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Tension In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King Jr' "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written after he was arrested for exercising his constitutional rights while peacefully protesting in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. This Letter was written while Dr. King was in jail in one of the most segregated cities in America at the time. Birmingham was home to one of the most violent chapter of the KKK, their governor at the time, George Wallace, despised the idea of desegregation, and the law enforcement encourage the use of blunt force and brutality on African Americans protesters. In the letter Dr. King states that he was brought to Birmingham, along with other members of SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to engage in a nonviolent direct action and take
Murray 2 time to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. He …show more content…

One of the more well-known church bombings happened on September 15, 1963. A home-made bomb was detonated in a church that had a predominately black demographic. Four young girls were killed, and many were injured by the explosion. This incident was followed by many clashes between law enforcement and protesters, it also brought national attention to the racial tension in the southern states. In 1963, Birmingham was approaching a mayoral election between Eugene "Bull" Connor and Albert Boutwell. Although Connor was defeated by Boutwell, the odds were still against African Americans because Boutwell was a supporter of segregation, but he wasn't as extreme as Eugene Connor. When Dr. King says, "When you see a vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society" he's referring to how African Americans struggled to find jobs, make money, or even go to school due to the high level of racial tension. In Wayne Flynt's, "Poverty in Alabama" he talks about the census done in 1960 where "28 of Alabama's 67 counties had poverty

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Martin Luther King Jr wrote The letter from Birmingham Jail because the white clergymen through him and his pro black American organization in jail.  They were demonstrating non-violent actions against racial justice and injustice of black Americans in Birmingham. Kings thesis was  "Reasonable refutations of the white clergyman's criticism of his direct action – nonviolent resistance campaign was "unwise and untimely”. His reasonings are that direct action is the only way for a compromise when the white people fail to negotiate with him and his group.  

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses racial segregation and all the injustices to the black American society. He writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen, but it also became one of the most influential letters in defense of nonviolent movement ever written. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the country and the most violent. Even after segregation was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954. In Birmingham, white and black Americans were very much separate with “white only” hotels, restaurants, and even bathrooms.

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On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. while confined in the Birmingham City Jail wrote a letter to the clergymen whom disapproved of his actions by calling him and other nonconformists “outsiders coming in”. During the civil rights movement the city of Birmingham was known to be one of the most segregated city in the United States. The City of Birmingham was known for its police brutality against blacks. They’re where also many unsolved cases such as bombing of homes and churches occupied by blacks. Kings letter was an opportunity for him to express the purpose behind the nonviolent campaign.

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In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was a Civil Rights supporter and a large reason that African-Americans are seen as people today. He did some incredible things in his life, unfortunately, he never really got to see his dream unfold. For as when he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968; however, he did some great things one involved a letter and he used a few devices to get his points to flow into the reader. In Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's persuasive plea, "Letters to a Birmingham Jail" he uses Ethos and Pathos to encourage his audience to do what is morally right which in this instance would be to desegregate. Luther uses facts throughout his letter to further develop how people see him as a credible person with high intellect.

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Aristotle, a well-known Greek philosopher once stated, “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.” (Goodreads.com) This quote resonates with the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. and his response to a letter written by eight white clergymen criticizing him. He responds to this criticism that he receives, which he usually never does, with a letter of his own. The letter that King then writes is A Letter From a Birmingham Jail and in this he responds in great detail to each statement made in the letter from the clergymen.

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As of the year 2016, there are an estimated 324,118,787 people living in America. 324,118,787 people consider themselves to be Americans and 324,118,787 people have decided that America really is worthy enough to be called home. These people, whether they were born within the country or emigrated from another country, comingle in this melting pot of a nation, sharing grocery stores and hospitals and neighborhoods and all the ideologies that make up American society, and each of these people have their own lives and opinions and personal beliefs. All of these people, all (roughly) 324,118,787 of them, fall under the definition of an American – a person who lives in America, because there is simply no other way to define what an American is when

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Patience, determination, demands, facts, hope, disappointment, and faith are all able to come as one to make a move for equality. Martin Luther King Junior wrote a letter from Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963, which conveyed his stress on how little change is occurring in the peaceful fight for inequality. The letter was sent to clergymen to show how even if there is no physical aggression being done, people cannot just sit back and watch the injustices going on. This leads to the following question: how does a letter express specific emotions, without aggression? To develop this question, a dance was created to represent the letter’s emotions.

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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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A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.

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Martin Luther King Cause and Effect In Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” the role cause and effect played throughout this letter for various reasons. Firstly, King’s words changed the civil rights of African Americans by his persuasive words utilized in the letter. Secondly, King scripted words from the bible to advise the Clergymen to change black rights.

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Martin Luther King’s message “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” it rebuttals the empty statements made by the eight Alabama clergymen. In the clergymen’s letter, they try to show their support by mentioning how they know what is best for the citizens, and they are trying their hardest to resolve these problems. However, they fail to give evidence in saying that King’s methods were “untimely and unwise”, and they failed to prove their support against segregation. King wrote this letter during his serving time in jail, in response to the clergymen that said that his action were “unwise and untimely.” This letter raised national awareness to the Civil Rights Movements, it motioned the will power to gain proper rights after three hundred and forty

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957 Words | 4 Pages

American Civil Rights took a turn for convalesce during a 13 year reformation. The most notable advocate during this time was Doctor Martin Luther King Junior. From the late months of 1955 until the beginning of 1968, America experienced a touching movement that allowed African Americans to achieve more indisputable improvement towards racial equality than the combined previous four centuries. Although, African Americans had been victims of a life of inferior displacement, which almost always included violence, Dr. King advocated nonviolent, racial equality, which spread throughout America during his rein of equality encouragement. Dr. King’s movement was the most moving during this time thanks to his ability to deliver passionate speeches,

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In terms of legacies, Martin Luther King Jr. is an example of someone whose legacy has left an impact on a great many fields. The first to come to mind for most would be civil rights activism, as he was an instrumental figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. However, Martin Luther King Jr is an extremely influential figure in the field of oration and rhetoric. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. This letter is a prime example of King’s expertise in constructing persuasive rhetoric that appealed to the masses at large.

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2.4 Rhetorical Analysis In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march, although several local religious groups counted on King for support. Since King’s arrest, he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King.

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