The Claims of the Eight Alabama Clergymen In a Public Statement released by Eight Alabama Clergymen, there were a lot of shots taken at Martin Luther King Jr. and his work during the Civil Rights Movement. These claims aim towards his peaceful protests and work as an “outsider”, but each can be proven false with basic knowledge of the Civil Rights Movements. As result of these claims, Dr. King responded with his famous letter “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The first major claim stated by the clergymen was that King’s actions were unnecessary and could be pursued in court. In this statement, found in paragraph 1 of their letter, the eight clergymen say that “They have expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could be pursued in court, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.”(Paragraph 3) This statement can be proven false because of King’s failed attempts at negotiation with politicians and business leaders. King’s actions were not violent or disruptive in any ways, he just wanted to dramatize racism throughout his community. The option of taking his problems to court also wouldn’t have …show more content…
done anything, due to the numerous amount of petty crimes charged against King during the time. The second crucial claim presented in this statement was that King didn’t have the right to fight for Birmingham, for he was an “outsider”.
This statement was mentioned in paragraph 4 of the letter stated as “ And we believe this kind of facing of issues can be best accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area.” King responds to these statements in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by explaining that he was invited to Birmingham by an Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights affiliate. In addition to being invited to Birmingham, King also explains that he went there because injustice is there, just as Apostle Paul left his village and travelled to spread the gospel. He also emphasizes that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who operates in every southern
state. The last significant claim declared by the clergymen was calling the peaceful actions in Birmingham extreme measures. This statement was presented in paragraph 5 of the public statement with the following quote, “We also point out that such actions as incite to hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems.” King fights this claim by using the fact that political and all-around idols, Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson were also accused of the same acts of ‘extremism”. In conclusion, the clergymen of Alabama made some very invalid statements that could be debunked and falsified using knowledge of things happening during this time. Using a very calm, business-like tone, the Alabama clergymen entice their audiences briefly, but with proper evidence, their statements were not as believable as they thought. By bashing King’s movements and demonstrations with false accusations, the eight Alabama clergymen expected to draw more people out of supporting these actions.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned in the Birmingham Jail for being involved in nonviolent protests against segregation. The letter is directed at eight white clergymen from Alabama who were very cynical and critical towards African Americans in one of their statements. Throughout the letter, King maintains an understanding yet persistent tone by arguing the points of the clergymen and providing answers to any counterarguments they may have. In the letter, King outlines the goals of his movement and says that he will fight racial inequality wherever it may be. Dr. King uses the appeal three main rhetorical devices – ethos, logos, and pathos – in order to firmly, yet politely, argue the clergymen on the injustices spoken of in their statement.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963, in Birmingham, for having a protest without a proper permit. On the exact day King was arrested, eight clergymen from Alabama wrote a letter called “A Call for Unity.” The letter called for termination of civil activities and demonstrations and designated King an “outsider” and saying that outsiders were the problems in Birmingham and not the blacks that are from there. On April 16 King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which was his responds to his fellow clergymen. He wrote the letter as a means to convince the clergymen and the white moderate that the nonviolent demonstrations that had got him arrested, were a necessity and to enlighten them on why the segregation laws in the southern states needed to be changed. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the clergymen and convince them in assisting him in putting an end to segregation laws of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama.
The tone set by Dr. King in the part of the letter where he describes “pent-up resentments and latent frustrations,” and where he recognizes the “vital urge” being suppressed, is very passionate. His passion shines through loud and clear. The way Dr. King feels is, in fact, quite clear throughout the entire letter, yet the overriding sense of reason and logic that anyone can relate to is ever apparent. As he describes the unrest he finds in his community, the community as a whole really; he explains that he did not encourage them to “get rid of your [their] discontent” he instead encouraged them to, “make prayer pilgrimages to city hall;… go on freedom rides,… and try to understand why he [they] must do so”; these quotes from the letter point out the ways Dr....
The “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” is a text directed to all of America in 1963, written by Martin Luther King Jr., during his stay in one of the of Birmingham’s prisons. His intention of writing an open letter was to tell the world the injustice “the white people” had done not only to him, but to all Afro-Americans. The main stimulus was a statement made by a Clergymen naming the actions and the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as unwise and untimely. However, the purpose of this letter is to show that those actions are totally wise and timely.
