Dr King wrote a direct response to the eight clergymen from Alabama in a confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama which is now known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” It addresses the wrong-doings and injustices going on in Birmingham. King was arrested for being part of a peaceful protest against segregation that had not been approved to be marched in that area. King argues that publicly showing that people including him are against segregation is better than just negotiating and having the “Negro community” patiently wait around for society to move toward civil rights and that demanding social justice provokes individuals and groups to act out, regardless of how peaceful the method may be. Dr King explains why it is okay for him to be a part …show more content…
King also describes how the actions of him and his organization were responsible because they followed the four basic steps and pertain to non-violent direct action. King explains the value of direct action, and that his group wanted to establish an innovative yet passive tension. His group wanted to have the racism going on dramatized to make sure the community as a whole was forced to have the issue be presented directly to them. King points out the oppressor never willingly gives out the freedom. After acknowledging many legitimate concerns, King defends breaking laws as a moral act, since he states there are both just and unjust laws, and that there are laws that “uplift” or “degrade human personality.” He weights the differences between violations of not having a parade permit and the violations constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. King makes a very powerful point, how a law isn’t considered democratically structured if the law discriminates against minorities. King adds two confessions of serious disappointment. Each confession leans towards hypocrisy and cowardice, and each one has to do with groups of Americans who King calls out because of their political