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Martin Luther King Junior's Involvement In Birmingham

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In the 1960s African Americans were fighting the battle for their civil rights in the South. The city that enforced segregation the most in the South was Birmingham, Alabama. Negros encountered mobs of angry white men, the KKK, and police brutality (1-2). The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights needed more participants for their nonviolent direct action program (1). This is why Martin Luther King Junior was involved in Birmingham. King had organizational ties there, and wanted to end the racial injustice that was happening in the city (1). While in Birmingham, King was sent to the city jail for protesting without a permit. While in the jail facility, he wrote a letter responding to several clergymen’s statements on his nonviolent demonstrations …show more content…

He uses examples to explain the differences between just and unjust laws (4). Also how everything that Adolf Hitler did was legal but immoral, just like what America was doing at the time (4). He uses religious, historical, and political examples to show the clergymen that he is just as educated as they are. His religious examples include Jesus who was an extremist for love, Paul the extremist for the word of God. It also includes Shadrach, Meshach, Abendigo who refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar’s immoral laws, Amos the extremist for justice, and Martin Luther who was another example of a religious extremist (6). His historical examples include Socrates who was punished for challenging people to think, and John Bunyan, who was a writer that published The Pilgrims Progress (6). His political examples include Abraham Lincoln who was an extremist for ending slavery, and Thomas Jefferson who was extremist for equality for all men (6). He also used direct quotes to emphasize his claims and to show how big his knowledge base is (9). He also uses the Jesus and religious examples because his audience is the clergymen who value the Bible and preach it for a living. This is one of the reasons of just how persuasive King can

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Summary/Assessment: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which is an organization operating in every Southern state with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. He came to Birmingham, Alabama because injustice lies there and helped protest about it in a nonviolent demonstration against racial discrimination. The eight clergymen of the South did not approve of these demonstrations happening which caused Dr. King to be confined in Birmingham Jail cell, writing a letter to them men explaining on why he was in Birmingham and what his reasons were for these protests. He begins to talk about and explain the four basic steps that needed to be followed for any nonviolent campaign. He also gives the audience a better understanding by giving a visual glimpse of what the black community had to endure.

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In 1963, King was arrested and sent to jail after protesting blacks’ rights in Birmingham, Alabama. In jail, King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which was towards the clergymen that believed that blacks should not be allowed to protest for their rights. This letter was filled with reasons why the blacks should not be told to wait for their change, which is why the strongest paragraph in King’s letter would be on page 6 when King mentioned that the blacks are always told by white leaders that if they wait, they will finally gain their rights. The blacks had believed them when they said this and yet, nothing happened after waiting. They tried their best to keep it professional by not bringing any violence which led them to protesting, however,

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In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.

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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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Martin Luther King was a firm advocate of peaceful protests and actions to attain social change; however, these actions failed to bring equality. On April 10th, 1963 the city of Birmingham banned street marches without permission. When King refused to call off his demonstrations he was arrested on April 12, and placed in solitary confinement in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail King read the newspaper ad “A Call for Unity”, calling King’s activities “unwise and untimely”; this ad was a public statement signed by eight Alabama clergymen in protest to King’s actions. In response to this, King writes “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, arguing the points the eight men made in their statements and defending his actions.

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In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

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Response to “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he responded to statements written in a Birmingham newspaper that criticized his actions in the city. He undermined these disapprovals by explaining his belief in nonviolent direct action. King also went on to give opinions on other topics, such as, the lack of support from white moderates and white churches. He used technique and structure to develop his ideas and justify his methods.

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Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at it’s peak in the South. When King was making his mark in American history, the United States was experiencing great social unrest due to the injustice towards their colored citizens, which would lead to social rights rallies and unnecessary violence. In response to King’s peaceful protesting, the white community viewed “[his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist,” and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive.

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In Birmingham, Alabama on April 3, 1963, a civil rights campaign began. With coordinated marches and sit-ins against racism and racial segregation, the nonviolent operation was organized by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) and Martin Luther King 's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). After several days of protesting, a ban on parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing was sanctioned. Leaders of the campaign declared they would defy the ruling. On April 12, King was arrested along with activist Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and other protestors in front of thousands of African Americans dressed for Good Friday looked on.

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