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King's letter from birmingham jail essay
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The act of protesting is to express one's opinions about a certain topic especially if that opinion is negative towards an action or law. Patriotism is when one has vigorous support for one's country. Throughout America’s history, it has built rules and laws that have made the citizens of the country safer and equal, but fighting for these rights were proven to be very difficult. Protest is an act of patriotism when their country isn’t living up to the values that a their country has built, protest is someone’s opinion on their country and most of the time it isn’t a positive opinion. Protest is never rebellion for its own sake, because the big protests in America’s history have always been noticed. It is clear that from historic and current …show more content…
In King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he expresses his feelings about the Clergymen, who called him “unwise and untimely”, disapproving his acts of protest. “We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom.” (King 43) King believes that if the African Americans keep fighting for their rights by participating in peaceful protests, then the freedom that should be all over America will actually be spread across America. After the Civil War, not everyone was equal, especially in the South where blacks were classified as “separate but equal.” There were many laws in place in the South that restricted the African Americans from doing the things that they were allowed to do which made them separate but equal, restraints were put on them and when they tried to fight back with their peaceful protests they were hit with violence. Additionally in King’s letter he states, “Is it true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather ‘nonviolently’ in public. But for what purpose?”(King 45) The idea of this sentence is that the discipline the police are using is violent, unjust and immoral. In King’s past he constantly was spreading the acts of nonviolence and encouraging people to stand up for themselves, but when he saw that violence was handling non-violence. Considering King’s letter into the question, if protest is an act of patriotism, it is an act of patriotism because patriotism is loyalty to their country while getting all their rights and King and his followers were fighting to get their rights. It wasn’t rebellious because the people fighting we’re fighting for patriotism and a just
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....
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written while he was “confined in the Birmingham city jail.” His letter was a direct response to the eight Alabama clergymen who insisted that King’s use of nonviolent direct action was unlawful. The clergymen questioned his method of protests even though they had similar goals as King. In his letter, King illustrates the hardships and injustices that African Americans in the United States were enduring during the mid-twentieth century; doing so allows King to justify the nonviolent actions of his fellow protestors. King uses the classical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, along with his rhetorical situation, to support his claims about the racial discrimination and segregation in the United States.
Dr. King uses his credibility to convince eight Alabama clergymen that his direct action protests are (right, constitutional, essential, should be accepted or supported or……...?). At the beginning of his letter, Dr. King indicates that there are 85 organizations across southern states that associated with his organization. This shows reader that his organization is backed-up by other organizations and (protesters are not bad [in different words]………?). Then he says that he cannot ignore what is happening in Birmingham while he is sitting in Atlanta, Georgia (). He mentions this to let his audience know that there are some problems in Birmingham and he is trying to solve them. He says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” () He gives his reader an idea that there is injustice in Birmingham. It also indicate that King is unhappy and protesting because injustice exists in Birmingham. Dr. King says that he and people who are involved in direct-action protests are not the ones who create tension, but they a...
The forceful subjugation of a people has been a common stain on history; Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was written during the cusp of the civil rights movement in the US on finding a good life above oppressive racism. Birmingham “is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known,” and King’s overall goal is to find equality for all people under this brutality (King). King states “I cannot sit idly… and not be concerned about what happens,” when people object to his means to garner attention and focus on his cause; justifying his search for the good life with “a law is just on its face and unjust in its application,” (King). Through King’s peaceful protest, he works to find his definition of good life in equality, where p...
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
Martin Luther King Junior's letter from a Birmingham Jail was an expression of his encouragement for protest against tradition and established laws and a justification for his actions. King, a leader of a civil-rights group that supported protest against traditional views, encouraged protesting against tradition and established laws that are unjust. In his letter from Birmingham Jail King states: "It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's anti-religious laws." This excerpt shows that King encourages protest because in some situations he deems it necessary, be it in Hitler's Germany, a Communist country, or any situation in which injustices are occurring. In the last sentence of the excerpt King openly admits that he would protest against established laws or traditions. King was against the traditional views and unjust laws, which discriminated against him and his fellow people.
