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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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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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