Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

The “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” was written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 16, 1963. He was charged for parading without a permit. While in jail, he wrote on the margins of newspaper. When that was full, he used toilet paper to finish his letter. The “Letter” is a very emotionally moving piece of writing which is very persuasive. In it King describes many things such as injustice, defining laws right from wrong, nonviolent campaigning, and disappointments in what is going on around him, and the longing for freedom. In King’s letter he makes many points with supporting detail. One of the first points he makes is the problem of injustice. He uses the illustration that there are more bombings that no one has been charged for

In my opinion, he is saying that if you don’t take action to get justice then you are only denying yourself justice. He also expresses that if injustice takes place in one place, it starts a chain reaction to injustice everywhere. He expresses this by saying, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King describes just and unjust laws and gives examples of each. King describes a just law as something that helps you, or makes you feel upright. A just law is something everyone is going to follow, because it is right. He says it is the “sameness made legal.” If a law is just then everyone has a say in it and everyone follows it equally. An unjust law is a law you feel indebted to break. If you disobey an unjust law, however, you should do it openly and you must be ready to accept the consequences you might be given. You can’t break an unjust law and not make it known to everyone, you want people to know that you think it is unjust. King describes this as “difference made legal.” An unjust law is one which the majority makes a law in which minority has no say. Also, when that law is made it is expected of the minority to follow it but the majority does not abide by the same standards in obeying it. King uses the example of African Americans being

Direct actions they took to protest were things like marches, freedom rides, sit-ins, and even boycotted things like shopping, as he stated “strong economic withdrawal”, or riding the bus. King gives four steps to a nonviolent campaign: facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. When doing nonviolent campaigns King stresses that even if they get pain inflicted upon them they cannot give pain in return, they must take it. It is one of his examples of self-purification. He writes about the tension of nonviolent campaigning. A statement he says that intrigued me was “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize the issue that is can no longer be ignored.” He is saying to make the tension be known, make it loud and clear. Make the tension so noticeable no one can ignore it. He speaks of these nonviolent protests leading to freedom. That freedom is etched in America, eventually they will have freedom because it is inevitable. King describes their “destiny is tied up with Americas