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Martin Luther King, Jr Letter from Birmingham Jail analysis
Martin luther king letter from a birmingham jail
Martin luther king letter from a birmingham jail
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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?”
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
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.
One of the most famous documents in American writing is the 1963 letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights activist and the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In addition to the many organizations Dr. King was the leader of, he devoted his life to desegregating the South. On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize because of his efforts trying to desegregate the South by using nonviolent protests. King was fed up with the way he and the black community were treated so he turned to peaceful protesting.
On April 16th 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to his fellow clergymen from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. M.L.K. was invited by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights to stage a nonviolent direct action program to protest against segregation, and the injustice being in Alabama. Though criticized heavily, he felt compelled to write a letter from the Birmingham city jail when he heard that a statement was put out by men that he believed to be genuinely good willed. His letter was addressed to his fellow clergymen who complained that his peaceful protest agitated the community, they also stated that the nonviolent protest was “unwise and untimely”. Martin Luther King’s letter was in direct response to the clergymen's statement.
The letter that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from his Birmingham jail cell in in April of 1963 changed the Civil Rights Revolution. King’s response to nine clergymen who said that racial protests being “led by outsiders” were “unwise and untimely”, sparked a revolution in the already boiling black community. In the opening paragraphs of the letter, King explains that he is in Birmingham because of the injustice within the city. He is defending the rights of black in Birmingham because “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The letter begins to develop into a testimony for peace and justice among blacks and whites.
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.
In his ‘Letter From Birmingham City Jail,’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(King 64). Though his specific fight during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s served as dismantling segregation laws in which separated white and black Americans—particularly in the Southern states of the United States—King preached and sought to obtain human rights for all individuals of all colors and sizes; this is seen through his affiliations with multiple organizations which include The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. King’s findings and ideologies serve in correlation with the establishment of the United Nations and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948: “Whereas Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all member of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948). King’s activism and commitment to people served a contributing factor in the creation and continued presence of organizations such as the United Nations, and their subsidies, which strive to enhance the development of countries throughout the globe—in particular south nations—ensuring that all beings of this earth are ensured their human rights.
I believe that paragraphs 9 and 12 from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the strongest paragraphs in this letter of his. These paragraph is so profound and truly explain why segregation is unjust in two short paragraphs. They don’t go into a lot of detail on why segregation is unjust, because they don’t need to. They’re argument is strong enough with how short they are. Since these paragraphs give an easy to understand and short reasoning as to why segregation is unjust, explains what makes a law just or unjust, and show that just laws can be unjust when applied to situations such as segregation, I believe they are the strongest paragraphs in this letter.
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.
Intro: From 1940 to 1945, Allied Bombers fought tirelessly in the grey skies of Germany in a campaign known as Bomber Command. Bomber Command during World War 2 was a very controversial topic due to the effectiveness and morality of the overall campaign. Some historians like W.A.B. Douglas and B. Greenhous argue that Bomber Command was ineffective as its strategic air offensive was intended to win the war, or at the very least to shorten it significantly by destroying production facilities, which it failed at doing. Contrary, Richard Overy believes that Bomber Command was decently effective as the bombers were supposed to help the infantry and navy take down the Germans collectively, and they did by 1945.
Within my knowledge, I understand Martin Luther King to be portraying the idea that individuals should not embark on tasks because of the fear within restrictions of time, as no effort made will go to waste. To begin with, in tutorial class on November 3, this theme was discussed as we mentioned the idea that humanity is in a constant state of performing actions, even the biological form of humans is created in such a way where our heart is continuously pumping blood throughout our body, and our lungs despite being in an unconscious state when sleeping, does not take a break from performing its tasks. Furthermore, we moved on to discuss the idea that individuals are always thinking, and forming deliberate decisions. For further information,
