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Letter from a Birmingham Jail Response
My favorite passage in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is the paragraph at the bottom of page six beginning "In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence." He goes on not only to refute this claim by the other ministers his letter is addressed to, but also to make other points in favor of his arguments and his actions. I really like the analogy he uses to directly counter the opening statement of this paragraph. King compares the ministers' assessment of his situation to saying a man shouldn't have nay money because it will incite violence and robbery. This is a very convincing way to make his point because the situation in robbery is black-and-white (no pun intended); though the issue of race seems to have a clear right and wrong to most of today's Americans, the issue was not as clear when King was alive. Drawing a comparison between his nebulous position and the clear lunacy of blaming a robbery victim for the robbery makes the ethics of his struggle clear and difficult to argue with.
King also makes another point in this passage that directly refutes something another minister told him. He says that this particular minister told him to be patient and wait for the right time. King points out that time itself never did anything; it is "neutral" as he puts it. It is people's actions that make things happen, King asserts, and though it still takes time and perseverance to accomplish things, they will not happen just by waiting. I think this section really shows King's passion and commitment to his cause, especially when he equates silence and waiting with sin, saying "we will have to repent...for the appalling silence of good people" and claiming that "the time is always ripe to do right." King wants to make it clear that not only were his actions justified, but that they were even necessary, and I think this passage accomplishes that more than any other in this letter.
Letter Birmingham Response to the Letter from Birmingham Jail It is difficult to imagine being in the position Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in when he wrote this letter. Though it was far from the only time he was arrested during his campaigning for civil rights, the "Birmingham Campaign" that led to this arrest was one of the larger movements of civil disobedience that King helped to lead, and the weight
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dear Sir: My name is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am currently imprisoned in a Birmingham Jail as a result of accusations of inciting a riot. On the eve of October 14th of this year, 1958 I lead a peaceful demonstration protesting unfair wages and poor working conditions of the poor people in the city of Birmingham. I would like to
Coatesville" John Jay Chapman "The Letter Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther Deeply Disillusioned The United States of America has meant a wide variety of things to several different people, particularly to those who have had to call its shores home. The initial promise of this land -- as one of redemption, as a place where the lofty ideas engraved within such documents as the Bill of Rights and the Constitution have never
Letter from the Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr., and "A Letter from the Clergy" by some leading spiritual clergy in Birmingham, Alabama. Specifically, it will summarize the two letters. Both of these letters provide compelling reasons for what the authors believe in, and they are both very persuasive and convincing in their own way. The clergymen believe that King's actions, in creating a march that led to many
"In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty." In that argument, the author also draws a comparison with those most committed to maintaining segregation; presumably, he was referring to those who physically attacked and sometimes killed both African-Americans and
Well crafted sentence explaining how the two text evidences show your point of analysis: In his use of metaphors, King poetically dramatizes the length of time African-Americans have struggled for full civil equality, in response to the white ministers' demand that he be patient, moderate, and not 'push' Southern whites to change too quickly. Third Point of Analysis: King, to address the specific allegations of the white ministers uses rhetorical questions