Analysis Of The Clergyman's Letter From Birmingham Jail

“Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Birmingham used to be the most segregated city, and was home to two famous letters explaining the racial problems occuring during the civil rights movement. The exigence of the White Clergymen’s letter is "An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense'' (Pg 174) in dealing with the racial problems in Birmingham Alabama. They express understanding that honest convictions with racial matters could be properly pursued in court, and the decisions of the courts should be peacefully obeyed. Now the exigence of King's Letter is while in Birmingham jail he reads the Clergymen's letter, and is responding to the clergymen who called his work "unwise and untimely" (Pg 175). It is rare that King

In an attempt to try and convince the community of Birmingham of their beliefs, the Clergymen use pathos. For example, the Clergymen make it seem like a community of whites are the targets, and not African Americans. They try to make the white community look innocent and sympathetic. In their letter the Clergymen state, “However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led by party outsiders.[...] But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely" (Pg 174). The Clergymen try to make the White community as the victims of these demonstrations, by appealing to the audience's emotions. In order to try and stop these demonstrations from happening in Birmingham, the Clergymen try to motivate the community. The Clergymen try to convince the white community of Birmingham to try and stop the actions of African Americans trying to protest for civil rights through motivation. They also try to motivate the law enforcement officials to protect their community from violence. The Clergymen state in their letter, “We urge the public to continue to show restraint should these demonstrations continue, and the law enforcement officials to remain calm and continue to protect our city from violence" (Pg

One fallacy present in the clergymen’s letter is red herring. The clergymen use and provide irrelevant and misleading information to the audience to try and drive their attention away from the argument. For example the Clergymen state, "Just as we formerly pointed out that 'hatred and violence have no sanctions in our religious and political traditions' we also point out that such actions as incite hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problem" (P 174). The Clergymen try to take the audience's attention away from their claim of letting local governments handle civil rights cases, by providing information to distract the audience. Another fallacy present in the Clergymen’s letter is missing evidence. The clergymen talk about how the media and law enforcement have handled these situations calmly, but there is no evidence provided to support their claim. In the Clergymen's letter they state, "We commend the community as a whole, and the local news media and ;as enforcement officials in particular, on the calm manner in which these demonstrations have been handled" (P 174). The Clergymen make claims without supporting evidence, which undermines the logic of their argument. A third fallacy used in the Clergymen's letter is slippery slope. The clergymen use this as