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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King Junior was a prominent social activist during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 1950s up until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. MLK played a major role in ending segregation in the South and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. During his years as an activist, MLK was arrested numerous times and from one of these arrests, came the Letter from Birmingham Jail. In this letter, MLK Letter From Birmingham was addressed to several clergymen who criticised King’s actions during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s protests in Birmingham. Dr. King starts the letter off by letting the clergymen know that he does …show more content…

He feels it is his right to work for justice anywhere that injustice is being practiced. He then explains in detail how he went about organizing nonviolent action. Dr. King recognizes s that the clergymen value negotiation over protest. However, he states that negotiations aren’t possible without protest. He elaborates by providing situations as examples where tension is necessary for humans to grow, and again states that the tension caused by direct action is necessary to end segregation. He then addresses the clergymen criticism that the SCLC’s actions are “untimely” and begins an extended claim that “privileged groups” will always oppose any threats. Dr. King insists that black people have waited long enough for justice. Dr. King then proceeds to describe different abuses his people have suffered in the past and in his present day. Amongst these abuses, he shares a personal one where he has to explain to his young daughter why she cannot go to the “public amusement park” because of the color of her skin. Dr. King then acknowledges that the clergymen show anxiety over the black man’s “willingness to break laws.” He makes a distinction between just and unjust laws. Dr. King believes a just law to be one that upholds human dignity, and an

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In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King professes his disappointment with the white moderates for calling him an extremist for his schemes. At first, in paragraph 27, King does not deny the fact-by using anaphora- that there are some Negros who “advocate violence”, but he also asserts that there are even more for “nonviolent protest”(King 28). In making this comment, King urges for people to look at his acts of nonviolent protesting . Indeed the insignificant amount of violence will be more looked upon than the nonviolence; however, there are numerous acts nonvilence that should surpass this. Additionally, in paragraph 31, King states how at first he despised the label but then “gained [...] satisfaction” from it.

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Picture this. On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, protester against inequality, Martin Luther King Jr., was arrested for parading without a permit. It is now April 16, 1963 and he sits alone in a Birmingham City Jail cell with nothing but a pen, some paper, and a solemn look on his face. In scraggly, but intent words, he writes a letter. He was writing to the church clergymen, determined to make them change their ways.

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In this letter to Birmingham, King explains the disadvantages of the inequality and the injustice of the systematic phases of justice. This passage shows how King and others interact in non-violent settings, protesting and in marching for civil rights. A key part of King’s vision, aside from a quest for racial equality, was the idea of non-violence. He also explains direct action and the segregation of colored people. Dr. King is informing the clergy men on how they are ignoring the way the Caucasian officers are mistreating the African Americans.

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The reason he takes action is because without speaking up, he knows that laws would not change. Dr. King also stands to lose the opportunity to settle and negotiate peacefully as opposed to violently if he does fail. This leads him to take up the initiative to protest using “non-violent direct action” (King). His actions are justified by what he stands to lose

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Seth Marshall Messersmith Comp 2 3/21/16 MLK Martin Luther King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail’ in 1963 while African Americans where fighting with the whites for equality. He was one of the most influential civil rights leader ever in America. He was also an American Baptist minister that had very strong Christian beliefs. What he was best known for is his acts with using nonviolent disobedience actions to lead his civil right movement due to his beliefs.

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In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King expresses his point of view on the points made by several clergymen about his non-violence demonstration in Birmingham, more specifically, his disagreement with the points the clergymen made. By presenting the ideas the white majority supports and responding to it, King effectively identifies the flaws in the arguments the white majority supports. An example of this would be when King explains that the white majority believes that the non-violent demonstrations are forms of extremist. After he points out the argument the white majority makes about non-violent demonstrations, King mentions the flaw behind this idea. He goes on and explains that if the white majority believes that his non-violent

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Dr. King sets up his assertion of the necessary components for a successful nonviolent campaign when he states that “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action” (King 1). When Dr. King says “in any nonviolent campaign,” he is preparing his explanation of the steps that must be present when taking nonviolent steps toward a change in society. He is very aware of segregation and its side effects, and aspires to eliminate it all by following a specific system. In order to complete a “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive,” one must go out and observe the interactions between people of different races. In the

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The moral responsibilities that Dr. King did nonviolence workshop encouraging Africans Americans to stand out for their human rights. Dr. King shows solutions through Civil disobedience and requesting to remove the store humility racial signs. Even though, many Africans Americans saw their homes and churches bombing, he motivates people to go through Civil disobedience. He explains the African Americans needs to uplifts their personality. King express through his letter no laws can be

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Martin Luther King Jr., an activist and leader for the civil rights movement, wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail and gave the famous “I Have A Dream” speech. While the letter is not as publicly acknowledged today, Dr. Kings speech will go down in history as one of the most influential and well-remembered speeches of all time. In Dr. Kings letter from Birmingham Jail, he addresses a group of men criticizing his actions in Birmingham. While holding his ground, Dr. King expresses his concerns using respectful words while providing straightforward examples of what they accused him of, and why they are wrong in those accusations.

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In the article “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. responds to clergymen who described his civil rights activities as “unwise and untimely”. Dr. King argues that while just laws should be obeyed, unjust laws aren’t binding because they go against decent morality and they degrade human lives. He explains the three-hundred-year struggles by African Americans to gain their basic rights and responds to criticism of being an extremist for trying to force change on this matter. Ultimately his reasoning is that those attempting to find a resolution to the injustice and unequal laws of the land should not be punished if they are doing so nonviolently, even if they break some just laws. I argue in favor of this idea that unjust laws

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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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Martin Luther King Jr references Paul when he states “So I am Compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to Macedonian call for aid”(444). In addition to establishing that he is a religious man he also show that he is a literate, knowledgeable and wise man when he quotes Socrates, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson who were all seen as radical leaders of their time periods but are now heroic leaders of change. One of the main focuses of his argument is Justice and direct action which is an idea that King supports throughout his argument by showing that he has immense knowledge of court cases and historical situations which agains adds to his

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“Letter from Jail” On April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight clergymen while he was incarcerated. Dr. King wrote this letter to address one of the biggest issues in Birmingham, Alabama and other areas within the United States. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discussed the great injustices that were happening during that time towards the black community. Dr. King wanted everyone to have the same equal rights as the white community, he also went into further details about the struggles that African Americans were going through for so many years, which he felt like it could change. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, expressed his beliefs and his actions about the Human Rights Movement.

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The message was about unjust laws and taking a direct action rather than waiting. The people should resist injustice everywhere with non-violent disobedience. Dr. King approach was in a Christianity non-violent way. Dr. King was calling for people to come together in unity. Dr. King did not want people waiting forever to be seeing as equal or waiting for justice in court.

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On April 16 of 1953, Martin Luther King Junior wrote an astonishing letter to the clergymen of Alabama. That day, King led an anti-segregation protest in hopes to end the cruel treatment of African Americans specifically in Birmingham, Alabama. While he was peacefully protesting, King and others were imprisoned in Birmingham City Jail. Here, King wrote about the horrendous and bitter behavior towards African Americans in the south. Throughout the memorandum, King will parade a formal but personal tone and ventilate the ghastly behavior of white moderates.

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