Summary Of Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was confined in Birmingham city jail. During his confinement, he wrote a set of letters to his fellow clergymen to address the injustice that was brought upon the city of Birmingham and throughout the United States. In King’s letters, he states to the clergymen “I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here” (King 1). In his letters, King also responds to the criticism the clergymen made in which they stated that King’s actions must be condemned because they precipitate violence (5). King attempts to set his points across to the clergymen in hopes they would understand his viewpoint. He does this by explaining how negotiation

explains to the ministers that “in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustice exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action” (1). After the unsolved bombing of Negro homes and churches (1), King knew there had to be some type of negotiation between whites and blacks. He goes on to explain how “Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation” (2). The negation between the leaders of Birmingham economic community and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights soon became broken promises which made King and the black community realize they were “victims of broken promises”(2). King clarifies to clergymen that “the purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that will inevitably open the door to negotiation” (2). For years it was a norm for every negro to hear the word “wait” it soon became associated with word “never” which set them to believe “ ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’ ”(3). In Kings letters he states that “there comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair” (3) which explains their reason of unavoidable impatience and their direct action

King had no doubt that it was wrong and stated that he could not join them in their praise of the Birmingham police department. He goes on to state that if “you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls” (9) then maybe they would come to a realization of the injustice in the Birmingham police department. “It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather ‘nonviolently’ in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation” (9). By asking the clergymen what the purpose was, King wanted them to know that the idealization whites had over the police department was falsely advertised and there needed to be an end to