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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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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? Isn't negotiation a better path?” Yes negotiation is a better path, but MLK chooses direct actions for one specific reason. That reason being negotiation doesn't get the attention of the people. Taking action shows the people that you are serious about the issue. MLK was big on nonviolence protest to show that he did not want to cause any harm, he just wants to get his points across and better the world for fellow colored people. MLK mentions another great point in his letter to help ease the citizens confusion. This point being that MLK expresses a great deal of anxiety over the peoples willingness to break laws. Citizens become confused with this because MLK himself was found to be guilty of breaking certain laws. MLK states “that there are two types of laws: just and unjust.” after this statement he agrees with St.Augustine that “an unjust law is no …show more content…

The clergymen stated that the Birmingham police force kept things in “order” and “prevented violence.” MLK shows the readers that he has to disagree with this statement completely. It is stated that the police have had many accounts of mistreatment towards the protestors. The police allowed their dogs to sink their teeth into the unarmed and nonviolent protestors, they had ugly and inhumane treatment towards the protestors in the city jail, police refused to give the inmates food on two occasions. That is not all that is done by the police force. You can find many more accounts of mistreatment given by police officers throughout all of MLK's

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In 1963 Martin Luther king Jr. guided a peaceful mass demonstration that white police men quickly intervened. Where he was also arrested, and sent to the Birmingham City jail. Martin in jail wrote was is now known as the Birmingham letter that defends the strategy of the nonviolence resistance to racism. The letter was written to respond to several criticism made by the “A Call for Unity” clergymen. These men believed that the battle of racial segregation should be fought in the courts and not be protested in the streets.

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Through the use of his letter, he is able to tell the general public of why the stakes justify the actions he takes, and why it is important for the acceptance of his plan as more turmoil could be caused otherwise. Dr. King’s letter is an example of him taking action while knowing the stakes that if he fails, the whole Civil Rights movement could fail. It gives a clear understanding of the need to fight unjust laws through his statement that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King). He continues by saying that everyone has a “legal…moral responsibility” to uphold just laws but that people also have the right to “disobey unjust laws” (King). This statement immediately gives pretense to his actions of fighting for freedom through protest.

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As Martin Luther King, Jr argues in Letter From a Birmingham City Jail, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, that the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all of their scintillating beauty” (p. 576). In his letter he argues that African-Americans should have equal rights to whites. He writes to the clergymen that his protesters are practicing a non-violent protest to gain the rights they are born with. This is done in a four step process. He adds that his followers shouldn't follow all laws, that there is a difference between just and unjust laws.

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