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
Is it not ironic that Martin Luther King Jr. s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which testifies to his struggle for Civil Rights; not only contradicts the time Martin Luther King wrote it in, but also echoes the same sentiments of today’s moral causes and laws? . Dr. King (&*) then known as Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter to Birmingham in response to his fellow clergymen’s criticisms of him being locked up for his actions in Birmingham’s Civil Rights protest. The letter’s emotional appeal of pathos and uprightness are apparent as Dr. King likens his reasons for writing the letter to that of the eighth century prophets, who wanted to carry forth the righteous word of the lord. Just as these prophets, chose to fight, for just causes so did he. Dr. King used this letter as a medium to bring to light the immoralities and injustices that existed around him. Martin Luther King described the known underlying strain of racism of the African-Americans, which plagued the southern part of North America. From the “colored” and “white” race signs directing them to which restrooms, or water fountains to use, and even the segregation of their children from Caucasian children in the American education system. The last of three steps part of a nonviolent campaign “Nonviolent direct action” (pg. 118 para. 4 sent.9) as described by Dr. King was a progressive movement used to get away from the” obnoxious peace ( pg. 118 para. 4 sent. 6), which existed in the South, and unto appreciation for human beings. This method was a means to the madness, stop any further bloodshed, and quell rising tensions. Sit-ins, Marches, and protest were all types of nonviolent warfare strategies’ used by African Americans to fight for equal...
In Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from the Birmingham City Jail, King speaks about the society he and all other African Americans are living in. He starts to discuss just and unjust laws and states the difference between the two: “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Most people, at the time, thought that if a law is in place, it is for the better of society. The idea held by mostly white America that the brutality the police officers are inflicting on civilians who fight against systemic racism as a way to keep order adds to Kings problems with the current state of society. He is fighting against the ‘white moderate’, who is the white
the segregationists, resulting in the injury and deaths of many of King’s followers. With these points in mind, King came to the conclusion that the best strategy in gaining the rights of African American was the use of non-violent protest. He believed that violence only “intensifies evil,';
...y, and also fidelity to the law. Acts of civil disobediences are aimed to defend principles of justice. In King’s case he aims to persuade the local government and the businesses to comply with desegregation laws. It was important for him to communicate fidelity to the law. You should lovingly break a law, because your reason behind protesting to to achieve what you see as a higher good. You are not directly hurting the people. King’s argument ultimately is you can break the law to make the law more just. You are attempting to break the law to show that the law is unjust, and it is an act of saying that the law can be made better than it is now. He’s gathered his facts and understanding of the law, it is 100% clear there’s a problem. For civil disobedience to be justified a real injustice must exist, or else it wouldn’t addresses a sense of justice of the majority.
Overall, patriotism is seen by many as different things. There are some who There is nothing more American than citizens exercising their constitutional right to protest. An appropriate protest consists of using this right, but it must be done at the correct time and place. Conflictions occur when the protest is not respectful, or is targeted towards the wrong thing or group. In the future, hopefully people will realize that as Americans, it is our duty to stand up for what we believe in, and do so in an appropriate
The Civil Rights Movement began in order to bring equal rights and equal voting rights to black citizens of the US. This was accomplished through persistent demonstrations, one of these being the Selma-Montgomery March. This march, lead by Martin Luther King Jr., targeted at the disenfranchisement of negroes in Alabama due to the literacy tests. Tension from the governor and state troopers of Alabama led the state, and the whole nation, to be caught in the violent chaos caused by protests and riots by marchers. However, this did not prevent the March from Selma to Montgomery to accomplish its goals abolishing the literacy tests and allowing black citizens the right to vote.
On March 7 1965 policemen attacked 525 civil right demonstrators that took part in the march between Selma and Montgomery Alabama. The march was to let black people vote. The police used tear gas and charged on horseback into the crowds, there were more than 50 demonstrators injured. The day of the protest was named “Bloody Sunday”, and it was all over America broadcasted on national TV and in newspapers and Americans were very mad at how the authorities handled it. Even though people were hurt in bloody Sunday, 8 days after bloody Sunday President Lyndon B. Johnson presented a bill to congress that would turn into the black Voting Rights act of 1965. ("The New York times")
The demonstrations resulted in the arrest of protesters, including Martin Luther King. After King was arrested in Birmingham for taking part in a peaceful march to draw attention to the way that African-Americans were being treated there, their lack of voter rights, and the extreme injustice they faced in Alabama, he wrote his now famous “Letter from Birmingham.” In order to gain an understanding of King’s purpose for the letter, it is important to begin by explaining “A Call of Unity”, a letter written by a group of white clergymen urging the end to the demonstrations. The letter was published in the Birmingham Post Herald with a copy given to King. The letter made many claims including that the demonstrations were led by outsiders, they were unwise and untimely, and urged the black community to withdraw their support (Carpenter, Durick, Grafman, Hardin, Murray, Ramage, Stallings, & Harmon, 1963)....