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What Does Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail Mean

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an American Icon. Born in 1929 he was a Baptist minister from Atlanta, Georgia who is arguably the most prominent Civil Rights leader in American history. Up until his assassination in 1968, he led a movement based on nonviolent demonstrations and protests that helped to end segregation in the southern United States and put an end to the status quo that had endured for centuries. In 1963, he allowed himself to be arrested intentionally for demonstrating without permits in Birmingham Alabama. While sitting in a jail cell he penned his now famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. This letter became the catalyst of the Civil Rights movement in the United States leading to not only making laws against segregation and inequality but also actually enforcing them. …show more content…

However, he is actually speaking to all Americans, particularly the white moderate Christians. Up to that point in time, while many people were sympathetic to King’s cause they were not necessarily supportive of it. Pictures of police brutality in Birmingham against nonviolent protesters grabbed the attention of Americans, but much like many shocking news stories of today it soon faded from memory. Dr. King’s letter reminded people what those protestors were fighting for, it struck a chord in many Americans who were passively supportive and moved them to action against an injustice towards their fellow man. It also quelled the growing belief among fellow blacks that all he ever accomplished was a temporary spectacle with no actual

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who nonviolently protested against the Jim Crow Laws in Birmingham, Alabama. He wrote a letter to the clergymen and made valid and solid points, arguing how the laws are injustice and not equal. While writing his letter, King uses various rhetorical devices and appeals to argue that his activities are not "unwise and untimely". In the beginning of King's letter, he establishes credibility and explains that he is not an outsider like people think he is.

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Through the use of his letter, he is able to tell the general public of why the stakes justify the actions he takes, and why it is important for the acceptance of his plan as more turmoil could be caused otherwise. Dr. King’s letter is an example of him taking action while knowing the stakes that if he fails, the whole Civil Rights movement could fail. It gives a clear understanding of the need to fight unjust laws through his statement that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King). He continues by saying that everyone has a “legal…moral responsibility” to uphold just laws but that people also have the right to “disobey unjust laws” (King). This statement immediately gives pretense to his actions of fighting for freedom through protest.

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Martin Luther King was the most well known civil rights activist and was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama on April 16, 1963. He was arrested for protesting without a license. While in jail, Martin Luther King wrote a letter in jail, in response to the clergymen stating that he will no longer sit and wait to be heard. While writing his letter, Martin Luther King uses his claims, rhetorical devices, and sources to develop his argument.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and congressman Robert Kennedy tried to inspire people who listened to or read their speeches or letters to stand against segregation worldwide by using powerful words that had meaning behind them. In Dr. King's “Letter From Birmingham Jail” he states, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” This quote inspires many people who read his letter by providing very powerful words which allow the reader to feel strongly about the stand for freedom. Another way Dr. King used strong words to inspire people is by stating in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of

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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.

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