Does Martin Luther King Jr Mean In Letter From Birmingham Jail

How was it alright during Nazi Germany to kill jews or in America for white policeman to kill blacks, but illegal to help jews out from being killed or illegal for blacks to be in the same place as whites? In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. responds to the clergymen’s statement that King’s actions have been “unwise and untimely” (377). King was a brilliant activist that motivated many to stand up for their rights but many tried stopping him. While fighting for desegregation King was put in jail for parading without a permit. During his incarceration, he wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” so that he could further explain his actions towards fighting for freedom. He explains that the reason he is in Birmingham is

After a prolonged wait for their civil rights, King had decided that there was no more time to waste and that it was time for “nonviolent direct action” (380). King believed that “justice too long delayed is justice denied,” what this meant is that when something has been put aside so long, it is forgotten (381).King then wrote, “When you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters...then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (381-82). How could they continue waiting for change when there were people being mistreated and killed? People being killed for the simple fact that they wanted equal rights. King therefore had no choice but to take action, but in a peaceful manner, only to get the point across of change needed and

He explains that “an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (King 383). In other words, a law becomes inequitable when it is used against a citizens civil rights, like the laws of segregation. Another example of an unjust law was the denial to vote based on the color of the skin. King argued that when these laws were made, it is an individual's duty to break them. By doing so, he would be “expressing the highest respect for law” because he would be going against people and accepting the punishment for it (King