Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

In Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King, responds to a complaint that he had received from his fellow Clergymen. The purpose of king’s writing is to clear up any confusion there was on King’s involvement, and how the situation was being handled. Dr. King explains through his writing that the city of Birmingham, Alabama has committed numerous unjust acts against the black community. King Also explains the reason for his involvement is simply because he was invited to help an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of witch King was president. King also makes it a point to clear up a few areas of confusion, one of which being how the Birmingham police handled the situation. While the original complaint sent to King appears to commend the police and their actions, King criticizes the police force by saying they attacked nonviolent protesters. Dr. King also points out that many of the injustices committed by the police were done behind closed doors and, for the most part, hidden from the public.

King was writing this letter he did not intend for its message to reach everyone. He had originally intended for the letter to be for his fellow clergymen who had written a letter of complaint to him. While addressing these clergymen, King attempts to induce feelings of guilt. He explains to the clergymen that injustice cannot be tolerated, and that unless they came to Birmingham and experienced first hand what was happening, they should not comment on how things were being handled. King's message would most likely not be well received had he attempted to have it published in a newspaper which is most likely why he chose to write it as a letter. King heavily criticized the police, and the community of Birmingham, and since King was in jail while he did all of this writing it is likely no newspaper, or newspaper reader would listen to his story. It would merely be viewed as someone blaming all of their problems on other