Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

In addressing the difference between just and unjust laws, Dr. King first

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and a social activist. He led the Civil Rights Movement and used non-violent protests to get messages across. The purpose of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was to let the clergyman of Birmingham knew that he also was a clergyman and not an outsider, and that he was approached by others for guidance, support, and encouragement on how to deal with injustice in the town of Birmingham and help with establishment of civil rights. Dr. King addresses the reasons to continue non-violent actions against racist, unjust laws that are currently in effect during the time he was incarcerated. Martin Luther King Jr. explains that racial discrimination, or injustice to the black American

King asserts it is a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.(4)”. He furthers his claim by stating that an unjust law is one that is “out of harmony with the moral law,(4)”. King says “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.” King gives vivid examples of how colored people have been repeatedly ridiculed throughout history.

He explains that “an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (King 383). In other words, a law becomes inequitable when it is used against a citizens civil rights, like the laws of segregation. Another example of an unjust law was the denial to vote based on the color of the skin. King argued that when these laws were made, it is an individual's duty to break them. By doing so, he would be “expressing the highest respect for law” because he would be going against people and accepting the punishment for it (King

The Wait is Over Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential civil right activist, not only appeals to the logical side of his audience, but he is also reaching out to their emotional side. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for leading a peaceful demonstration against segregation. King responded back to the eight Alabama clergymen who did not agree with his actions. He makes it clear to the clergymen that they cannot keep telling African-Americans to “wait.” While rereading, I had the time to admire King's use of logos and pathos.

Dr. King’s letter is filled with powerful statements and information to assist people in understanding the injustice and discrimination impacting blacks in Alabama and in other states. Although many northerners believed that the racism in the south was not important to them, Dr. King emphasized, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere” (King). Dr. King urged northerners not to stand silent and instead understand that what was going on in the south easily could spread to the north. Dr. King’s letter also addressed whether all laws must be followed. King stated, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God.

In other words, Dr. King didn’t believe that the rights granted to African Americans were morally correct, but he wanted his followers to protest understanding the difference between “just” and “unjust” laws. From segregation

Furthermore, king then further fortifies his argument by providing a moral reason for his presence, claiming that he has come to Birmingham to battle its ongoing “injustices”. King goes on to defend the legitimacy of using non-violent protests and civil disobedience, even condoning the breaking of unjust laws in the process. Specifically, King distinguishes laws that are just from laws that are unjust. He states that unjust laws”degrade human personality” and therefore must be broken.

King was judged for his color and believing that all men should have been created equal no matter any situation. It states “ Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made illegal. By the same token, a just law is a code that majority compels a minority to follow and

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states, "it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws;" this statement corresponds with Dr. King Jr.  agreeing with St. Augustine’s statement that "an unjust law is no law at all." In 1954 during the

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

Martin Luther King discusses many philosophical principles in the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” that relates with Aquinas discussion about law. Most of Martin Luther King’s philosophical ideas have to deal with natural law. According to Aquinas natural law is promulgated by reason and also rational participation in the eternal law. But in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” we can see how human law is connected to natural law always.

Furthermore, King reiterates in the letter that while the civil rights movement has tried other avenues of change, freedom “must be demanded by the oppressed” and that the only way to change such unjust laws was by bringing attention to them via civil disobedience (King 3). Thus, civil disobedience was necessary in such cases to end unjust laws. Given that King clearly believed unjust laws must be ended, civil disobedience was therefore in his view a moral responsibility. King also highlights that throughout history there have been many laws that permitted injustice and that law enforcement has acted brutally towards the people it prosecutes

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.