Why African Americans can no longer “wait” “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin L. King, Jr is a response to the eight white clergymen who wrote him a letter criticizing him, his movement, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King first addresses why he came to Birmingham. Though King does not usually respond to criticism, he responds to the men because he believes they are “of genuine good will.” Martin Luther King, Jr. had been arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham in 1963 regarding his protest activities. Birmingham at the time was a segregated city, known for the mistreatment of African Americans. In the letter, Dr. King defended the necessity of using protests and demonstrations …show more content…
Kings “letter,” you have to understand who Dr. King is addressing. The audience he is addressing is not only the clergymen the audience is universal. It seems obvious to say that “Letter from Birmingham Jail” concerns itself with race. While Dr. King says as fact that all races are equal, he draws attention to the separation between races. Instead, what he preaches is connection between all humans, regardless of race. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. This phrase, one of the letter’s most famous, serves several purposes, it justifies why Dr. King and the SCLC have come to Birmingham0222220..li7]//’’; because they feel connected to and responsible for everyone, they had to come to a place that was exhibiting injustice. Throughout the work, he justifies breaking laws if they are unjust, embracing extremism. Because Dr. King establishes his credibility early on, he has justifications for those claims. If, injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere, then it follows that a man interested in justice must stop it, not just for his community, but for the good of all …show more content…
They cannot wait around while they watch their black brother and sisters beaten, lynched, and killed by vicious mobs and even people set in place to protect them from these very heinous acts. MLK is absolutely right that we can no longer wait. The life of African Americans most likely would have got worse instead of better if African Americans had waited. The worse thing African Americans can do is wait and accept the injustices the were facing as a part of life. If they want justice, they have to go out and take it. Because they we be waiting around for the rest of their lives. In addition, MLK Jr. uses a quotes from the Declaration of Independence. He writes, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” This shows to the clergymen that racial injustices does not follow the basic premise which this country was founded on. And that justice and equality was promised to every American and if these promises are not being fulfilled then that should be the main goal of all Americans black and white. Kings wants white Americans to put themselves in the shoes of African Americans. In hopes that they will empathize with African
The court had ordered that he could not hold protests in Birmingham and Dr. King thought that was unjust. In King's letter he replies to the criticisms made by a clergymen in the piece "A Call for Unity". In "A Call
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote this as a reply to “A Letter from the Clergy” which was written by eight clergymen. This essay’s style is inspirational. “Let us all hope that dark clouds of racial prejudice…over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty” (King 500-501).
Dr. King wrote the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in response to a letter written by the Eight Alabama Clergymen who were protesting the progress of desegregation in Birmingham through peaceful acts by the Negro community. King responds to the eight clergymen in a respectful but yet stern and intelligent way. The clergymen expressed that they felt the Negro community 's actions were untimely, unwise, and disrespectful. The clergymen felt that these ethnic issues should be addressed in a court room and not on the corner. Although they understood where King was coming from, they felt like these actions would result in violence.
In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to the criticisms of other clergymen that his nonviolent campaign to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama is “unwise and untimely” (1), as well as presenting his concerns of the white moderate and the limited power of the church. Although his fellow clergymen urge King to wait for the inevitable end of segregation, he refutes that “time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation” (21) showing that rather than wait for change, the civil rights campaign must take advantage of the time provided. With the mayoral elections in Birmingham occurring during the time of the planned action (8), the movements plans were further deterred causing their window of opportunity to shrink without them getting in the way of Birmingham’s political agenda. King goes on to invalidate the claims of the religious leaders by stating that “freedom is never voluntarily
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. Incarcerated, he wrote a letter in response to the Clergymen’s letter in which he wrote his thoughts and justified what many saw as an act that was “unwise and untimely” (King 2). King believed that people were born with the right to freedom and that he was trying to regain that right even though he continued to put it off. He finally saw that he could put it off no longer because of the broken promises and the time he was wasting. His being in Birmingham was brought by the injustice he believed to be there that was far greater than any other place.
