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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Violent, racist terrorism against African Americans was at its peak when Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr was arrested in 1963. Before his arrest, Dr. King went to Birmingham to protest for injustice and segregation, but his methods were to destructive for the community. In the missive, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, makes an effort to convince his fellow eight white clergymen that it is time to take immediate actions towards injustice and the increased violence among people. By appealing to ethos and pathos, Dr. King convinces his fellow clergymen of the unfairness of segregation. In the written document “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King wrote the letter for his fellow eight white clergymen who disapprove of his direct actions in a nonviolent protest of racial inequality. As a result from his imprisonment, he wants the clergymen to understand why he selected that day to protest; additionally, he wants them to know that he should …show more content…

For instance, Dr. King puts himself in the same level of education as the clergymen when he references, “My dear fellow clergymen (King 1)”; as well as, letting them know that they are no different from him or his beliefs. At the same time, Dr. King mentions, “So I am here, along with several member of my staff, because we were invited here. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here” (King 1). In these lines, Dr. King is voicing out that he is not an “outsider coming in” (King 1); in fact, he is part of the human rights organization and should be given the authority or interest on the subject of injustice and racial discrimination because he has endured such hatred. Now, that Dr. King has refreshed the clergymen about his connections with the organization, they will have to accept his

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