...Mariah is also sixteen years old and of caucasian ethnic background. They have all already read “Letter From Birmingham Jail” and very good background information on the topic. They all know Martin Luther King pushed for equality in a nonviolent way. Kanny and Mariah are both writing their own essays over the selected core reading. They too will be summarizing...
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...His first chapter, “The Politics of Slavery”, contains the writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., revolving around Holmes’ experience with racial prejudice as a white man. Holmes believed in equality, which developed his central argument that the misallocation of black individual’s rights should be not be allowed. Being a strong abolitionist, he did not agree with the Fugitive Slave Act. It declared that all escaped slaves must return to their masters, taking away the “good life” and personal rights of escaped slaves. William Lloyd Garrison, a renowned journalist and social reformer, took part in a peaceful protest of the Fugitive Slave Act by writing in his newspaper The Liberator, demanding the immediate emancipation of all slaves (Menand 11). His non-violent retaliation caught the attention of...
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...Civil disobedience is the act of refusal against laws, taxes, or demands by a government usually staying peaceful in nature. Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone implement civil disobedience to defy unjust law; however, both approaches used to go against the wrong laws are different. Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader for the civil rights movement to put an end to segregation through civil disobedience by stressing the importance of peacefully protesting; while Antigone purposely went against the law, knowing the consequences, to follow God’s law instead of man-made law in a holy effort to bury her late brother Polyneices. Martin Luther King Jr. goes against unjust laws through civil disobedience by initiating peaceful protests. He believed that using nonviolent tactics are better at showing the immorality the unjust laws’ and calls for black people to fight the long battle against segregation. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he reveals the unjust treatment going on in Birmingham and why it is important for him to be there helping, “Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already...
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...world for centuries. From homophobia to nationalism to religious prejudices, the differences between human beings permeated society and twisted it with the hands of time. The most prominent example of such social diseases is segregation. The events that led up to the Civil Rights Movement of 1954-1968 were conducted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King, in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, utilizes devices such as metaphorical language, diction, and antitheses to convey a sense of urgency, to toy with the emotions of his audience, and to break the chains of inequity. Metaphors throughout Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter urge the audience of the clergymen to act against the racial prejudices...
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...is my paper from English 101 on MLK Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail Tammy Marston Dr. Sychterz ENG 101 27 October 2015 Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. composed an open letter “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 in response to the statement “A Call for Unity.” This statement was written by eight white Alabama clergymen, which recognize that social in justices were taking place but expressed the belief that the battle against racial segregation should be fought in the courts not in the streets. King reply that “This ‘Wait” has almost always meant ‘Never.” He put out there that direct actions were necessary to achieve true civil rights and, and that not only is civil disobedience justified in the face of unjust laws, but also that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Martin Luther King Jr. thought if he could get the middle class on his side that he would have the majority he needed to forward the movement for civil rights and achieve its goals of removing the illegal segregation practices that were still in place in the nineteen sixties. King addressed the white clergymen that were putting him to task for the non-violent protests in what they considered to be “their” city. Even though King was invited as the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to speak to the local affiliate in Birmingham, where he believed that they have basic organizational ties. King then explains...
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...“Letter from Birmingham Jail” In the 1950’s and well through the 1960’s, Martin Luther King Jr. was the main leader of the civil rights movements. There was violence in innocent protesting, cruel bombings, and soul poured speeches. The Civil Right movements, involving people of both skin colors, measured up to a very large sum of events, both implementing segregation and the fight against the segregation. King had experienced many events, both eye opening and cruel, both strong and solid with morals. Yet throughout the turmoil between the differences of both races King did not fail to speak his word. MLK did not fail to make know that what segregation stood for was wrong and treacherous. King did not underestimate his ability to be unwavering...
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...Augustine “an unjust law is no law at all…” From this we can begin to reflect on the distinction between justice and injustice and justice in laws. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes this distinction based on how a law affects an individuals personality or basic human rights. If they downgrade these things the law is considered unjust, but if they were to boost an individuals personality or soul, this law is considered just. Martin Luther King Jr.’s focus on racial injustice and what makes these laws unjust is supported by his argument that a majority of these laws are established by the “power majority group” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail) which in his case refers to the white clergymen instilling all these prejudice unjust laws. What makes laws like this unjust is that the group establishing them is not affected by these laws but only affects the minority group as well as downgrading their souls and personality. For example, to desegregate bathrooms and have African Americans and Whites share the bathroom would not affect the “power majority group”. Sharing bathrooms with another race has no change on either race’s experience for the short amount of time they will be using the same bathroom. Since, this law only degrades the personality of African Americans, it is unjust. MLK Jr. is enforcing the idea that people in power don’t willingly walk away from high power, even if there is injustice. Changing unjust laws to just laws threaten their power and slowly...
