Preview

Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
518 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. argues the differences between just and unjust laws using the method of comparison.
In the letter, Martin Luther King strategically argues to the clergymen that segregation laws imposed on African Americans are nothing more than unjust and immoral. He supports this claim by using a method of comparison of current events to historical and biblical events. King states that there two kinds of laws. There are just laws and there are unjust laws. King argues that a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God, and an unjust law is out of harmony with the moral law. King’s argument is valid because he is right about the differences between just and unjust

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    About individual civil rights. In the ´Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King sorts to respond to the criticism of several clergy men since he believes they are “men of genuine good will”. In respond to what they said about their actions being “unwise and untimely”. King explains their delay in action due to the occurring events, back to back. They do not wish the media to copulate their actions with the events, because they are two separate things. After that explanation, King states what brought him in Birmingham. Injustice is what brought this man to the city. King states that Birmingham is the most segregated city in America. Simply because there are brutal police incidents. Bombings of Negro properties such as homes, churches than any other city. And colored people are treated unjustly in courts. Thus with these things happening in Birmingham, King went there to get justice for the oppressed, because he believes that their individual civil rights are…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written by Martin Luther King Jr., the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a paragon of persuasive writing that takes advantage of ethos, pathos, and logos in order to convince its readers to take MLK’s side during the American civil rights movement. The use of ethos defines MLK as a credible writer; the use of pathos appeals to his audience on a personal level; and the use of logos layers his arguments and claims with irrefutable reasoning and logic. By using all three techniques, MLK is able to hold the attention of his readers and persuade them to take his side in the battle against segregation.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 34 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is a response to eight of his fellow clergymen. He wrote this letter while the government arrested him and other protesters who were demonstrating in Birmingham, and he dedicated his whole life to the civil rights of the Blacks. In this letter, he response to the clergymen that questions his methods of protest. Different from Thomas Jefferson’s pure logic argument, he still adds his passionate sense of the injustice African Americans has suffered to his cool logic argument. Also, he uses first person perspective in this letter, which makes it more personal. Anyway, these two writings own different properties, so it is obvious that they would have different writing techniques. However, Martin…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When answering the question does peaceful resistance to laws positively of negatively impact a free society, one word takes precedence - peaceful. Too many times we overlook that word and the result is just resistance to laws. In recent days, something that was titled peaceful demonstration turned into violent protest. The violence is often the intention of the "resistance" groups from the onset. The latest example comes from those who protested the outcome of the presidential election of Donald Trump. Their intention was violence and destruction in the name of protest. Egged on by media corporations with political leanings, these enraged individuals are given a free pass. This gives actual civil disobedience no chance to create positive change. The majority of protestors have no idea what cause they are associated with, just looking for their shot to get on television. The next "protest" must outdo the last and so on and so on. It is now commonplace to destroy property, set fires and attack innocent bystanders to get your point across.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. concludes his letter with opposition to the commendation towards the police, his disappointment with the white church leaders, and the optimistic view of African American history throughout the United States. Dr. Kings letters primary purpose was to refute and discuss the accusations made against the SCLC and himself to justify his actions to the clergymen. The use of words such as “you” and “hope” are stated over and over throughout the letter, giving the reader a sense that he’s one of the people that’s going through the struggle of injustice and segregation among…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s open letter, “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (1963), the author accosts his fellow black clergymen to cease their acts of apathy towards the social injustices against the African American community. The intended purpose of the text is to assemble powerful religious leaders to act upon society’s unjust treatment towards African Americans. Through the use of empathetic and hypothetical examples, imagery, and parallel structure, King composes a passionate, zealous persona in order to illustrate the urgency to rise above segregation, discrimination, and prejudice.…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr., born on January 15, 1929, fought for the injustices of his brothers and sisters throughout his life. While being an active activist, Martin Luther King was imprisoned to Birmingham jail due to his participation in a nonviolent demonstration against segregation and discrimination in Alabama. During his sentence, he wrote a letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” to counter the criticisms of his actions from the clergymen by claiming that “An unjust law is no law at all”(par. 12), “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout history, there have been many unjust laws. Many people obey laws just because they are laws. People often disagree with certain laws, but they follow it because it's socially and normally acceptable or because it's just the law. I believe that King wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to make his readers question and interpret whether or not a law is just. In this essay I will make the distinction between just and unjust laws according to Martin Luther King Jr' s Letter from Birmingham Jail. If a law is unjust, it is the responsibility of the people to get it overturned. A society should not live with an unjust law.