The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. The extension is that if their most-hated concept extremism is not necessarily bad, then they ought to reexamine their various attitudes and perceptions. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. The question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. ", "One of the basic points in your statement" through "I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. Pick no more than two modes of appeal. This passage is a rather concise description of the call to arms that lies within the "Letter from Birmingham Jail.". All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. ", "You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws" to "I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws. In Dr. Kings argument, moderation is a reflection of the moderates ignorant and unwitting sinfulness. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the Souths beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. But is this a logical assertion? I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured? The Eight White Clergymen who wrote "A Call for Unity," an open letter that criticized the Birmingham protests, are the implied readers of King 's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." King refers to them as "My Dear Fellow Clergymen," and later on as "my Christian and Jewish brothers." Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boylehave written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. A response directed toward 8 Alabama clergymen who released a statement toward King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had begun to flood into Birmingham to protest the awful civil rights violations being inflicted upon Blacks King's response establishes what? Over and over I have found myself asking: What kind of people worship here? Individuals must actively seek to create the world they want, since there is no inevitable sense of fate that . A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. The article also reveals the benefit of this letter and other rhetorical strategies. Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary & Analysis Next Themes Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis Martin Luther King, Jr. directs his letter to the eight white clergymen who publicly condemned his actions in Birmingham, Alabama. Arguing that time is "neutral," Dr. King illustrates the importance of individual action. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. Essays for Letter From Birmingham Jail. His argument here is that allowing a law to reign supreme without assessing its moral quality produces a situation like that of Nazi Germany. I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against outsiders coming in. I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. However, this passionate but restrained argument ultimately sets the stage for a declaration of what scholar Jonathan Rieder calls a proclamation of black self-sufficiency (94). I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. research paper letter from birmingham jail thesis will pay to do homework . ", I must make two honest confessions. through now this approach is being termed extremist., But though I was initially disappointed through embodied in our echoing demands., Read the Study Guide for Letter From Birmingham Jail, Rhetorical Analysis of Letter From a Birmingham Jail, We Are in This Together: Comparing "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "Sonny's Blues", Fighting Inequality with the Past: A Look into "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and Related Historical Documents, A Question of Appeal: Rhetorical Analysis of Malcolm X and MLK, View our essays for Letter From Birmingham Jail, Introduction to Letter From Birmingham Jail, View the lesson plan for Letter From Birmingham Jail, View Wikipedia Entries for Letter From Birmingham Jail. Due to the extent of his higher learning, Dr. King had ready access to a number of allusions from a variety of religious and secular traditions, and he makes full use of that knowledge in the Letter. While each allusion serves a particular purpose in the context of the argument in which it is used, when taken together they underline two aspects of his argument. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue. He is a U.S. citizen and no U.S. citizen is an outsider anywhere within the U.S. 3. 1 - Line 1 Audience The reader (s) to whom this is directed. So I have not said to my people: Get rid of your discontent. Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. An early example is his discussion and defense of tension. However, here he shows a much greater eagerness to accept a mantle, regardless of his audiences response. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. On the surface, Letter from Birmingham Jail is intended for the Birmingham clergymen who published an open letter criticizing the actions of Dr. King and the SCLC. He writes: All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. King is expressing his apology for the demonstrations themselves, but he is not apologizing for the reasons and purposes behind the demonstrations. Things are different now. Letter From Birmingham Jail essays are academic essays for citation. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all.. The protests began with to pressure business leaders to cease discrimination for employment and end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, Why would King express his apology in this way? Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. However, the restraint also allows him to reinforce one of the letters central themes, the interconnectedness of man. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department. Taking for granted that his audience accepts the validity of Christian morality, he insists that one should apply this sense of morality towards the worlds complications. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Once he establishes the definitions of justice and morality, Dr. King argues that the black man will succeed with or without the help of white moderates because they operate with the just ideals of both secular America and divine guidance. When he explains the many distinctions that support his cause such as the differences between just and unjust laws, violence and nonviolence, or just means and unjust ends he is implicitly suggesting that the clergymen are too dense to realize the nuances of the situation they have so openly criticized. April 16, 1963 As the events of the Birmingham Campaign intensified on the city's streets, Martin Luther King, Jr., composed a letter from his prison cell in Birmingham in response to local religious leaders' criticisms of the campaign: "Never before have I written so long a letter. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. In terms of the former, the white moderate operates under an illusion that patience will be more effective towards ending segregation than tension will be. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.. 1. collection of facts 2. negotiation 3. self-purification On several occasions in the Letter, he chides the clergy for representing a church that is separate from social, real-world concerns. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. More specifically, he assumes they accept the validity of Christian morality. . Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. That is, if indeed injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere, then it follows that a man interested in justice must endeavor to stop it, not just for the sake of his immediate community, but for the good of all mankind. He does not wish to validate his audiences deep-seeded fears - that the black movement is an extremist set that will engender violence. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. ", "But more basically, I am in Birmingham" through "live in monologue rather than dialogue. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that states segregation laws was democratically elected? It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the citys white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his Southern Christian Leadership Conference and their partners in the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights led a campaign of protests . In what ways does the Letter attack the clergymen even when being outwardly deferential towards them? Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Letter from Birmingham Jail: S: Martin Luther King Jr. born in January 15, 1929, Atlanta Georgia, the Ebenezer Baptist Church. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. In other cases, he uses unimpeachable figures like Jesus Christ or Abraham Lincoln to illustrate the basic way in which the clergymen are acting hypocritically. On April 3, 1963, the Rev. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. Nourished by the Negros frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible devil.. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. Birmingham was one of the most racially segregated and oppressive, to blacks, city in America. This phrase, one of the letters most famous, serves several purposes. Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as rabble rousers and outside agitators those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologiesa development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare. Not affiliated with Harvard College. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. Simply put, he suggests that just laws uphold human dignity, while unjust laws demean it. How do they strengthen his argument and underscore his overall message? He is careful to stress that the tension he supports is nonviolent, but he does not make his intentions unclear. I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: Are you able to accept blows without retaliating? Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail? We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. While in the Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. had little access to the outside world, and was only able to read "A Call to Unity" when a trusted friend smuggled the newspaper into his jail cell. Knowing that their fears and anxieties will predispose them to doubt his call to action, he presents the call through a variety of rational arguments and personal pathos. And now this approach is being termed extremist. And yet he does not carry this restraint to the point of apologizing for encouraging tension. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. He argues that moderation is but a handy disguise for cowards who fear upsetting the status quo more than desire to pursue justice. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. what is the perspective of these people and why does it matter. To preserve the evil system of segregation. We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The Question and Answer section for Letter From Birmingham Jail is a great Whites who arrested king for no reason. Discuss Dr. Kings use of allusions throughout the text. Smothering in an airtight cage of poverty. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. Full text of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. 16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. In its final lines, Dr. King implies that proceeding without tension is going to leave man in the dark depths of prejudice and racism. It is a passive, implicit warning that addressing segregation without tension would be not only ineffective, but dangerous. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. The letter served as a tangible, reproducible account of the long road to freedom in a movement that was largely centered around actions and spoken words. The protests began with to pressure business leaders to cease discrimination for employment and end segregation in public facilities, restaurants, Why would King express his apology in this way? Rather than indicate what separates him from the other clergy, he calls them fellow clergymen, underlining one of the letters main themes: brotherhood. Therefore, by utilizing restraint, he earns a sympathetic ear to which he then declares his proud embrace of extremism and tension. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Why is it important Dr. King make this distinction? I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negros great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another mans freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a more convenient season. Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. 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