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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. In 1963, Dr. King was invited by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring his message of nonviolent street protest to Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham had the reputation …show more content…
of being the most segregated city in the south. "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here," King wrote.
As the protests progressed, a group of white clergymen denounced them in an open letter to the Birmingham News. Expressing a fear of violence, they demanded an end to the demonstrations against segregated lunch counters, restrooms and stores, calling them "unwise and untimely." These men were among the most prominent religious leaders in the state of Alabama, representing Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Roman Catholic churches, as well as Reform Judaism. After King was jailed on a charge of parading without a permit, he wrote the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to answer the clergymen. It was reprinted in several magazines and served as pre- and post-publicity for the March on Washington. The letter brought attention to the Birmingham movement and added to King's fame. If the "I Have a Dream" speech showcases Martin Luther King Jr.'s oratorical skills, the "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" exhibits the depth of his intellect. To make its points, imagery from each of the religions is used to make the point that segregation relegated black Americans to "the status of things." Despite the clergymen's pleas for moderation and patience, King knew that the struggles of black Americans could not …show more content…
wait. "For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' " he wrote. "It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that 'justice too long delayed is justice denied.' " King tells us why the struggle for civil rights couldn't wait. "When you are fighting a degenerating sense of 'nobodiness' -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait," he wrote. The letter is meant for the race that holds the power (White). In it, King hopes to change hearts and minds by laying out the legal logic of desegregation and equality for all. He begins the letter with deference to the clergymen because he doesn’t want to upset an audience that may be more willing to listen to arguments they haven’t considered. Throughout the letter, King challenges many of the claims made by the clergymen without accusing them of anything – suggesting they call themselves moral leaders, and yet they cannot tell the difference between justice and injustice. Through the “I Have a Dream Speech” King speaks to his supporters and as well as to the entire nation to make them be fully aware of the injustices they are facing and through this make them stand up to those injustices. Both “Letter to Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream Speech” have the same underlying meaning: That way too long have the black community been treated wrongly. That way too long have the black nation been “judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character.” In the “I have a Dream Speech” King starts off by framing his remarks by referencing The Gettysburg Address – giving his words credibility.
He begins his speech by uniting and addressing the audience. Next, a brief lesson on the background of the speech is presented, and then he moves on to the main idea. He uses metaphors (“We’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.”) He argues that when the Founding Fathers wrote the words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to every American. This note was a promise that all men,black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” He goes on to explain the situation and his goal: “to make justice a reality for all of God's children.” If not granted these goals, he promises for neither rest, nor tranquility in the nation. However, he pleads for a dignified, disciplined, and a peaceful approach to revolting. Now, he begins to persuade action and shifts his argument to the blacks in the audience-- issuing a call for dignity and discipline, not
violence. “But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” Dr. King continues to broaden the appeal of the speech to include all people, not only the blacks in the audience. By saying, “It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” This tells the rest of America that he and his followers believe in the same things as they do, and that there is no reason to fear. In summary, the “Letter” is a legal argument for desegregation. It is a look at why King himself does what he does. “I have a Dream” serves as a call to action. Mlk will be reamber for ever
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.
... and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" are very different in terms of literary technique and approach, the two works bear some uncanny similarities that yield some surprising likenesses in many aspects. The comparisons and contrasts drawn here highlight the most significant of those features with respect to the works of two men who are both revered for the virtues they espoused during their lifetimes.
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written by Martin Luther King Jr., King delivers a well structured response to eight clergymen who had accused him of misuse of the law. During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. King relies heavily on the two rhetorical devices, juxtaposition and parallelism, to bolster his argument and aid to make his reasoning more compelling.
On April 3rd, 1963, the Birmingham campaign began and people were protesting against racism and injustice. The non-violent campaign was coordinated by King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. However, King was roughly arrested with other main leaders of the campaign on April 12th for disobeying the rules of “no parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing”. While jailed, King read a letter (“A call for unity”) written by eight white Alabama clergymen against King and his methods from the newspaper. In the letter, the clergymen stated that the campaign were "directed and led in part by outsiders," urging activists to use the courts if rights were being denied rather than to protest. The letter provoked King and “the Letter from Birmingham jail” was a written response to the white clergy men and to defend the strategy of non-violent protesting. Throughout the letter, King used many stylistic writing elements and effective emotional appealing to make people want to join his case.
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
In accordance to the TRACE elements needed in a rhetorical situation, all five are present. The text includes a letter type written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explaining why he is in a Birmingham city jail and the injustices he sees in the state of Alabama. The targeted audience is the eight fellow clergymen whom he is replying to after being presented a letter by those clergymen. The audience also includes the general public like the whites and the blacks in the community. The author of the letter is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, a Baptist minister who preached nonviolence and was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Dr. King was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a vital group that led many affiliations to peaceful marches and sit-ins throughout the civil rights movement. The main motivation for this letter is Dr. King’s own view of the injustices apparent in the Negro community and the intended actions the community is taking. Some constraints Dr. King faces...
In the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to an article by eight clergymen, in which he explains the racial injustice in Birmingham, and reasons why King's organization is protesting for Civil Rights. He introduces himself and his actions at the beginning of his letter. He states that the purpose of his direct action protest is to open the door for negotiation on the Civil Rights. He tries to convince his audience by providing evidence in order to gain his audience to be involved in his movement and support him. He also highlights police actions against nonviolent Negros and crimes against humanity in Birmingham city jail.
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, were the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream”. The Letter From Birmingham Jail is exactly that, it’s a letter that King wrote while he was in jail, to a group of clergy members who disapproved of his actions in Birmingham City. I Have a Dream was a speech 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 nonviolent manner.
King's main thesis in writing the Birmingham letter is that, racial segregation, or injustice to the black American society, is due to the continuous encouragement of the white American society, particularly the powerful communities in politics and religions. King defends his primary thesis all throughout the length of his letter, and the arguments that he has made to prove that his thesis is true and valid will be the focus of this rhetorical analysis.
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.
In 1963, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the South, so civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. brought his campaign of nonviolent resistance to Birmingham. After leading a demonstration on April 12, 1963, King was arrested for violating demonstration ordinances. Shortly after, eight white clergymen in Birmingham sent out a public statement claiming that although they support desegregation, they advise against anymore protests advocated by King, stating that the “demonstrations are unwise and untimely” (Carpenter et al). While in jail, King took an opportunity to continue his campaign by responding to these eight white clergymen. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King uses religious and philosophical allusions to effectively convey his intellect and credibility to his audience: the clergymen and his followers.
The injustice of segregation laws is leading to a violent impact throughout the African American community, as they strive to have equal rights. In the essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. describes many struggles the African American community is going through. Dr. King effectively uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust and must end.
With this statement, he clearly shows that the peace and justice in the United States is not limited only to the white population, but also belongs to the black population.... ... middle of paper ... ... He also uses the powerful words “Free at last” in order to show the importance of the situation of the black population.
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)....
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this argument when he proclaims, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”.