Though he makes other subsumed distinctions (like the way just and unjust laws either punish or include minorities), this general definition serves to illustrate his overarching point: that laws are not separate from morality, but instead ought to be reflections of it. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of somebodiness that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. Even when he becomes more confrontational in the letters second half, Dr. King is always deferential, offering the possibility that the clergymen sin from ignorance or error, thereby offering them a way to backtrack. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. SOAPS chart of MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Subject Why he is in Birmingham Segregation as social justice Civil disobedience as an instrument of freedom : Occasion Accusation of misuse of the law Nonviolent protests in Birmingham Disappointing leadership of the clergy : I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Throughout his career, many critics of Dr. King argued that he was too deferential to the white authorities that facilitated segregation and other racist policies, but the tone here seems to serve several purposes. To delay justice is to be cowardly and unjust. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. 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. 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. His argument here is that allowing a law to reign supreme without assessing its moral quality produces a situation like that of Nazi Germany. If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. Essays for Letter From Birmingham Jail. Showing a prudent and effective sensitivity to his audiences fears that angry black men are extremists who seek to destroy he frequently takes time to define his terms before admitting to them. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. His attack here on the clergy who seem to support law and order without considering the repressive segregation that comes with such order is not very subtle, comparing them to Nazis who persecuted Jews simply because their prejudices were protected by the law. In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. Throughout the Letter, Dr. King is careful to measure his tone, to avoid validating any knee-jerk anxieties that his audience might feel. 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. Though he obviously would prefer it, he is firm in his commitment to justice and certain that his cause will succeed because of that commitment. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change. Overall, the Letter is a litany of attacks even though it is presented more as a defense. In what ways does the Letter attack the clergymen even when being outwardly deferential towards them? I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen. The extension is that if their most-hated concept extremism is not necessarily bad, then they ought to reexamine their various attitudes and perceptions. Opening through "I have organizational ties here." I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being disturbers of the peace and outside agitators. But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were a colony of heaven, called to obey God rather than man. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Letter from Birmingham Jail Audience SOAPStone Method King writes this in response to a letter sent from some religious authorities. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. The question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. 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. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. More books than SparkNotes. During the first half of the Letter, Dr. Kings arguments are marked more by their restraint than by their fire. "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, describes a protest against his arrest for non-violent resistance to racism. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. The Question and Answer section for Letter From Birmingham Jail is a great My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Though Dr. King has a more pointed suggestion to make about the world than Socrates did, he nevertheless recognized in the Socratic method a rhetorical approach that would pacify the knee-jerk defenses of his opponents so he could then defeat them. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. ", "You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws" to "I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws. You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. By suggesting that he would have broken Nazi laws because they were unjust, he challenges his audience to do the same with segregation laws. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with Americas destiny. what is the perspective of these people and why does it matter. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. And yet this address announces his purpose loud and clear: he aims not to attack but to explain. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the churchs silentand often even vocalsanction of things as they are. In at least 750 words, explain which of these modes of appeal you personally find to be the most effective in King's "Letter," and why. If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. How could I do otherwise? Isnt negotiation a better path? You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Thus, a moral man cannot simply suffer those laws because they are the law. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. King is expressing his apology for the demonstrations themselves, but he is not apologizing for the reasons and purposes behind the demonstrations. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiorityThus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong., Dr. King has an impressive ability to veer between logos (appeal to logic) and pathos (appeal to emotion), sometimes within the same argument. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. 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 . GradeSaver, 30 July 2014 Web. 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. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail. Therefore, by utilizing restraint, he earns a sympathetic ear to which he then declares his proud embrace of extremism and tension. Justice too long delayed is justice denied, We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.". Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. Find clues for letter from birmingham jail letters or most any crossword answer or clues for crossword answers. . I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law. Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. 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. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. Though this passage comes earlier than the explicit discussion of the white moderate, it is one of the clearest articulations of the accusation he makes against them. Individuals must actively seek to create the world they want, since there is no inevitable sense of fate that will deliver it. Dr. King tells the clergymen that he was upset about their criticisms, and that he wishes to address their concerns. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The larger implication of this assertion is that moderation and patience must be replaced with action and impatience. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. Summary: "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Isnt this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? GradeSaver, 30 July 2014 Web. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. 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. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. It is a marvelous mixture of logos and pathos. This is sameness made legal. By the end of Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King has progressed from what professor Jonathan Rieder calls a Diplomat to a Prophet. This clear declaration of self-sufficiency reflects his ultimate sentiment: while he would like the support of his audience, he and his brothers and sisters will persevere and succeed even without it. 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. 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. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. He stipulates through pathos that good men want a solid rock of human dignity, and then argues that direct action like that of the SCLC is the only way to reach such a transcendent state. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.. In context, he is turning the tables on those who've caused the demonstrations in the first place. Letter From Birmingham Jail study guide contains a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Opening through "I have organizational ties here. 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.. Here, Dr. King describes what happens when one relies on a law that exempts itself from moral responsibility. The logical and well put together letter was written as a response to a statement in the newspaper, which was written by some clergymen. Martin Luther King 's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is the most important written document of the civil rights era. Search for crossword clues found in the Daily Celebrity, NY Times, Daily Mirror, Telegraph and major publications. The latter, he argues, allows for action that can change the world. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. Instead, he embraces and justifies the importance of tension. Considering the context of its creation, the Letter from Birmingham Jail is remarkably restrained in tone. Discuss Dr. Kings use of allusions throughout the text. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Birmingham was one of the most racially segregated and oppressive, to blacks, city in America. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. By directing the text to peoples of so many backgrounds, and using their most celebrated figures to support his case, he makes it difficult for any person to view the overall argument as separate from him or his own culture or background. Finally, he uses occasional warnings, suggesting that oppressed people will inevitably fight for freedom, and so the clergymen are inviting violent revolution if they do not support Dr. Kings nonviolent crusade. Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Dr. Kings tone as he begins his letter is remarkably restrained. 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). King is expressing his apology for the demonstrations themselves, but he is not apologizing for the reasons and purposes behind the demonstrations. I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. Martin Luther King's open letter written from Birmingham Jail is one of the most famous open letters in the world. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. If nothing else, Letter from Birmingham Jail is a masterpiece of pointed passive aggression. ", 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. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. Whereas most of the Letter operates through sleight of hand logical arguments or naked pathos, this section is unusually harsh and direct, ultimately suggesting that Dr. King is now prepared to admit that while he would like the support of his audience, he and his brothers and sisters will persevere and succeed even without it. And now this approach is being termed extremist. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. In its immediate context, it justifies why Dr. King and the SCLC have come to Birmingham; because they feel connected to and responsible for everyone, they had to come to a place that was exhibiting injustice. And yet the phrase also serves as a stipulation to justify many of the more controversial claims he later makes. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. If todays church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.". 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. I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother. 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