The Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr., an African American man from Atlanta, Georgia was placed in a Birmingham, Alabama prison for his protest against the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham. He was there because of the out of hand treatment the black people of Birmingham had endured. “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written in response to the eight white, Alabama clergymen that had sent him a letter about his demonstrations causing problems in a city that was not his place to be. Martin Luther King Jr. not only appealed to the masses but he was able to effectively present his argument in a way that no one could disagree with his points. The “letter” is a very powerful piece of literature and it leaves nothing to the imagination about brilliantly appeals not only to his own ethos, but to his direct audience’s ethos. First he appeals to his own ethos by opening with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”, he puts himself in a position of equal power as these eight white men. Then he goes on by introducing himself as the “president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference”, not only does this strengthen that he is on the same level as these men it shows that in fact he is not an “outsider”, but that has organizational ties, just like the clergymen he is addressing. King then goes on to further give himself credibility by saying he “began a series of workshops on non-violence”. This proves he is a credible man who started the non-violent movements. King goes on to appeal to his opponent’s ethos by quoting their ethos “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your critisms are sincerely set forth…” by King doing that he not only acknowledges his opponent’s ethos but he shuts them down by telling them he hopes that his letter answers their statements in a “patient and reasonable terms.” By Martin Luther King Jr. quoting his audience he is also giving him self credibility, he is showing them that not a single word was left uses in the “letter” is logos to further communicate his argument to his audience. King states facts that no one wanted to bring up. He says “there have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any other state”. This gives another reason he feels that he should be in Alabama rather than in Atlanta, so that he can address the violence against his people. This fact not only brings attention to it in a serious manner but in an emotional one. A bombing is not something to take lightly, a bombing is a tragic, horrible thing to happen to anyone and King hopes to get the reader to feel sadness and compassion for what is happening to other human beings. After that he still manages to explain how non-violent protests are the most ideal way to continue. By him being able to do that he showed every way, everyone of the clergy men were wrong. King then explains how the actions of the protestors were not “Untimely” but in fact pushed back multiple times in order to keep the attention on the real problem. “The election was a main contributor as to why the protest was postponed” stated King. Not only was it pushed back to after the election but it was pushed back to after the run- off so the people against it could not use the protest as a cover up story, the real problem would be the only thing they could talk about. Martin Luther King Jr. usage of logos show the actuality of what happened. It confirmed they had