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Racism and discrimination by matin luther king
Civil society protests from the 1950 to1970 civil rights movement
Racism and discrimination by matin luther king
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By reading both “Alabama Clergymen’s Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr” and “Letter from Birmingham City Jail- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr” the reader becomes aware of how passionate and rightfully life changing Martin Luther King Jr’s movements were. The first letter, sent to King by an Alabama clergymen, is an perfect representation of the painfully common defiance white leaders had towards the oppressed blacks. The clergymen also drops the classic “wait”, saying that if King stops his demonstrations, “equality” and “peace” will eventually ease into the white leaders minds. The second letter is written by King to the clergymen, addressing in the most calm way possible just how wrong he is, and how these demonstrations need to cause tension.
In Dr. King’s letter, he is responding to the outside world by calling him and the individuals involved, unwise. Dr. King argues that for justice, they had no other choice but to do this. The three themes I noticed in this letter was; injustice, religion, and nonviolent actions. As we all know, Dr. King was all about nonviolent acts of protesting. In his letter, he writes, “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary” (King).
In Paragraph 40 of "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Dr. King expresses great disappointment in the contemporary church because the churches tended to lean towards the status quo. They hid behind various excuses and commended authority for treating nonviolent demonstrators harshly. He is, however, able to find hope in the spirits of individuals. Dr. King expresses disappointment in the inactivity of the church. Rather than act, churches often preached that segregation versus desegregation was a matter of the state.
Overcoming injustice and oppression is a difficult thing to do. Overcoming institutional, century’s old, outright and abject injustice and oppression is another animal all together. In a letter written from his Birmingham jail cell, Dr. King weaves philosophical ideals and scriptural/moral principles into a fabric of reason which absolutely decimates the foundations of segregation and its active or tacit supporters. While providing clear proof of his deep understanding of the issue at hand, Dr. King authors a moving yet emotionally grounded appeal to his fellow man about their sense of justice, morality, responsibility, and motive in placing one race above another.
King also explains his point on disobeying unmoral and unjust laws by referring to biblical figures Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who didn’t follow the laws of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar’s laws were unmoral and unjust, whoever didn’t follow them were thrown to the lions or were executed (King, para. 18). This evidence is a strength of King’s argument because it relates to what King and African Americans go through facing unjust laws, but they don’t face harsh
By analyzing statements of Dr. King’s word, his words shows very powerful message across the nations because his strong words motivated people to choose right path and fight for their rights. He states that the person, who breaks laws through non-violence, shows the greatest respect for the laws. By his statement, I believed that Dr. King. trying to shows an individual who follows the rule of civil disobedience will greatly shows the respect for laws; even though an individual will punish by the worse consequences. A person who has to willing to accept the result from the direct actions, self-purification. Negotiation, than she /he will be loyal to the rules
In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. is responding to accusations made by eight Alabama clergymen. He asserts that his actions, and the actions of his followers were just and reasonable. He notes that the clergymen claimed he was acting too hastily but King explains that their actions were not hasty. He backs up his actions with persuasive argument and reasoning. He points out ways that others actions have been unjust and immoral.
The reason for open letters are so, that the author can get his/her point across in a time of need, on behalf of justice, or on behalf of others. In Dr.King’s open letter “The letter from Birmingham jail” is a mixture of both commentary genre and rebuttal microgenre as he commentates his opinions on the injustices that the blacks of the south face with the white supremacists, throughout the open letter Dr.King argues why the act of nonviolence is the best way to solve segregation in the south. The discomfort of being in jail for acting against racism gives Dr.King the motivation for writing this open letter, in the open letter, King expresses the discomfort of having that the racial justice of his people have been too long denied by stating
History has only proven that the insufficiency of equality as individuals brings hostility between people. For example, the discrimination that people of color had suffered due to the rules and restrictions that were imposed to them. Even though, they were American born citizens, the government was not treating them as equal. Therefore, they started to fight for their rights; most of their manifests were non-violent but due to the discernment from the opposite side some of those protests ended up in riots. Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. even describes their frustrations on a letter that he wrote to his oppose white fellow.
In August of 1963, from the Birmingham Jail, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a public response to a statement issued by eight white religious leaders. In the statement by the religious leaders, they described the Birmingham protests "unwise and untimely." In King’s response, he both defended the actions of himself and his fellow activists, but he expressed his disappointment with two large groups due to either their actions or inactions. King was justified in his expressed disdain for the actions of some but not all of those targeted in this famous Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Martin Luther King Jr. writes a letter to a few of his fellow clergymen that he left with the title "Letter from Birmingham Jail." While in jail at Birmingham, King had wrote this letter. In this letter he wrote, King decides to address a few people who questioned his intentions as "unwise and untimely." He also decides to discuss his intentions and why he believes they are not "unwise and untimely." In order to have a better understanding of King's intentions, let us look at his concept of justice and his disappointment in the country he lives in, his disapointment in the church system, and the disappointment in the people of america.
On April 12, 1963, civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. He was asked by an affiliate of his organization to partake in a nonviolent program. He was arrested during a non violent protest. Police Commissioner Eugene Connor declared that the reason behind King’s arrest was that he did not at have a permit to protest. While he served his 11 day sentence, King would write the “Letter From Birmingham City Jail” to the eight Birmingham Clergymen.
A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.
On April 16 of 1953, Martin Luther King Junior wrote an astonishing letter to the clergymen of Alabama. That day, King led an anti-segregation protest in hopes to end the cruel treatment of African Americans specifically in Birmingham, Alabama. While he was peacefully protesting, King and others were imprisoned in Birmingham City Jail. Here, King wrote about the horrendous and bitter behavior towards African Americans in the south. Throughout the memorandum, King will parade a formal but personal tone and ventilate the ghastly behavior of white moderates.
In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” he provides answers to fundamental metaphysical questions regarding the nature of the human soul. Though his letter is addressed to a group of eight clergymen criticizing his direct action campaign in Birmingham, his ultimate aim is the uplifting of human personhood. Underlying King’s letter is a philosophical, hylemorphic anthropology which puts an anchor deep into a certain conception of personhood, and binds all people who are to read it. He looks deeply at the nature of human beings, as rational creatures who are made to love and be loved, and from thence, deliberates that there is a universal Gospel of Freedom and Justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that there are universal principles justifying what actions are morally right and wrong, just and unjust.
