergymen on behalf of a public statement of concern. In this lengthy, strong-handed letter, Dr. King did not argue; he did not get angry, but rather, he provided views of brotherhood and peace within his rebuttal. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in order to persuade and inform his audience of the benefits of equality. Dr. King was thrown in jail due to illegal protesting. During his time of being locked up, “[he] came across a recent statement calling their present activities ‘unwise and untimely”. (King 1) During the time that King was locked up, he had plenty of time to think and release his anger, but it wasn’t until later when he began to write a rebuttal of the recent criticisms made by the eight white clergymen. In the letter, King does not release any anger, nor does he argue with the clergymen’s response. In fact, he writes in a calm manner that sends a message of peace, as well as comfort. On the other hand though, he doesn’t simply ignore the fact of the utter ignorance of what was said. A main strategy that King uses is one that...
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...Summary of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” In the featured article, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, an imprisoned Dr. Martin Luther King, on the date of April 16, 1963, composes a response to his fellow clergymen addressing their criticism of his activities and beliefs. He begins the note with an explanation for his presence in Birmingham. An associate had invited him with the request of initiating an immediate action, nonviolent plan, to fight the segregation, racial issues, and injustice found in Birmingham. The author suggests there are 4 steps to building a nonviolent campaign: verifying the existence of injustice by compiling evidence, negotiating with the power, self-purification to prepare for the event, and immediate measures to deal...
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...While being detained in a Birmingham city jail, amid the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. penned, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, King would burgeon into a notable figure, who relentlessly pursued the eradication of ending racial inequalities that plagued the nation during the 1950s and 1960s. King single-handedly dismantled the cornerstone of injustice on which the country was built on, in not only to a response to eight of his fellow clergymen who chastised his rationale regarding protest, but to those of whom also deplored his methods. In a compiled 21 typed pages, that was initially composed on scraps of paper, King seamlessly wove together a riveting piece of literature that captured the essence of his cause for peace and brotherhood. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,”, written on April 16, 1963, King harnessed the compelling nature of rhetoric while...
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...The purpose of Martin Luther King’s words used in the letter from Birmingham Jail was to correct the misconceptions and to advocate the approach of nonviolent civil disobedience. Martin Luther King wanted to get rid of racial injustice by writing the letter. Therefore, the cause is the words he used in the letter, the effect is the civil rights act. First, the cause in the letter was to correct the misconceptions held by clergymen. He wanted to make his point clear in order to get the effect he was hoping for. For example, on page 187, paragraph 3, Martin Luther King states, “But more basically, I am here in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This means he is simply trying to gain justice, and not trying to start a rampage. The tactics...
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...In April 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. During his time in jail, he wrote what became to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King wrote this letter to explain his actions to the other clergymen who disagreed with his protests and actions. This was very effective in getting more blacks, and even some whites, to join King’s group of peaceful protesters. It was effective because he appealed to the emotions of the reader, and he used vivid analogies to make the content of the letter easier to understand. The writing of this letter was a vital point in the Civil Rights Movement. After the letter was written, many people joined the Movement. Without this letter, the Civil Rights Movement may not have been the success it was. At the time this letter was written, the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to gain momentum. King had become the face of the fight against discrimination. People in the movement knew that they needed to start having bigger protests to gain statewide and national attention. So in April of 1963, King started doing lunch counter sit-ins, and later they marched on Birmingham City Hall. After the march on City Hall, King and many of the other protesters were arrested and put in jail. This is where King would write his letter. He wrote the letter in response to other articles in the paper saying that the protests were unwise and untimely. There was a statement in a newspaper which was written...
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...Letters from Birmingham PeeJay Nowling Argosy University Online Letters from Birmingham 1. King was in Birmingham to address the issue of injustice by organizing a protest. Define the injustice and the protest and explain how Judeo-Christian ethics were applied to allow for civil disobedience. How was the injustice in Birmingham tied to all communities in the south? Dr. King had the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization in every southern state. Their headquarters were in Atlanta, Georgia. They had 85 affiliated organizations and one of them was the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. They shared staff, educational and financial resources with their affiliates. Several months back Dr. King and members of his staff were invited because they had organizational ties there and they were asked to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if it were necessary. Dr. King was in Atlanta and could not stand idly by while there was injustice in Birmingham. He said, “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” (King, 2006). “He wanted to carry the gospel of freedom” (King, 2006). King claimed without direct action there would be no change. 2. King lists four steps to nonviolent campaigns. Name them. “There are four basic steps to any non-violent campaign...