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On April 16th, 1963, during the peak of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to a collection of clergymen in regards to his beliefs and protests. In his “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” King aptly wrote to the clergymen about their concerns in a respectful manner, while maintaining his dignity and explaining his purpose. In order to validate his points, he first built his credibility, and from there flowed into a plethora of other strategies. His emotional anecdotes and insight are strong points in his letter, appealing to the clergymen’s sense of compassion and justice. The imagery that accompanies his writing creates vivid and horrifying scenes meant to encourage the reader to join King in his civil rights endeavors. Logically, King presents his values in a manner that becomes inarguable against, which furthers the persuasive value of his writing. His…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most people agree that bullying is unethical, hurtful, damaging and that schools should not condone it. Furthermore, some concede that schools should educate students about bullying, and the psychological harm bullying has on victims. For instance, according to stopbulling.gov kids who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Bullies should not be allowed to define what bullying is, nor should they determine how a victim should feel about being bullied. In the same way an oppressor is someone who gains from other people’s suffering or misfortune. Which poses the question, should the oppressor have a say on how the oppressed should feel about inequality?…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a response to Dr. King's follow clergymen criticism. The topic of Dr. Kings letters from a Birmingham prison is the nonviolent protest being done in Birmingham, Alabama in the fight for African Americans civil rights. Some clergymen, mostly white American men, believe the nonviolent protest Dr. King and African Americans were during was "unwise" and "untimely". The main argument Dr. King is making in the letter is the protest being done in Birmingham is "wise" and most important "timely". The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. Take for instance when the part of the letter when Dr. King talks about different men, both biblical…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King’s response to the charges made in the letter from the clergymen can be said as a livid tranquil retort; well from my perspective it is. In his letter, written in when he was in Birmingham jail, he counters these charges by putting his statement of them. he was put in the jail because he was a partaker in a nonviolent protest for the opposing of segregation. This letter contradicts the charges that the clergymen mentioned in their letters claiming, for example, that the demonstrations that they go through are “unwise and untimely”. King refutes the statement of them being untimely by mentioning the that the new administration should be bothered about this case as much as the current administration was being bothered. This…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the 1954 Supreme court decision outlining segregation in public schools improved because of the “Law’ and not because of “moral” acceptance. Dr. King is specific in describing two types of laws: the just laws, and unjust laws. Dr. King referred to St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all”. He connected just laws to moral law or the law of God. He described an unjust law as a man-made code that does not kinship or is out of harmony with the moral law rooted in eternal or natural law. King makes the difference clear by describing an unjust law as not binding on the majority of people or itself. The majority follows a just law and minority as well, equal and distributed…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written in a time of civil unrest in the United States and served as a background to the fight against segregation suffered by African Americans. King used his letter to inform the world of the plight of African American’s and utilized natural law to clarify his position. In King’s letter he affirms his belief that he has not broken the law, he asserts that “an unjust law is no law at all”. What I believe that King is saying is that a law that is unjust does not serve the purpose of natural law. In this essay, I intend to argue that Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” adapted the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas’ conception of natural law to successfully argue against Alabama’s segregation laws.…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, author Martin Luther King Jr. confirms the fact that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. His expressive language and use of argumentation make his case strong and convincing. King uses pathos to invoke anger, sympathy and empathy, his impeccable use of logos makes his argument rational to everyone, and his use of ethos, especially the use of biblical references, makes his opinions more reliable. King’s arguments induce an emotional response in his readers. Although the letter was addressed to the eight clergymen, the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” speaks to a national audience. King’s use of pathos gives him the ability to encourage his fellow civil rights activists, evoke empathy in white conservatives, and allow the eight clergymen and the rest of his national audience to feel compassion towards the issue. King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. He “had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress” (King 267). He uses parallelism by repeating “I had hoped” to ironically accuse his attackers. By stating the obvious point and implying that moderates act as though this was not true, he accuses them of both hypocrisy and injustice. King is not speaking only of racism; he is speaking of injustice in general. He is a firm believer that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (262). King is saying that if we allow injustice to happen in some places, we risk it happening to everyone. We allow people to think that it is okay to act unjustly towards some individuals. The problem is that this kind of thinking can spread and infect other people to believe this is acceptable. This comes to endanger our entire society. Overall, King is saying that we need to fight against injustice anywhere we see it,…

    • 344 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays