The vigorous Civil Rights Movement in the United States encaptured the power of words through the struggle against racial injustice and discrimination. Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks established their ability to speak with intensity and encouragement with their infamous speeches, letters, and actions. Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have A Dream” speeches exemplify Dr. King’s fight against injustice through his inspiring and thought-provoking vernacular. Equally important, Rosa Parks was able to withstand discrimination with her resilient, calming actions. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks utilized the power of words to provoke others, inspire unity, and cultivate a nation with the essence …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks used their words to provoke action to challenge people’s beliefs and will, urging others to confront the reality of racial injustice and discrimination in our nation. In Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he expresses provocation stating “But the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice who constantly says: I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action.”. “advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from white moderates do more damage to the foundation of justice than those who harbor ill will towards African Americans. Dr. King provokes the white moderates to terminate the idea of staying in the medium of not fully supporting justice and being unable to agree on direct action methods. Dr. King prompts them to pick a side and stay on it; As a result, Dr. King provokes white moderates into taking a stance against racial injustice empowering more people to create a change in our …show more content…
In the text “How History Got Rosa Parks Wrong,” Parks stated “There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.” For African Americans, it wasn’t an easy task to remain calm and rational in a country filled with oppression and pain. Ms. Parks highlights that the line between reason and madness grows thinner each day, with little to no change being done. Remaining calm in times when hurt and disappointment seem like no end would create a level of madness for anybody to withstand. Rosa Parks knows the profound challenges that African Americans face, yet still have to maintain composure through the ongoing oppression and adversity. Parks recognizes the line between sanity and despair and highlights the toll that our nation has put African Americans through. Rosa Parks acknowledges that this is a battle that can only be won by being composed and having to endure the pain and hate of oppression to form a nation with the essence of calmness and
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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an eloquent speaker and a powerful figure during the Civil Rights Movement. In “Letters from Birmingham Jail,” he uses the classical rhetoric to engage his audience and present his ideas clearly. This particular text was initiated due to the non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, which led to the arrest of many African-Americans, including King himself. Although this was not a spoken document, the letter was directed to several targeted audiences: first, the clergymen who wrote “A Call for Unity,” secondly, the “white moderate” (47), and finally, to black men and women across the nation who lacked the initial courage to fight for their rights. Dr. King establishes himself as an authoritative voice in the religious community who connects with his multiple audiences through the use of gruesome imagery and hardened logic. An essential part of his intent was to express his deep concern with his fellow clergymen, whom were not at all sympathetic to the movement, yet practiced the word of God.
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
however, he is not clear, as he states, ". . . [he], along with several
In Dr. Martin Luther King’s writing Letter From Birmingham Jail vividly argues why he feels the Civil Rights Movement should be important and urgent to all American citizens. Within his letter, he uses the term “white moderate” to describe white people who agree with his words and ultimate goal of equality, but do not agree that the situation is critical. He states that the white moderates are the Civil Rights Movements greatest obstacle because they prefer destructive peace without tension rather than the positive peace of justice. He argues, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will… Lukewarm acceptance is much more
Achieving Racial Equality On April 12th, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a peaceful protest in the city of Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in him being arrested and jailed. Later that day, eight clergymen responded with the statement “A Call For Unity” in The Birmingham News requesting he ends all of his protests. A few days later, King created a response to the statement in the form of an open letter. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. develops a well-proposed argument in response to the eight clergymen who published the statement. Throughout the letter, King uses rhetorical appeal in order to give the viewer a sense of King’s credibility, his emotions, and also his logic on why he does what he does.
The United States civil rights movement was a constant battle for the rights and freedom of African Americans. Martin Luther king Jr., the leader of the civil right movement, was hosting a non-violent protest in Birmingham city. However, the protest did not go as planned and King was arrested for agitating the public. Many fellow white clergymen were angered and upset over the “Ungodly” act. As a result,the Clergymen wrote a statement that claimed Martin Luther King Jr. to be an extremist. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to the clergymen’s statement while residing in Birmingham jail by writing a letter using the ethical, emotional, and logical appeals to defend his actions.
In the touching, influential letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. responds to the white, Alabama clergymen who condemned his movement as “unwise and untimely” (1) and delineates his motives for traveling to Birmingham, where whites consider him an “outsider” (1). Hoping to express his ambition of nonviolent protest in a sympathetic, deferential manner, he implores the white clergy to join the struggle for Civil Rights. Throughout the letter, he addresses and disputes each negative argument by the whites, testifying his position unpretentiously, yet confidently. With aptitude, poise, and humility, King establishes his motives for coming to such an unwelcoming environment. In his heart-rending letter, King’s coherent logos, stimulating rhetorical questions, and accentuating parallel structure express to the white moderates who criticized his actions that nonviolent, direct protest is not only essential, but also inevitable to contain agitated hostility and to assume relative peace.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King brings attention to the reality of racial inequality in the 1960s. King writes this letter in response to clergymen addressing their apprehensions regarding the timing of the nonviolence demonstrations. The letter addressees specific arguments presented in the clergymen’s letter and his direct response. King’s goal in writing this letter is to convince the clergymen that his strategies are right and just. In this section, King rebuts the allegation made by the clergymen that his actions were untimely. In his counter argument, King uses repetition, metaphors, emotional appeals in order to persuade the audience to support his cause.
One of the greatest speakers for the black civil rights movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. Two of his pieces that stand out the most, was the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream”. The Letter From Birmingham Jail is exactly that, it’s a letter that King had wrote while he was in jail, to a group of clergy members who disapproved of his action in Birmingham City. I Have a Dream was speech that was delivered in Washington, DC at Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. This speech was written to inspire people to look beyond themselves and also demanded the country unity focusing on equality for all without focusing on the color of their skin; King also wanted the people to take a stand in a nonviolence manner. The Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream, have many similarities and differences between the two pieces.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail brings up the idea of acting in a just or unjust manner. In this letter, he’s saying that it’s moral for one to break a law if they feel it is an unjust one. He stated that any law that’s degrading a person should be considered unjust. Even though the technical reason for his arrest was just, since he was parading without a permit, it was an unjust action because it was used to maintain segregation in Birmingham. Since the reasoning for his actual arrest was unjust, he said that it’s okay to take action against it. What matters, however, is that it is done in a loving and direct way. This could be related to Socrates, who was arrested on the grounds for impiety and supposedly corrupting the youth of Athens. However, he made the argument that he was simply exposing them to what he believed was the truth, which was causing no harm other than giving them knowledge they deserved. Socrates
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’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is an emotional gaze into the authenticity of racial discrimination in 1960s America. King established this letter to his fellow clergymen which aims to address their concerns on the subject of the wisdom and timing of the nonviolent actions and the unjust demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that he and other fellow leaders carried out in 1963. King employs all three types of appeals ethos, pathos and logos; however, I discover that I am particularly moved by pathos and ethos in his letter. So much thought that I must admit I was
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most notable speeches in American history, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King started off his famous “I Have a Dream” speech by stating the impact it would have on America’s civil rights movement: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” (King 1). With knowledge of rhetoric and persuasion, King had a substantial impact on the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos appeals enable King to persuade the audience to achieve equality.
During his lifetime, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote and delivered speeches about inequality in America. Two of those writings, his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” had similar themes but were written for different audiences. Both works were pleas for people to listen and take notice of what was going on around them. While the “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered to an audience of 20,000+ civilians and civil rights marchers in Washington D.C., the “Birmingham Jail” letter addressed a smaller audience of religious leaders.