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...kicked off the Birmingham campaign, a campaign that was designed to bring attention to the integration efforts of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. This campaign was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a minster from Atlanta, Georgia that also served as the president of SCLC. Dr. King along with other SCLC volunteers and supporters were arrested on April12, 1963 after violating an anti-protest injection what was obtained by Birmingham’s police commissioner Bull Connor. This was Dr. King’s 13th arrest and during this time he was kept in solitary confinement where he pinned the famous “Letters from Birmingham Jail.” In this letter Dr. King addressed the criticism that had been published in the Birmingham News from a group of eight local white clergymen who codenamed his methods of using non-violent protests to eliminate racial injustice. In the open letter the eight clergymen felt that though injustice did exist in the American society that the battle against racial segregation should be addressed in the courts verses in the streets. They also felt as it the protest was unwise and untimely and seemed to take issue to the fact that the protest was organized and led by outsiders. In Dr. King’s response his aim was to defend the use of non-violent protests and also to appeal to the American society, both black and white. In the beginning of Dr. King’s letter, he responds to the criticism that he and his fellow activists were “outsiders” causing trouble in Birmingham. Dr. King...
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...Letter from the Birmingham City Jail When Martin Luther King went to jail after he led a protest in Birmingham City against the moderate, his fellow clergy men wrote him a letter, showing their disapproval for his actions. Luther then replied, explaining why he did it and let them know it was to be this way if they wanted a change. They asked him if he could’ve negotiated instead of direct actions. Non-violent directions from people who wouldn’t think of negotiating to confront issues at hand that can no longer be ignored. He also said that non-violent tension is necessary for growth. He uses Socrates’ example when he thought that it was needed to create tension amongst others in order to rise above bondage and myths. His fellow clergy men also accused him of carrying out his actions in an “untimely” manner. He told them that actions unwanted are always untimely. Without non-violent pressure they have not gain anything in the civil rights. He explains that people in authority don’t volunteer freedom and that justice that is delayed is justice not granted. There is a time when everyone gets enough of injustice. Just Law: 1. A man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. 2. Uplifts human responsibility. 3. A code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not blinding on itself. Unjust Law: 1. Not rooted in internal and natural law. 2. Degrades human personality. 3. All segregations statuses (distorts the soul and damages...
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...imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for leading the non-violent demonstration against racial segregation and injustice. As Kind read the letter written by the eight local Clergymen, he then wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in order to defend his action nonviolent actions. King uses many varieties of rhetoric strategies to exemplify his argument. He uses three Aristolean means of persuasion Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to establish his argument on the nonviolent protest movement. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, written from the Birmingham Jail, he uses ethos to establish the credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice. King states in the letter “I have the honor of serving as president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. speaks from the Birmingham Jail to the “new administration” about his nonviolent protests as a result of the violence towards blacks and to secure civil rights. King used the rhetorical devices ethos, logos and allusion to reach the clergymen. Martin Luther King Jr. uses ethos to influence his audience to trust him and believe that he knows what he’s talking about. King states “I am in Birmingham because there is injustice here ”pg.1 paragraph 3. In this quote King is telling the audience that he is in Birmingham for them, so he can stop the injustice. If he is there to stop injustice, then he is there for the people and their safety. That is how he uses ethos in this quote, it makes the people believe he...
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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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...Martin Luther King Jr. - Letter from Birmingham City Jail: The letter from Birmingham jail was written by Martin Luther King Jr while he was in jail, speaking on the behalf of colored people and their fight for equality, and a call for unity regarding human injustices. King wrote this letter as a reaction to the allegations from the clergymen who had criticized his campaign. The clergymen wanted the fight for the issues by King to be done through the court system, not in the streets. In this letter, King responds to them in attempt to gain their support against racial discrimination, not only in the south, but nationwide. King wrote this letter in a way to gain trust and remorse from the clergymen, as he was Christian, and wanted to show them that under their shared religious belief, that racial discrimination was not acceptable in the eyes of God. This is his focus in his letter, to show equality and that his people’s efforts were not violent, but they still demanded justice and action to take place. King was determined to continue his fight for unity, even from the confinement of jail. He used his excellent vocabulary to his advantage when writing this letter, to show the clergymen that he was equal to them, if not smarter. He wanted to sound educated and to sound like he knew what he was talking about so that they would see who he really was, not the color of his skin. For example, he says “Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the...
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