Dr.

Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail

By: Salma Bah
1. The central argument Martin Luther King mainly focuses on is his
purpose in Birmingham and the injustices occurring there. While
writing this letter to the Clergymen, Dr. King is going to bring in
examples from the church to successfully argue his point. Dr. King
relates the situation of Birmingham to the prophets of the eighteenth
century B.C. who left their villages. In addition, Dr. King also compares
himself to Apostle Paul and feels as if, just like Paul, he holds the
responsibility and duty to carry the gospel of freedom far beyond my
own hometown and like Paul, I must constantly respond to the
Macedonian call for aid. just like he must to Birmingham. Dr. King
expresses his concerns about the actions occurring in Birmingham and
how he cannot sit idly while such chaos occurs just because it is not his
hometown, Injustice anywhere, is injustice everywhere Dr. King
states. Dr. King hopes to end the perception of African Americans as
outsiders in society, stating anyone who lives inside the United States
can never be considered an outside anywhere within its bounds.
2. Martin Luther King starts off the paragraph stating We have waited
for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. In
addition to this statement, the writing in bold justifies the reasons the
African American community has grown impatient for their equal
rights. That bold statement illustrates the struggles and cruel
experiences African Americans face in their everyday life. The passage
details the physical and verbal abuse African Americans encounter
from seeing mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown
your sisters and brothers at whim... to when your first name
becomes nigger, your middle name becomes boy and your last
name becomes John. Martin Luther King relates to experiences of
African Americans by opening up about his own. Dr. King expresses
how he is unable to appreciate a day at the amusement park with his
six year old daughter simply because of the color of her skin. By giving
the Clergyman an insight of the experiences African Americans face,
Dr. King hopes the Clergyman to sympathize with African Americans
and understand their impatience for justice.
3. While discussing unjust and just laws, Martin Luther King

distinguishes the difference between the two to express to the

clergymen the paradoxical reason African American break the law. Dr.
King starts off by expressing how he does not have any issues with
obeying just laws, in fact he advocates obeying just laws. The trouble
comes in when one has to obey unjust laws; Dr. King voices that one
has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws, just as one has the
moral responsibility to obey just laws. To successfully get his point
across, Dr. King uses the example of Adolf Hitler and the Hungarian
freedom fighter: he mentions how the cruel actions done by Adolf
Hitler were seen as legal, but the good moral actions of the
Hungarian freedom fighters was seen as illegal. With this example
Dr. King is able to convey the message to the Clergymen that just
because a law or action is legal, it does not make it morally right.
4. In the letter, Martin Luther King approaches the accusation of him
being an extremist. Dr. King starts off by stating that he was rather
disappointed that the Clergymen do not recognize his nonviolent
efforts. In the movement for black equality, Dr. King reveals that hes
trapped between two opposing forces: One is a force of complacency,
while the other takes a bitter route and have concluded that the white
man is an incorrigible devil. Dr. King claims that he stands inbetween the two forces to advocate more excellent way of love and
nonviolent protest. Since Dr. King does not believe in violent efforts,
he advocates African Americans to release their frustration in a
nonviolent manner. By letting African Americans march, make prayer
pilgrimages, and go on freedom rides, it is allowing the African
American community to express frustration, because without the
expression of frustration they will seek expression though violence.
Dr. King then compares the term extremist to Jesus Christ,
demonstrating that the term extremist does not have to have a bad
connotation to it, for Jesus Christ was an extremist for love, truth,
goodness

5. In the letter written for the Clergymen, Martin Luther King argues
against the criticism of the Clergymen to reassure the men of his good
intentions. Dr. King pinpoints three major subjects: one being his
reasons in Birmingham, the second being the differences between just
and unjust laws, and the last being the accusation of him being an
extremist. In addition to this, Dr. King uses examples of historical

figures such as Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler and The Hungarian Freedom
Fighters and moral obligations consciousness to successfully get his
point across. Dr. King feels as if the Clergymen misunderstood his
objectives as an activist and the nonviolent efforts of the African
American community. With this letter Dr. King expects to clear up any
assumptions the Clergymen have made about his actions. By using an
emotional appeal and giving the Clergymen an insight of the actual
intentions of his work, Dr. King is able successfully clear up the notions.