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Dr King Letter From Birmingham Jail

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1. King addresses “The Clergyman” in his response letter from a Birmingham jail in attempts to refute and further explain his position and reason for his actions. In response to their claims that his methods we “unwise and untimely” (King 800) he begins with a layout of why he feels that this letter and distinction is important and why he has come to Birmingham. It is in no uncertain terms a brief history of why and how he became involved in the activities if Birmingham. King argues, “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” (King 800) laying the ground work and rationale for his involvement and actions. This letter is specifically written to The Clergyman, however, Dr. Kings’s purpose for this letter was to inform all …show more content…

King impresses his readers with his historical knowledge in terms of the origin of laws to point out whether they are coined just or unjust. Quotes from St Augustine, “an unjust law is not law at all” and Thomas Aquinas, “an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law”(King 804) clearly define the premise of God given rights. King relates to his readers by stating that segregation is against the natural law or in other terms the human rights given by our creator. He then goes on to provide more present examples of immoral rights being sequestered by those who do not have the authority to do so. The concrete example of the Supreme Courts decision to outlaw segregation in 1954 yet holding Dr. King in jail for not having a permit to parade in public adequately calls into question his statement, “how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others.” (King 803) Who legitimizes the laws that are to be obeyed and the ones that are to be broken? How is it rational for a majority to take away rights that we as human beings are all born with? For those who do not believe on God-given rights Dr. King provides an even more rational and logical approach, “but such 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 804) This quote points out clearly that moral injustice exists when a majority that does not include the well being of minority citizens foregoes laws put in place for equality and restates laws that protect on the

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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

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses racial segregation and all the injustices to the black American society. He writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen, but it also became one of the most influential letters in defense of nonviolent movement ever written. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the country and the most violent. Even after segregation was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954. In Birmingham, white and black Americans were very much separate with “white only” hotels, restaurants, and even bathrooms.

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The letter from Birmingham jail is a strong persuasive letter, especially for its audience, clergymen. King used all kinds of methods, logos, ethos, pathos. He is very insightful about his audience. King, as a clergyman himself, understand what other clergymen’s perspective and what they believe in. To start this letter, King addresses the recipient as “dear fellow clergymen”.

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The use of the historical and biblical allusions/ references being used is to help build a standard ground for his audiences and the clergymen; it also helps make his letter more effective. King 's letter uses biblical allusions to create analogies between

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Assignment 3.08 I.King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a prime example of how to construct an effective edict. II. The precise construction of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" had the intended effect of awakening his fellow clergy to become responsive to the plight of African Americans. Instead of alienating them at the beginning of the letter. A. King responds to his fellow clergy in the first paragraph of his letter with a pacifying tone, (Paraphrase) When he expresses they are also sincere in their beliefs and critiques of his protests, so he will honor them with a justifiable debate.

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“Letter from Birmingham Jail” ABCBC Paragraph In the text “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, by Martin Luther King Jr., King used the power of pathos and rhetorical questions to enhance his claim about the injustice of segregation along with advocating for civil disobedience. The text reads, “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King, page 7). One can see from this that the use of pathos persuades the readers opinion in the matter in that pathos allows a writing to appeal to your emotions in evoking an emotional response. The evidence suggests a strong credibility on why segregation is inequitable supporting the authors purpose to validate how segregation vigorously twists the

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Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and social activist, who led the civil right movement in the United Stated throughout the mid 50’s until his assassination. Dr. King was arrested for participating in some sort of demonstration against racism and unjustified segregation. King’s “Letter from Birmingham city jail” purpose is to basically promote responsible and efficient leadership without racism and injustice. Throughout his letter, Dr. King wanted to illustrate the bias way of how the African American community was treated especially in the South.

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Dr. King states, “There are just and there are unjust laws. I would agree with Saint Augustine that ‘An unjust law is no law at all. ’”(p.11). An unjust law is unfair to all people regardless of race. He alluded to Christian ideologies, because he wanted to show his central audience, which were the clergymen that, previously Christians agreed with his perspective on unjust laws , and how African Americans shouldn’t be deprived from their rights.

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It was a direct response to the “Alabama Clergymen’s Public Statement to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”, which condemned King’s use of public demonstrations. His purpose in writing the open letter was to address topics with which the undersigned clergymen of the public statement took issue. He also aimed to explain why said public demonstrations were necessary for bringing about tangible civil justice, as well as garnering more support for the cause. King’s intended audience was not only the clergymen who penned the public statement, but also Christians and the people of the United States as a whole. In his “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. successfully argues that peaceful protests and public demonstrations are necessary for bringing about civil justice.

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Dr. King would likely disagree. When writing The Letter from Birmingham Jail he said, “Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such 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).

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“I have a dream, that one day my four little children will live in a nation, where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” These words were spoken on August 28 1963 by a man named Martin Luther King, who was a huge leader of the U.S civil rights movement. Martin Luther King believed in equal rights for white and colored people. He also believed that nonviolent protests were the most effective way to change the attitudes of racist and unjust people. Earlier in that year on April 16, Martin Luther King wrote a letter from the Birmingham Jail addressed to many different church leaders.

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The Story from Behind Bars In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King, persuades the white moderate to support nonviolent direct action against racism and segregation. King writes this letter to respond to the eight Clergy men who put him in jail. He does not believe he deserved to be arrested but does not blame the Birmingham police.

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King brought forth law enforcement, the civil rights movement, and speaks about how it was unjust and just. “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal” (King, 15). An unjust law is simply unfair; it’s a voting criterion and may not be right. [A] just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself.

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Martin Luther King’s Jr. “Letters from the Birmingham Jail” is a powerful piece of literature that denounces racism and segregation. His eloquent articulation of segregation in America truly gives the reader a sense of what he and his people had to endure. After a few paragraphs I could already see King’s pure genius and intellect; his ideas had the ability jump off the paper and embedded themselves into one’s conscious. He made it feel as if you were living this scary, but ever so real life with him. Consequently he used this sheer power to fix an unjust system of racial prejudice, which needed to be altered.

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Martin Luther King Jr. writes, "I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances because they are morally wrong." When King writes "they are morally wrong," he is contending that the segregation ordinances are in opposition to eternal and natural law. In fact, natural and eternal law being a 'higher law' is the basis of King's philosophy of 'non-violent civil disobedience.' King views the segregation laws, a human law, to be in disagreement with natural and eternal law; therefore, he believes that these laws should not be followed. King writes, "Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.

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