King’s determination does not allow him to give up until racial equality is reached. He begins to accomplish his objective of spreading the need to destroy isolation and achieve justice being served for all through his non-violent gesture of writing a letter to the eight white clergymen. Without Martin Luther King writing the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the Civil Rights Movement could have taken a longer time to leave an imprint on both blacks and whites. This letter proves to American society that King is willing to risk it all because of his devotion to removing all unjust laws. People are significantly moved by this letter since it gives them a feeling of trust that King would not surrender, furthermore motivating them to strengthen the rights of African
Dr King wrote a direct response to the eight clergymen from Alabama in a confinement cell in Birmingham, Alabama which is now known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” It addresses the wrong-doings and injustices going on in Birmingham. King was arrested for being part of a peaceful protest against segregation that had not been approved to be marched in that area. King argues that publicly showing that people including him are against segregation is better than just negotiating and having the “Negro community” patiently wait around for society to move toward civil rights and that demanding social justice provokes individuals and groups to act out, regardless of how peaceful the method may be. Dr King explains why it is okay for him to be a part
Martin Luther King’s message “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” it rebuttals the empty statements made by the eight Alabama clergymen. In the clergymen’s letter, they try to show their support by mentioning how they know what is best for the citizens, and they are trying their hardest to resolve these problems. However, they fail to give evidence in saying that King’s methods were “untimely and unwise”, and they failed to prove their support against segregation. King wrote this letter during his serving time in jail, in response to the clergymen that said that his action were “unwise and untimely.” This letter raised national awareness to the Civil Rights Movements, it motioned the will power to gain proper rights after three hundred and forty
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he is addressing the Clergymen, more specifically the white church and its leadership who criticized his efforts in the civil rights movement, by calling his demonstrations unwise and untimely. He is also simultaneously addressing the national audience as well in letting them know of the injustices of the time. It was 1963, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from inside a jail cell. He had been arrested during an anti-segregation march for not having a valid parading permit in Birmingham, Alabama. In this letter he addresses the criticisms that were brought forth to him.
Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: Just and Unjust Laws Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a letter to eight white clergymen while he’s sitting in a jail cell, the result of a protest in Birmingham, Alabama that King, a Georgian, traveled to attend. Due to the criticisms of the clergymen, he commences his letter by explaining why he needed to come to Birmingham. King states that he was there for a multitude of reasons, the first being that he had organizational ties to Birmingham, the second being that he was there because there was injustice in Birmingham. He states that as a citizen of America, injustice in Birmingham is not removed from justice anywhere else because everything is interrelated, and that injustice
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.
In his response to the clergymen's letter, written in 1963 during the height of the Civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King writes and responds to the three claims made by the clergymen. While he led a peaceful protest in Birmingham, he aimed to address the injustice and racism in this town. The local police then arrested King because he broke a new law that said you could not protest without a permit. Dr. Martin Luther King was just visiting Birmingham to engage in direct nonviolent action and deal with the injustice that was happening throughout the city. He was invited by someone in the Christian Movement for Human Rights to go to Birmingham.
JoAnna Guzman AP English Period 4 Mrs. Solis 5 February 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. letter “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a response to eight Alabama clergymen of 1963. The clergymen had accused King of being an “outsider” and interfering with the racial issues of the community of Birmingham. When writing in response to the eight clergymen from Alabama Martin Luther King Jr. uses the rhetorical device of historical and biblical allusions.
“Letter from Jail” On April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight clergymen while he was incarcerated. Dr. King wrote this letter to address one of the biggest issues in Birmingham, Alabama and other areas within the United States. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discussed the great injustices that were happening during that time towards the black community. Dr. King wanted everyone to have the same equal rights as the white community, he also went into further details about the struggles that African Americans were going through for so many years, which he felt like it could change. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, expressed his beliefs and his actions about the Human Rights Movement.
King's letter was like an effective medicine necessary for healing. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is effective at convincing the audience of joining the movement of equality because of his use of rhetorical appeals, his experience with the topic, and his understanding of the audience. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, provokes