Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail
The nonviolent approach remains supreme as a way to achieve a peaceful resolution to conflict arising as a result of social, economical and political change in a contemporary society that has faced many of those challenges as a result of the fight for equality and social vices. This is because non-violent actions tend to create an atmosphere for peaceful negotiations and dialogue. In the case of Martin Luther King Jr in his letter from the Birmingham Jail, his idea was to create an atmosphere to frame the minds of his readers and clergymen of the situation in Birmingham caused by injustice and inequality.
Martin Luther King Jr’s letter from Birmingham Jail was an icebreaker. The Letter intended to break the chains of segregation and injustice. The letter was written in the 1960s when African Americans were facing a series of injustices in the South as a result of racial segregation. This social injustice was seen in his letter when he used words such as “Negros,” to support his point. He said “ Negros have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the court. They have been more bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negations.”(Lee 215) These citations reiterate the need for equality by which King strongly stressed and replicated in the Letter from the Birmingham Jail to his fellow clergymen. The essence of King's letter was to convince and remind his clergymen on the need to see their right as supreme rights given to man by God. King echoed these rights because their needs were neglected as negotiations failed. The only resort was non-violent direct action aimed at creating a situation whereby a crisis-packed will inevitably opened the door to negotiation . King’s letter conveyed a persuasive and condemnatory tone that influenced and framed the mind of his audience. King provides a valid argument by using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos throughout his piece.
The first rhetorical appeal King uses is Logos, in his letter to back up his counter argument against his clergymen’s statement calling King's activities “unwise and untimely.” In his letter he intended to support the fact that “they had no alternative except to prepare for direct action,” (Lee 215) nevertheless, Martin Luther King, Jr. had several logical examples of evidence to justify the actions of his group. King was able to provide logical and historical evidence in his letter. King used historical evidence by quoting the Declaration of Independence that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” By using this quotation it is seen as an appeal to those in authority. Also, by quoting the Declaration of Independence cited by Thomas Jefferson who is a famous and respected politician, his audience was able to see his agitation as important and time demanding. In addition, King used explicit logical examples to stress his point to his audience. In his letter he cited four basic steps for a non-violent campaign which includes; “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.” (215) By citing these steps, he intended to justify the fact that his group had gone through these steps and nothing was done to meet the demands of his group. King directed this statement towards his audience concerning the obedience of laws, or lack thereof. He initially identifies the clergymen's claim, "You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws." (218) This then leads to a discussion about morals and the types of laws "just and unjust." By logically breaking down the types of laws and using reason to portray situations when laws can and should be broken, King is essentially guiding the audience through his rationalization. St. Augustine said, "an unjust law is no law at all," and King agreed. His strict moral adherence convinces the reader that he is trustworthy and honest. His morality helps establish ethos because it makes him a more reliable leader with integrity. This allowed him to lead into his more logical counter argument as he links segregation to unjust laws. By creating a connection between unjust laws and segregation, he presents his perspective in such a way that it is almost undeniable and hard to oppose. It allows him to lead into his statement that "segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful." (Lee, 219.) His use of logical appeal to present his counter argument after specifically addressing the clergymen is extremely effective, especially coupled with ethical appeal.
Along with using Logos, King uses Ethos to show that he is knowledgeable, reasonable and morally sound. He acknowledged the fact that his clergymen constitutional God given right was seen denied after waiting 340 years. This fact is reasonable because his audience wanted him to wait. Due to the fact that they had waited so long to have their God given right, as a result of patience expressed, King justified his group approach to the situation by saying “there comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into abyss of despair.” (Lee, 218.) King also cited that “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” (220) He cited this statement to show his clergymen that he is knowledgeable about the law and past history. In addition, King uses his historical knowledge to provide explicit proof of his point, and to help get his audience to understand his point better. Similarly, King was morally right when he said “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 majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.” (216) King sees his statement as morally right because every individual crave to live in peace with each other.
The last rhetorical appeal Martin Luther King Jr. uses is Pathos. In this aspect, King used emotional appeal to transmit his message to his audience. He maked an emotional appeal when he said “ but you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.” (Lee 217-218) King did use these phrases to frame the minds of his audience to feel pity, somber and sad as a result of the maltreatment African American faced in Birmingham seen as the most segregated city in the United States. In addition, King used persuasive adjectives and his feelings for children to share and defend his own side of the argument when he said “ when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammaring as you seek to explain to your six –year- old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tear welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year old son who is asking “daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean.?”(218) King used children because all of his audience was once children, they know how painful it is to deprive a child what he or she likes to do or buy. When King says that the tears were “welling up” it adds imagery to make his audience to picture the scene, and thus make people guilty or sad. In addition, King decides to use children to create this picture in the mind of his fellow clergymen that it could be any of their children asking these questions. Also, children represent a shared sense of value in the American society as children are viewed as diamonds, innocent and worth caring for.
King’s Letter contains a good use of the three aspects of rhetorical which are logos, ethos, and pathos. The accurate use of these tools enabled him to convince and support his side of the argument. His audience is well enlightened on the situation in Birmingham city. Persuasive use of rhetoric enable King to deliver a strong message to his audience, his fellow clergymen. In addition King used historical knowledge, emotional ties to philosophy to write a thesis that is widely read by scholars and government officials.

Word Count: 1,538
Work Cited
Lee A, Jacobus. "A World Of Ideas Essential Readings For College Writers."
Boston * New York :BEDFORD/ST.MARTINS, University of Connecticut, 2010. 213-229. Print.