More handpicked essays just for you.
Critical analysis of letter from birmingham jail
Critical analysis of letter from birmingham jail
Martin luther king jr birmingham jail letter analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Critical analysis of letter from birmingham jail
While in jail, Martin Luther King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” one of Dr. King’s longest letters. This letter talked about about why some laws should and be broken and why there was such a need for the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King wrote “when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity”. This quote is important to the Civil Rights Movement because it emphasizes how many black brothers and sisters were being drowned, beaten, and hated purely on the color of their skin. They were being segregated, one example being “Funtown”, an amusement park for the white children only, Dr. King demanded this to stop. Alongside writing about the Civil Rights Movement, Dr.
King’s letter talked a lot about following certain laws while breaking others, Dr. King wrote “there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws”. This quote is important because Dr. King believes that unjust laws are laws that degrade human personality. This meant that segregation statutes are unjust because it damages the personality. Dr. King believed that some laws should be broken. One example was that in Hitler’s Germany, it was illegal to aid a jew. Dr. King said that if he lived in Germany at the time he would have aided his Jewish brothers.
In 1963, Martin Luther King wrote a response to clergymen who criticized his actions while he was stuck in the Birmingham city jail. This letter, titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, was written on the side of a newspaper and secretly taken out of jail by King’s lawyer. The goal of this letter was to address and confront concerns that were brought up in the clergymen’s letter titled, “A Call for Unity”. In “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King asserts a strong emotional appeal on the clergymen who oppose his actions by placing guilt on them when he inserts Biblical references periodically throughout his letter.
Dr.King recognizes Rosa Parks,Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus Christ for their actions in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. Dr.King considers those people as heroes, because they meet his standard for heroism. The standard to be a hero to Dr.King is believe in themself, if they fall and get back up,and care for others.
Argumentation has followed humans from the dawn of time as a way for us to express our ideas and for our ideas to be heard. People naturally obtain the knowledge to persuade others, either backing their opinions by fact or touching others emotionally, from growing up and through their own experiences in life. We can be persuaded by a numerous amounts of different factors pertaining to the argument. There are four different types of strategies in which an argument can be presented and make the argument effective. Martin Luther King is a key example of the utilization of the strategies as he wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Nicholas Carr also portrays the strategies with his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Both authors perfectly
Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", was written to answer a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in Birmingham. The clergymen were critical of King for "interloping" in the activities of their city. Dr. King said that he had every right to fight unfairness in the country that he lived in. The letter he wrote, in response to the "Call for Unity", and a statement that he would battle racial inequality wherever it was. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was the main point in his life. In this letter, he perfectly described his reasons why he felt this way, appealing to logic, emotion, and ethics.
“…When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters…” –Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Over the years, many groups of people have been denied basic human rights just based on simple things such as gender or race. These acts go against the UDHR, or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR is a document of the equal and inalienable rights/freedoms all people are born with. One statement from the UDHR that was disregarded is the right to an equal education. An example from not too long ago is the story of Malala Yousafzai who was shot for trying to get an education because she is a girl. Article 26 of the UDHR states: “Everyone has the right to an education…”
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed towards him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from, “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern in particular that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” by clarifying that there are just and unjust laws. He also goes on to explain the difference between the two, the effect of unjust laws on the people that they are aimed towards, as
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham.
A statement from eight white clergymen from Alabama prompted Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. This statement criticized Kings actions of non-violent protests against racial segregation and the injustice of unequal civil rights in America (Carpenter elt al.). The eight clergymen considered Birmingham to be “their” town and King was disrupting the “Law and Order and Common Sense” established in coping with racial issues in Alabama during this time (Carpenter elt al. par 1). These clergymen considered King an “outsider” and describe his actions as “unwise and untimely” (Carpenter elt al. par 3). This statement suggests that there is an appropriate time to create equality among all Americans. To analyze the power strategizes of Martin Luther King’s Letter we must understand this letter was written from a jail cell, where King a black man, was held for protesting for racial equality. Furthermore, King began writing his letter among the margins of the newspaper’s article that contained the clergymen’s statement (King Institute).
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of a peaceful movement to end segregation in the United States this mission led him in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama where officials and leaders in the community actively fought against desegregation. While performing sit-ins, marches and other nonviolent protests, King was imprisoned by authorities for violating the strict segregation laws. While imprisoned King wrote a letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he expresses his disappointment in the clergy, officials, and people of Birmingham. This letter employed pathos to argue that the leaders and ‘heroes’ in Birmingham during the struggle were at fault or went against their beliefs.
Can you envision what it would have been like to be an African American in the city of Birmingham in the year 1963? Strolling down the sidewalk in the middle of town, you suddenly get that feeling where eyes from all direction are staring right through you, making you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. Seeing signs on every restaurant and store window, criticizing you by the color of your skin. When you and your family go on a countryside cruise and it is better to just sleep in your car, rather than trying to find a hotel that accepts you. Having to answer your children's questions about the segregation issue and tell them they are equal whether they are treated so or not( King 2). Martin Luther King, Jr. acted upon all of these instances with multiple nonviolent protests. King was thrown into a musty, jail cell for one
While incarcerated in the Birmingham jail in Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a leading civil rights activist, took it upon himself to conduct a letter that explains the motivation behind his actions. King has been imprisoned due to civil disobedience, and heard about a letter from clergyman criticizing his work. King then writes the letter addressing the clergyman, the letter is sent to the clergyman making them the audience. The letter subtly shows that he is aggravated by the figurative destruction of his work, but he remains respectful given the circumstances. Without Dr. King our circumstances in the present day would be substantially different than they are now.
When John Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th 1968, he attempted to wake up America from Dr. King’s dream of equality but it was clear that America didn’t want to take steps two steps back, but rather take three steps forward in the fight of civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work, a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” defends his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and oppression. Then furthermore states the need and moral responsibility to break unjust laws in a peaceful manner. King supports his argument by comparing himself to not only to the clergy men, but also fellow readers by having an emotional appeal and stating religious examples. The letter’s purpose was to further inform the readers about what was really happening during that time and share another point of view so that anyone that was reading could feel the pain and suffering African Americans had to go through by being just another color skin. King writes in an emotional and formal tone for his audience, the readers of a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and others interested in the topic of
Last year November I showed up to apply for a job, ironical another man of a different skin completion arrived at the same time. We sat there mentally preparing ourselves for the interview ahead of us for entry level job. The hiring manger walked in and he looked me and the other man over and said “Mr. Johnson come in let’s get your interview started.” I didn’t think anything of his going first so I waited. 15 minutes passed and the other candidate walks out with a smile on his face. Once again I didn’t think anything of it. Then it was my turn, my interview last maybe 3 minutes until the hiring manager told me the position had been filled, a position that was open less than 20 minutes ago. Was this fair? No, how did the man know that the other man was a better fit then I was without even giving me the same chance? I was given the short end of the stick for reasons illogical and immoral. This is a minor issue that opens the door to realize that the world is filled with injustice, immoral and arrogant abuse of power.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King persuades the white moderates to take his side because of his use of support. In the letter King critiques the churches, this is something no one does at this time period. King uses Jesus as a common ground to relate to the white moderates. All of Kings support relates to his audience the white moderates to attempt to persuade them to his side. King calls the churches out for being sinners, murders, and hypocrites; but finds a way to say it nicely in his writing. Throughout the text King calls the churches out for not helping, has expert testimonies, and uses early Christianity to support his beliefs.
We all know that race was the biggest issue in the Civil Rights movement, considering all of the protests were over racial inequality. During the time, white people believed that black people were less deserving than white people, which is the reason for white men being used as a part of the Civil Rights campaign to protest in front of courts as opposed to having black men do it. Like we have covered earlier in the essay, one of the biggest protesters of the time was Martin Luther King Jr. Going more in-depth into the time period, we can see how King’s protests and his Letter from Birmingham jail were significant to his movement and the Civil Rights movement as a whole. King started his method of peaceable protesting to get rid of the unjust Jim Crow laws around 1946 when the Atlanta Constitution published King’s letter that stated black people “are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens.” These laws originate back to the end of the Civil War, when Southern states put laws in place to oppress black men and women and keep them separate from