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Does Martin Luther King Jr Mean In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In August 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. one of the most significant leaders of the civil rights movement, was convicted and put in jail in Birmingham after preforming a nonviolent demonstration. This is where he wrote “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” in response to the white religious leaders of the South. By writing this letter, he wanted to explain that by them calling, him “untimely and unwise” in him being in Birmingham during this time was false and to take accountability of his actions for the demonstrations he had performed. His reasoning behind doing so is that King needed to be there because there was a great injustice going on against black people by white people he states this in in the second and third paragraphs. Dr. King …show more content…

He tells of that he was not there intentionally to cause trouble but was there to attend a leadership conference that he was invited to. He then tells us that he might need to be on call for a nonviolent demonstration if the time called for it. By stating this, it proves that he was not coming to simple cause any trouble and even speaks on the behalf that they were influenced to believe that he was an outsider coming in. He tells of that since he is president of the southern Christian leadership conferences that he is called to be involved in many of these types of work and that it is operated in many different places not just Birmingham and that he would be in one of the other states if it were …show more content…

He tells us that he had planned to act sooner but the period did not allow it due to the upcoming election that was set into place and if they had acted sooner it may have affected the winning outcome in a negative way. He also tells us that there was much preparation that went into planning what they were going to do such as workshops to prepare them for maintaining a calm composure and made them able to handle whatever happen to them. Such as the police brutality, the name-calling and the other forms of abuse they would have to indoor. He then tells us that the time to act could not wait any longer and after all the effort put into preparing for the demonstration that the time to act was now and they were ready. By stating this, he tells them that it was untimely by no means and that careful consideration taken into account before they

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In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. makes a sound and effective argument against Southern clergymen that the actions performed by him leading to his imprisonment were justified. His argument is effective because he used references from the Bible that the clergymen are familiar with to argue to them that breaking a law is just if the law is unjust. For example, King argued the idea that disobeying unjust laws can be justified by referencing three biblical figures that disobeyed an unjust law and survived their punishment through divine intervention (21). King also strengthened his argument by refuting the clergymen’s opinions that his actions were too extreme.

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Martin Luther King uses allusion in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to add greater meaning to the cause he is defending. Dr. King includes many biblical references in his writing to compare the similarities between actions in the bible and his. For instance, Martin Luther King says “like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Since Martin Luther King King is writing his letter to clergymen, his religious allusions are used to appeal to them; specifically, Dr. King brings up the point that certain tension is caused by people who have been subjected to grievances and believe “...that the white man is an incurable ‘devil.’” In saying this, Martin Luther King tells the clergymen that their sanctimonious acts and racial

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In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he is addressing the Clergymen, more specifically the white church and its leadership who criticized his efforts in the civil rights movement, by calling his demonstrations unwise and untimely. He is also simultaneously addressing the national audience as well in letting them know of the injustices of the time. It was 1963, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from inside a jail cell. He had been arrested during an anti-segregation march for not having a valid parading permit in Birmingham, Alabama. In this letter he addresses the criticisms that were brought forth to him.

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