Letter To Birmingham Jail Analysis

“This wait has almost always meant Never. We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that justice too long delayed is justice denied." [Martin Luther King, Jr.]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested while leading a parade in Birmingham, Alabama, while attending a 1963 civil rights protest. Dr. King wrote, “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, responding to a letter written by eight white Birmingham clergymen criticizing his involvement in demonstrations. Dr. King used his letter to answer why he came to Birmingham, Alabama. All though African-Americans were being oppressed throughout the South, no city showed the same levels of injustice found in Birmingham. Dr. King explained that he could not just sit in Atlanta, Georgia,

King used his knowledge of biblical scriptures to appeal to their sense of compassion. Dr. King compared his calling to help those in Birmingham to that of Apostle Paul. Dr. King, expressed that, “Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world…” [King] Including this example in his letter, Dr. King’s explanation for coming to Birmingham was to carry the “gospel of freedom” [King] just as Apostle Paul carried the gospel of Jesus Christ. In addition to Dr. King’s plea for compassion, a call for justice was needed. The level of brutality and the lack of civility occurring in Birmingham was a threat justice everyone. Dr. King reminded them that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” [King] Dr. King elaborated on this statement by explaining that all citizens of the United States are dependent upon one another. No one could act without impacting the lives of others. He further provided evidence to these injustices by expressing that “negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts there and have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches.” [King] The widespread injustice was the sole reason for the civil rights protests. The only way to make those in power to take notice of these actions was to demonstrate. When the injustices were made visible, society would have no choice but to deal with the

King explained that no society could live by laws without a moral code. Further, a law that degrades a human should be not be considered as just. Segregation is a law that should be considered an unjust law. Segregation is unjust because it “distorts the soul and damage the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.” [King]

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his open letter to the clergymen of Birmingham, Alabama, after being arrested for leading nonviolent demonstrations in protest of the brutal and humiliating treatment of the Negro community. The clergymen had expressed their concerns with how Dr. King was disobeying the local laws and causing tension in the community. They communicated his moral obligation to follow just laws, and that negotiation was the proper method to achieve his purpose. Causing disorder in the community as not an acceptable way to achieve his purpose.

Dr. King used different approaches to reach the reasonableness of the clergymen. He used ethos by expressing his knowledge of theology to speak to their religious beliefs. He used logos by describing the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas regarding the definition of just and moral laws, and compares to the unjustness of segregation. Dr. King used pathos by sharing his personal experience with segregation and the effects on a person’s personality. A just law does not degrade or humiliate a