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“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by his own admission, was a man constantly torn between competing forces, movements, and even identities.” (Moreland, 25) He was a civil rights activist who had a dream and desired a need for the American nation to have equal freedom and be united. He began a campaign, known as the civil rights movement, by his strong belief in civil disobedience and nonviolent protest. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. establishes his argument by enacting himself as authority for the audience, presents and states facts of racial discrimination, and addresses emotional appeal in order to advocate for immediate action to take place.
King establishes authority and credibility on the issue of racial discrimination and injustice. He starts off his letter with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen.” He does this to assure them that he isn’t better than them nor they are any better than him. Also, by the knowledge of the audience, he echoes his situation relating to scholars by having a reasonable tone and being comprehensive. King references to important figures such as Neihbur, Paul’s epistle in the Bible, and Thoreau who refuses to pay taxes and has civil disobedience. Socrates who is Plato’s teacher and laid down life for cause of truth and his dialectic is his methodology. Equally, he referenced to theologian Paul Tillich by implying on page 8 “Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation.” King strongly disobeyed segregation laws in which it caused the separation of people. On the other hand, he references to Jesus from the Bible. By ascertaining one of Jesus teachings, “love your enemies, bless them that curse you and pray for them that despitefully use you.” (12) He explains that Jesus was an extremist in love, in response to him being called an extremist. Along with acknowledging the clergymen as “men of genuine goodwill” on page 2, “… I feel that you are men of genuine goodwill and your criticisms are sincerely set forth…” This can be identified as borderline flattery as King sets common ground and agrees only where he can agree. Concessions support people’s rights and allow them to be aware of how others perceive. “We, therefore, concur with your call for negotiation.” (5) King agrees to have negotiations and they agreed as well such as taking the down racial signs from the stores in Birmingham. Sadly, the signs weren’t taken down, “As the weeks and months unfolded we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. The signs remained.” (3)
Subordinately, King creates and states his facts clearly of the issues. On the first page on paragraph 2 he implies, “We have some eight-five affiliate organizations all across…” Furthermore, he explained his reason being in Birmingham and him serving as president for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference acquiring full knowledge on the issues. Moreover, stating the categorical argument of Plato and the Justinian Code known as “Gods Law”. The indicated code is a law that is only a good law if it participates in God’s law. He also stated a categorical argument by mentioning, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (2) Following, the 1954 supreme court decision, a federal law which ruled against segregation. King had full knowledge of it by articulating “Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws.” (7) Also, racial profiling was widely seen all around the nation over existing local Birmingham. “When your first name become “nigger” and your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” when your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.;”. (6) Then, King appeals to the sense of community by stating and talking about agitators. “Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outside in this country.” (2) Generally speaking, King does not want anyone to feel like an outsider. He advises people to be prepared due to them getting attacked referencing to them to make an ultimate sacrifice. King defines the term nonviolent direct action on page 4, “…seeks to create such crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” People were brutalized and did not fight back, Bull Connor referenced as Mr. Connor on King’s letter is the main figure which poses white hatred and opposition in power. “When we discovered that Mr. Connor was in the run-off, we decided again to postpone action so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues.” (4) King and his movement wanted Mr. Connor overthrown and avoided him.
Once King laid out his argument then he plead to emotional appeal in order for the clergymen and citizens to step forward and make a change. He explains discrimination and injustice, “When you are harried by day and haunted by night the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments…” (6-7) King is stating how he and other negroes live their life’s traumatized and with immense fear due to being singled out day by day. He also explains the events he’s observed on page 6, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and father at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim…” This gives full detail for one to envision what people went through. King’s uses imagery to illustrate the audience to understand the pain and emotion he went through during hard times. He did this to keep the audience reading in order to justify his argument for the fellow clergymen. Additionally, King describes how disheartened he is with the church “But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.” (17) King is in panic and urges for the church to make a change before people lose faith and change their behavior. In other words, people would lose their norms and the church would then be identified as “an irrelevant social club.” This would most definitely make the clergymen take immediate action due to the insulting reference King made. At the closing of the letter, King hopes that the nation will come to an agreement and end racism. “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities…the radiant stars of love and brother hood will shine over our great nation with all of their scintillating beauty.” (20) In other words, if his wish becomes accomplished by the individuals the dark clouds of the storm will end and the sun will come out and enlighten the nation.
Martin Luther King Jr. establishes himself as a credible writer in his letter by stating facts and supports them with experiences he had himself and witnessed by the use of ethos and logos make a well-rounded argument. He shares compassion and emotional appeal in hope for a change by the use of pathos. He had an utmost dream to make the nation equal and have a better future by ending racial discrimination and segregation. An individual who demonstrates goodwill, the person behind rhetoric such as this national hero, Martin Luther King Jr. makes it stupendously great.
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