In his letter, Martin Luther King is trying to persuade his readers to understand his action and point of view of an African-American living in this era. He did so all while replying to the public published statement and criticisms written to him by the eight Alabama clergymen. This illuminating work of art that King had created was filled with heightened terminology which was gratified by his precise framework. By King writing this response letter with such high dialect, it reflects off of his determined and highly educated mentality immensely. In this letter King directly tries to build a connection
...church. With each claim the clergymen provided, King refuted their claim with evidence and more by describing what should be done with segregation laws. King’s tone in this piece was appropriate because he did not come off as someone who wanted to spread hate and prove the clergymen wrong. He genuinely wanted to change their views and show them the flaws of society regarding policemen and even the church. His tone was not threatening or spiteful, he made sure to address that he was trying to come off as respectful and concerned.
King had gained respect from some audience because of his soft tone. He established his ethos to readers, especially to the white, by saying, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.). To connect his idea to the real world, he used the image of Apostle Paul left the village to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ as it’s his duty to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his hometown.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
King’s letter is addressed to many men of religion (Clergymen) who criticized Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) actions during their protests in the city of Birmingham. Through his letter, King expresses his disappointment about the clergymen’s criticisms, and he wants to address their concerns. King defends his right to be in Birmingham is very straightforward tone of writing. King presents a moral reason why he has the right to be present, as he says that he came to the city to fight injustice. He believes that all communities and state are related with one another. King blames the clergymen for criticizing the SCLC without trying to understand the racist causes of injustice that is being protested against. Dr. King explains his plans of organizing nonviolent action.
King clears up any idea that he’s just someone who has broken the law for no reason. He does this by saying; “I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” (Para 15) This statement tells us that Dr. King is simply adhering to his moral responsibility by doing as he’s supposed to. He knows that following a one-sided makes no sense, and it would be submitting to evil. He even goes on to quote St. Augustine, declaring that, “an unjust law is no law at all.” (Para 15) Therefore, the segregation laws that were implemented in Birmingham at the time were by St. Augustine’s logic, no law at
“In spite of my shattered dreams of the past, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and with deep moral concern serve as the channel through which our just grievances could get to the power structure.” This appeal seems logical enough, the church is typically the first to offer aid and is usually quick to join a cause that benefits mankind. However in the case of Birmingham King said, “But again I have been disappointed.” This is because of the inaction of the southern white church who stood passively as their Christian brethren struggled, this is perhaps the greatest cause of King’s frustration. The idea that Christians would ignore the suffering of those around them was, perhaps, novel to King, who strongly believed in loving thy neighbor as thyself. For him this inaction was possibly similar to a slap in the face, to be ignored by other Christians whom he should have been able to rely on based on principle. King does mention a few noble white churches whom helped in the struggle such as “Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand this past Sunday in welcoming Negroes to your Baptist Church worship service on a
Letter from a Birmingham Jail Is an individual morally justified in breaking a law? The answer to this question is yes,. There are several reasons that have made me believe that it is morally justifiable in breaking the law; however, the most convincing comes from Dr. Martin Luther King in his letter from the Birmingham Jail. " We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." (Classic Arguments 668 -.
Aristotle is a very citable man when it comes to the way we think today. His rhetoric techniques are still being used in today's society. The Neo-Aristotelian Criticism is three different appeals of persuasion. This is ethos, pathos and logos, which makes one heck of a convincing argument. Ethos gives credibility, pathos shows emotion and logos uses words. In the text, Letter from Birmingham Jail, we find many examples of the criticism. Martin Luther King Jr. is writing a letter from inside the jail of Birmingham in April of 1963. This letter King wrote was in response to a letter he received from the religious leaders after King is making a stand against the racial issues in Alabama. These leaders stand firm in their letter when they say that when rights are being denied, they should be handled in the courts with negotiations and not in the streets. The authorities have placed Martin Luther King Jr. against his own will after his demonstration of desegregation. While incarcerated, King managed to find anything and everything to write this letter that is now famous for being a link to the end of public racism all over the nation. The content of the letter is filled with appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, which is necessary to make a strong argument.
Dr. King wrote a letter to eight clergy men, arguin, his connotative diction allowed King to take on a more persuasive tone in response to the clergy. King claims that black people all “consciously or unconsicously, he had been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America, and the Carribean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice.” The zeitgeist
In Letter from a Birmingham jail, by Martin Luther King, King is writing to those who are criticizing him for what he was doing in the South, particularly those who felt offended or criticized his work in Birmingham Alabama. He felt that these people needed to be addressed because they claimed to be of “good will”, but are quick to throw around petty charges in order to keep the peace. The reason that King was in Birmingham was because of his notice of injustice present in the Alabama and the South. He believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” which means that no matter where there is unfair treatment, it affects fair and just treatment everywhere. He was pushing for justice for all because we cannot achieve justice