By reading both “Alabama Clergymen’s Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr” and “Letter from Birmingham City Jail- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr” the reader becomes aware of how passionate and rightfully life changing Martin Luther King Jr’s movements were. The first letter, sent to King by an Alabama clergymen, is an perfect representation of the painfully common defiance white leaders had towards the oppressed blacks. The clergymen also drops the classic “wait”, saying that if King stops his demonstrations, “equality” and “peace” will eventually ease into the white leaders minds. The second letter is written by King to the clergymen, addressing in the most calm way possible just how wrong he is, and how these demonstrations need to cause tension.
In Dr. King’s letter, he is responding to the outside world by calling him and the individuals involved, unwise. Dr. King argues that for justice, they had no other choice but to do this. The three themes I noticed in this letter was; injustice, religion, and nonviolent actions. As we all know, Dr. King was all about nonviolent acts of protesting. In his letter, he writes, “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary” (King).
Martin Luther King, Jr. attempts to persuade clergymen to follow in his civil rights movement through exhibiting his knowledge over just and unjust laws, displaying peaceful behavior, and empathetic diction. King was very knowledgeable about laws and his right as a human. King stated laws in his letter to the clergymen, which displayed his credibility. He did not only state laws, he also stated just and unjust laws. King stated, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great example, he fought for his country to gain this freedom even though he went to jail and went against the law trying to accomplish his goal. As the author states in his letter “ We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present because the goal of America is freedom”)(Luther King 240). Following Martin Luther King words we have the mission to accomplish this if we work together. At that time that Luther king wrote this letter the major problem was in Birmingham.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" is an inquisitive piece of writing, written while MLK was imprisoned in Birmingham in 1963 for his peaceful protests against racial segregation. A response to a critical newspaper article published by local Clergymen, it challenges priorly accepted doctrines and makes many compelling arguments. King's most compelling statement is "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" because it the denounces toleration of injustice and those who allow it (King). When King says "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", he is implying that if even the smallest act of unfairness is tolerated, it will take root and spread (King).
The reason for open letters are so, that the author can get his/her point across in a time of need, on behalf of justice, or on behalf of others. In Dr.King’s open letter “The letter from Birmingham jail” is a mixture of both commentary genre and rebuttal microgenre as he commentates his opinions on the injustices that the blacks of the south face with the white supremacists, throughout the open letter Dr.King argues why the act of nonviolence is the best way to solve segregation in the south. The discomfort of being in jail for acting against racism gives Dr.King the motivation for writing this open letter, in the open letter, King expresses the discomfort of having that the racial justice of his people have been too long denied by stating
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail on April 12th, 1963 because he and others were protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. The court had ordered that King could not hold any protests in Birmingham. He was held for twenty-four hours without the right to contact a lawyer. When he was finally allowed contact with the outside world, he stumbled across a letter that was published in a newspaper. The letter criticized the protests and labeled them unwise.
It was the letter from Birmingham jail that Martin Luther King, Jr wrote that explain how these certain event that he acted upon were contradictory to what the constitution has to say. Martin Luther King Jr wanted rights for his people for African Americans to have the right to vote. For their rights picking who would best shape America. After section four was strike down the dissenting group of supreme justices had powerful opinions on the different racism happening on multiple states creating racial formation in which Martin Luther King Jr had acted upon. In which indicated that many African Americans did not have the right to vote do to the hierarchy in certain states.
Dr Martin Luther King decided to write a letter form jail because he was arrested for fighting for his and many others rights in Birmingham Alabama. The letter expresses the frustration that Martin Luther King has with the clergymen. Martin Luther King states, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. ”(king). Dr. King then went on to say it is his responsibility to attack injustice because he believes all communities are unified as one.
The purpose of Martin Luther King's letter is to justify the reasoning for why the people of Birmingham (including him) were protesting. When the local clergymen (who were most likely white men) said that Martin Luther King was an outside agitator, it could paint a picture that the people protesting were "unruly" or destructive. So this letter clears up the misunderstanding that the people of Birmingham are unreasonable and destructive to those who would quickly feed onto the negative narrative that black people already have. Martin Luther King highlights the fact that Birmingham has been one of the most segregated cities in the United States and the black homes and churches of Birmingham being a target of bombing. He believed that this was
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.
On April 12, 1963, eight clergymen wrote an open letter, “A Call for Unity”. In this published letter, the clergymen expressed their strong disapproval of the civil rights demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. That same day, civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting without a permit. In his short eleven-day jail sentence, Dr. King directly responded to the clergymen with a letter of his own. In his letter, Dr. King informed his readers about the protests in Birmingham.
King believed that if he could just go to Birmingham, and protest non-violently, that he could make a difference. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned, in Birmingham, for protesting the civil rights of Black Americans. While in jail, he began writing a letter addressing the clergymen. His main audience in writing this letter was to the eight clergymen who criticized his actions and also the majority of the population as well. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, argues that injustice
Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote a letter referring Birmingham, Alabama as “Bombingham.” In the late summer of 1963 King wrote his unforgettable letter, “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” responding to the criticism from eight prominent white clergy man. They say the letter was smuggled out on ragged toilet paper by King’s lawyer. The letter exemplifies King’s negative feelings towards the unjust events taking place in Birmingham during the 1960’s. The letter is sought out to appeal to various audiences.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” “defends the use of non-violent protest to fight racism, and based upon Christian beliefs and natural law, he explains why people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws” (viii). This text relates to the CIT claim, “The dignity of every human being is inviolable and the commitment to justice for the common good is necessary.” “All human beings- regardless of their race, gender, religion, class, ethnicity, or sexual orientation- have innate dignity and it is our responsibility to respect that dignity, in ourselves and in others” (ix). The reason for Dr. King’s presence in Birmingham was because injustice was there.
