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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on 16 April 1963 in a solitary confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama. He had terrible conditions when writing this letter since it is known that some parts of this letter were smuggled out by his lawyer on scraps of paper and even rough jailhouse toilet paper. Things were not looking good on Birmingham either, violent racism terror against black people was so bad that the city was being called “Bombingham” by some residents. But these things did not make King give up, he stood up for what he believes is true and he fought for it. In the following paragraphs, we will look at a brief summary of the letter to understand it better and after that we will try to see …show more content…

He tells that they are more devoted to "order" than to justice and they think they can restrict a man's freedom with their shallow understandings. King has hoped that they would understand that we have laws in order to have justice in this world. After that, King addresses the claim of him being an "extremist". He accepts this claim and describes that he is in the middle of two extreme ideas. One of them is to do nothing and the other one is a violent protest by hatred black nationalists. He informs that if King's philosophy is not emerged, more people will be on the violent side and it will inevitably lead to a chaos. Even though he wasn't happy about being categorized as an extremist at first, he states that he is now happy with the label, giving several examples of people considered extremist back in the day, like Jesus. After that, King talks about his disappointment of the Southern church, staying silent and not giving him any help. However, he is happy to see some white people who are in the same page with him. At last, he mentions the police torturing black people for no reason, and blames Clergymen for commanding them to do so. King believes that one day the clergymen will recognize their real heroes, which are the brave black men fighting against injustice. He finishes the letter with apologizing about the length of his letter but tells that considering he is alone in a narrow jail cell, he …show more content…

I imagined a dark, cold room where King was sitting by himself. Although he was in a very bad condition, I think his letter is masterfully crafted. He made me understand the situation very well. I felt bad for black people living in those times and I was also ashamed of the unacceptable behavior of "white moderate". He made me feel so much empathy that I thought I could be the one to solve all of the problems and bring justice to everywhere. When I read the quote "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother", I was ready to join him no matter

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295 Words | 2 Pages

The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., is as stated, a letter. It is in response to the clergymen who criticized him for being in Alabama. Throughout the letter, King explains why he is in Birmingham. He stated that he was there to negotiate with businesses. Some made promises to King and did not fulfill them.

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He compares himself to the Greek philosopher Socrates who said, “There should be a tension in peoples’ minds that could help them break away from the bondage of myths and untruthful lies” (King, para.10). King calls himself an extremist because of his actions. He compares himself to Abraham Lincoln who was an extremist to end slavery who said, “This nation can’t survive half free and half slave.” He also compares himself to Thomas Jefferson who was an extremist for equally who said, “We hold these truths that men are created equal.” King asks his audience, the clergymen, “What kind of extremist are you?”

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1682 Words | 7 Pages

In this paragraph, King starts right off the bat about being called an extremist. He mentions that it upset him at first, but then he started to think about it and said that it wasn’t such a bad thing because it was true. This statement contains a little bit of concede to the other side and agreeing with them about how he was an extremist. What they didn’t see coming was, he starts to name other extremists too. I want to say this, I believe this was a hard blow to his target when he says this, because many of these people were just like him, but succeeded and ended up as legends and huge people in history, as did King.

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Letter from the Birmingham Jail, a letter created by the one and only Martin Luther King Jr.(MLK). This letter was inscribed April 16, 1963 within the walls of MLK's cell at the Birmingham jail. The contents of his writing defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Martin Luther King Jr states a commonly asked question “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth?

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In “Letters from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr answers the clergymen's criticisms in a calm and collected way, acknowledging them and providing insight into his ideas rather than attacking and criticizing. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr begins this letter by addressing his audience, the clergymen, as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen.” This automatically shows that King is taking a more friendly, sincere approach to this rather than a confrontational approach. He is attempting to make them listen and agree with him and his ideas, not give them a reason to completely disregard what he is saying. Throughout the whole letter, King addresses the clergymen’s complaints and criticizes them, without directly attacking and accusing them.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail Dr. King's letter is a powerful peace relating the mentality and feeling of not only himself, but all the people he was fighting for. The letter showed the reasoning behind their ideals and explained the urgency with which they presented them. Their fight was an important one and as they knew, necessary for the forward movement of civil rights. Dr. King states how this movement can not wait.

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1387 Words | 6 Pages

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. Incarcerated, he wrote a letter in response to the Clergymen’s letter in which he wrote his thoughts and justified what many saw as an act that was “unwise and untimely” (King 2). King believed that people were born with the right to freedom and that he was trying to regain that right even though he continued to put it off. He finally saw that he could put it off no longer because of the broken promises and the time he was wasting. His being in Birmingham was brought by the injustice he believed to be there that was far greater than any other place.

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1382 Words | 6 Pages

Perhaps his strongest argument, the very graphic examples involving children, invoke sympathy from the clergymen who, more than likely, have children. When accusations of Rev. Dr. King breaking laws arise, he agrees with St. Augustine in saying that “an unjust law is no law at all” and criticizes the “white moderates” for telling him that his method of direct action was incorrect. Also, he did not like the term extremist at first, but began thinking that Martin Luther and Jesus were both extremists, extremists for love. Rev. Dr. King ends stating groups like Rev. Malcom X’s are on the rise and millions of fed up African Americans will begin seeking these, but regardless they will get

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895 Words | 4 Pages

With the help of these four steps, he justifies the need for the demonstration. King illustrates the city of Birmingham as “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States,” (King 2). Here King is able to show that injustices are present in Birmingham, which further justifies his reason for a peaceful demonstration. King proceeds to speak about his method of protesting. He states that negotiation was not met, and that “[their] hopes had been blasted,” that like “victims of a broken promise,” their wishes had been disregarded, (King 2).

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709 Words | 3 Pages

The priest protests that the demonstrations as unwise, untimely, and a lack of respect for the Negro community as their message to the powers that be. King believed it was essential to let the public see the other side of the argument, for the clergy failed to offer any protesters credit for their actions. The clergy people think that the problems afflicting their country the benefits will be handled on a case that is not on a street corner. The King connected to his readers when he wrote a letter to the African-American community that they would no longer stand to go through as a white area and deny them their God-given

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812 Words | 4 Pages

King is emphasizing the non-violent of his protest by using “extremist” as an example. King questioned people about Jesus and contrasted love and extremity in order to convince the people of Alabama that his methods are effective and reasonable just like what Jesus did to spread

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734 Words | 3 Pages

The priest protests that the demonstrations as unwise, untimely, and a lack of respect for the Negro community as their message to the powers that be. King believed that it was important to let the public see the other side of the argument for the clergy failed to offer any protesters credit for their actions. The clergy people think that the problems afflicting their country the benefits will be handled on a case that is not on a street corner. The King connected to his readers when he wrote a letter to the African-American community that they will no longer stand to go through as a white area and denying them their God-given

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1112 Words | 5 Pages

With all those reason he hopes they clergymen understand the black community “unavoidable impatience” (King 1125). Throughout the rest of the letter he talks about how the clergymen are concerned about the African Americans willingness to break

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1546 Words | 7 Pages

When responding to the eight white clergymen, he states, “Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas,” giving the reader the notion that a plethora of criticism must come across his desk. But, he has chosen to write a response and explain himself simply because King feels they are “men of genuine good will” and their criticism is “sincerely set forth.” After the introduction of his letter, he feels he must next explain his location at the time: Birmingham Jail. “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here,” says King. This quote lets the reader know there is a reason behind King’s arrest, a very good reason, too.

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210 Words | 1 Pages

But, King was not going to let them take him down and that he is going stand what he believe what was right. He believes that justice itself is in contradictory. King believe injustice can be blackmail to justice and it can be place anywhere.

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