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...content is more important than style. In the case of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prominent style creates a platform for the development of the context of his opinions. A stylistic device King uses in both essays in order to convey his message is the allusion. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King references the Boston tea party, destruction that was then deemed gallant by the American public. King references this occurrence from the past to clarify that when he was arrested he was in fact doing the ethical thing, but it just happened to be illegal. Doing the moral thing, in Kings opinion, and doing the legal thing do not constantly have to correlate. This allusion also showcases that civil disobedience is not...
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...unalienable rights. Nearly 187 years after this document was written, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from inside the Birmingham jail addressing the inequality that African American people were facing in the South. Most white people in the South during this time were interpreting the Declaration in different ways that supported the segregation of African Americans and white supremacy where they took the phrase “separate but equal” out of context. Martin Luther King Jr. provides detailed events of unjust treatment based on race within his letter where he aims to re-interpret...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr said, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Civil disobedience is part of our culture. People stand up for themselves when laws, rules, or just when things are unfair and unjust. Martin Luther King, Jr is a prime example of civil disobedience. In his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” he describes his own thoughts on civil disobedience through real life experiences. David Thoreau is also a main figure in civil disobedience from his letter, “Civil Disobedience.” He talks about what he did to stand up for what he felt was right. There is a couple of reasons to believe in civil disobedience , one it can bring attention to main topics and also create real change in society. Civil disobedience is only...
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...1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for leading the non-violent demonstration against racial segregation and injustice. As Kind read the letter written by the eight local Clergymen, he then wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in order to defend his action nonviolent actions. King uses many varieties of rhetoric strategies to exemplify his argument. He uses three Aristolean means of persuasion Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to establish his argument on the nonviolent protest movement. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, written from the Birmingham Jail, he uses ethos to establish the credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice. King states in the letter “I have the honor of serving as president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated...
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...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...
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...During the 1960’s to 1970’s, North American politics was at a turbulent stage. America was experiencing a break-through of racial politics in the 1960’s, led by leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. Shortly after Canada also went through political turmoil in 1970 with the FLQ Crisis, which was addressed by Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Both leaders responded to crisis through action and by political writing. Martin Luther King’s political writing, “Letter from Birmingham and Pierre Trudeau’s, “Notes for a national broadcast, October 16 1970” both have similarities and differences. Both works address the public to deal with civil disobedience, the means to make political change, roles of government in handling civil unrest in democratic regimes and the responsibility for citizens to protest or disobey ‘unjust laws’. How ever both works are written from different perspectives. Despite their differences both works do well at complimenting each other since they share the same values. Martin Luther King’s arguments were addressing segregation and inequality experienced by African-Americans. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, jr.]’ written by the American civil rights activist is concerning the issues of terrorism and summons action to respond racial laws through non-violence in attempt to establish peace and end oppression. Acts of terrorism were, “unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches” (King, paragraph 6). King refers to Birmingham experiencing such high levels of terrorism...
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...Scholars and majority writers in their scholarly and oratorical works have relied so much on the use of the rhetorical style of writing to construct pathos logos and ethos. “Letter from Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King Jr (Francisco, 23) is a profound example of this style at play. The three ideologies independently can survive any intellectual argument; they don’t have to work in tandem. This paper seeks to decipher the effect of using the rhetorical strategy to address racial injustice, and diverse religious ideology. Martin Luther employs the use of pathos and logos to create such a strong emotional appeal. To some extent, all human beings are caught in the inescapable network of mutuality. Martin Luther contends that whatever affects one person directly affect another indirectly. Martin Luther King Jr. in a sense achieves a deep sense of pathos by appealing to the logos. The emotional stylistic appeals clearly put the issues on steroids by drawing from particular aspects that cut across geographical location. The racial injustice is a threat to justice everywhere, including and not limited to Asia and Africa. Historically the world was on the verge of intellectual, emotional and radical forces that were about to shape the world economic and political landscape. The interpretation of laws governing human interaction was at stake, the emotion and the general self-esteem of a whole generation was put to a test. The frustration of...
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...October 2013 A Letter From a Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15 in the year 1929. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin Luther King Jr. had a tremendous impact on the desegregation of the United States, primarily the South, in the ‘60's. Many people believe that he in fact had one of if not the greatest and most influential impact of any civil rights leader in history. King Jr. began his civil rights activities in 1955 when he protested in Montgomery, Alabama against their horribly segregated public bus system. The protest was started after an African American lady on a bus by the name of Rosa Parks was arrested after she decided not to give up her seat to a white male passenger longing for a place to sit. After the arrest, African Americans gathered and encouraged others to boycott the Montgomery bus system. An underground society called the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed and with no surprise Martin Luther King Jr. was elected the president. The group’s methods were efficient and most importantly non violent. The group’s protests had success and soon after, the bus lines abandoned their segregated rules and African Americans no longer had to boycott the bus system. King dedicated his life to being a civil rights activist. Today he is most famously remembered for his non-violent protests in working toward racial equality. King was such an important figure and served as inspiration in so many people’s lives. The Birmingham Campaign began...
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