The violence shown in the film Mississippi Burning displays one of the most inhumane images. It shows the unconditional hatred by the Caucasian Americans toward the African American people living in Jessup County. Throughout the film, it is suggested by Agent Anderson (a fictional FBI agent) that those involved in the investigation of three missing children needed to use more guttural tactics. This is often referred to as a “do whatever it takes” philosophy. In the film however, Agent Ward is particularly against using such tactics and avidly tries to avoid using them. Agent Anderson finally wins the argument between them and the more aggressive technique eventually prevails. The question that looms however is whether or not it is justifiable to use such hostile tactics. Can one say that because of the violence that culminated against the Black Americans it is okay to deploy the same amount of violence against the aggressors? Philosophers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry Thoreau have written about such ideas and their concepts can be directly applied to the example presented in Mississippi Burning. Dr. King echoed nonviolent protest even through his greatest struggles. In his “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King still evoked the want for nonviolence against those who committed acts of injustice. Even though he deplored the actions that the members of the white community were doing, he still stressed the need for a peaceful campaign. “It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.” (King) Dr. King was probably the most outspoken critic of the conditions in the South, mainly be... ... middle of paper ... ...if all peaceful means of solving the crisis at hand are unsuccessful and the resolution of this crisis is of utmost importance, than it is acceptable to use the means necessary to achieve that end. Works Cited Barnett, Horace. Interview by Henry Rask. Personal interview. 20 Nov. 1964. Hornsby Jr., Alton. "Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"." The Journal of Negro History Vol. 71.No. 1/4 (1986): 38-44. Print. King, Wayne. "FILM; Fact vs. Fiction in Mississippi." The New York Times [New York City] 4 Dec. 1988, sec. Movies. The New York Times. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. Thoreau, Henry. "Civil Disobedience." A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers (1866): 123-151. Print. ""You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself"." Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2006. Paragraph 2309. Print.
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.
In 1963, when African-Americans were fighting for black and white equality, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” While confined in the Birmingham jail, King felt the need to respond to a letter published in the local newspaper. This letter criticized King’s intentions during his visit by saying they were untimely. As a way to defend his actions, King put together a number of arguments and beliefs that proved why taking direct action was necessary during a time of racial discrimination. Furthermore, to persuade his audience, King had to gain trust and share the emotional connection he had with his people.
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....
King, Martin L. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]." Letter to Fellow Clergymen. 16
The author, Dr. Martian Luther King Jr., makes a statement “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” He uses this concept to convey the point of the Negros hard work to negotiate the issue has failed, but now they must confront it. The March on Good Friday, 1963, 53 blacks, led by Reverend Martian Luther King, Jr., was his first physical protest to segregation laws that had taken place after several efforts to simply negotiate. The author uses several phrases that describe his nonviolent efforts and his devotion to the issue of segregation that makes the reader believe his how seriously King takes this issue. “Conversely, one has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Dr. Martian Luther King, Jr. explains with this that an “unjust law is no law at all.” King does not feel like he has broken any laws in his protest against segregation. In his eyes, laws are made to protect the people, not degrade and punish. “The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him March.” As far as King is concerned, the Negros will continue to do whatever is necessary, preferably non-violently, to obtain the moral and legal right that is theirs. If they are not allowe...
King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." Letter to The Clergymen. 16 Apr. 1963. American Identities. N.p.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. N. pag. Print
"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.
King, Martin L., Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Letter to My Dear Fellow Clergymen. 16 Apr. 1963. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
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.
King, Martin Luther Jr. “Letter from the Birmingham jail.” Why We Can't Wait 1963: 77-100.
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an argumentative persuasive essay, the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963. King had written this letter to address and respond to the criticism made by the white clergymen. The letter was an approach to end racism and hatred in a non-violent manner. The non-violent movement was organized by King and his pro-black organization called “The Southern Christian Leadership Conference”.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” while most appropriately described as a response to criticism, is not written from a defensive position. While his letter more than aptly provides a functional defense of his actions at Birmingham, it serves more so as a counter-critical rebuttal that both repudiates criticisms of his deeds, and criticizes the reasoning behind said criticisms. Dr. King uses the very denunciative tools used against him, such as assertions of premature action and aggressiveness, as both defense and offense, effectively dismissing any wrong on his part, and elucidating the myopic nature of the white moderates’ reticence. What makes his criticism particularly powerful, besides its solid reasoning, and open publication, is the medium between his logic and the receptivity of his audience: his rhetoric. In his letter, King addresses the accusations of civil disobedience and extremism, and his being encouraged to submit to quietism, but the manner in which these facets are presented by the opposition, distort King’s actual position, proving to be the greatest threat to King’s efforts. King’s ability to overcome these obstacles was not through the use of logic alone, but through the use of rhetorical delivery.
“Does the end ever justify the means?” This question is posed after reading The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. In this play, Brutus and the other conspirators murdered Julius Caesar because they thought he was a corrupt leader for the city of Rome. They thought that they were not doing anything wrong because they were doing it for the good of the people. Were their actions indeed for the good of the people, and if so, did that make the murder okay?
When MLK was taken in to custody, he was charged with “parading without a permit”(King), which really means he was doing wrong because it was a parade against segregation. He was holding a peaceful protest on behalf of the people who did not have a voice for themselves, and he was going to stop at nothing to be heard. MLK, while in jail, was receiving criticizing letters from all over about his protest, he never responded to them until he came across one. Eight Alabama clergymen entitled, “A Call For Unity”, which explained that he should be fighting in courts only and not on the street, wrote the letter. When King writes back that taking direct action is the only way to achieve the true civil rights even if it goes against what is morally right.
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)....