First of all the following events happened in Birmingham, Alabama in the late 1960’s when segregation against blacks was at a high. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a minister who preaches about using nonviolent acts to prove a point or solve a problem. The rhetorical situation is the segregation and discrimination of blacks in the early 60’s. Dr. King led protests where blacks would sit at restaurants that were for whites only or used white restrooms. This caused a lot of chaos and some violence, but it was deemed that what Dr. King was doing was wrong by leading people to do these illegal acts and he thought this was unfair and still broke it. He was jailed along with several others, but was released eight days later. After protesting for no …show more content…
King’s reasoning for choosing this route of justice instead of negotiating with white leaders in Birmingham. The clergymen stated “we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely (pg. 174)” meaning they felt that leading these acts were unnecessary to solve the current situation. Dr. King wrote his letter in response to the Clergymen’s letter which was published in the Birmingham Newspaper. In this letter he basically answered anything and everything the clergymen questioned or disagreed with and went into detail of why he chose to resist the discrimination laws in Birmingham instead of choosing a lawless action that would not cause hundreds to end up in jail or create more tension between whites and blacks. The clergymen's letter was directed to the black leaders who were advocating colored citizens to do unlawful actions and made it clear that by doing this, the problem of discrimination would not go away. Dr. King's letter was written to those, like the clergymen, who are puzzled with the way blacks are fighting for justice. For example, Dr. King started his letter by stating, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen