Letter from birmingham jail annotations12/9/2023 ![]() ![]() In order for MLK's argument to make sense, you have to understand why the situation is unjust. King's other speeches and works were specifically anchored on appeals to emotion and inspiration, the major moments of pathos in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" come in the parts about the suffering of the African American community. Talk about the ethical high ground.He also acknowledges the sincerity and status of the clergymen who wrote the letter he's responding to, respecting their credibility as men of good will who are all knowledgeable about Bible teachings.PathosAlthough many of Dr. He takes America's highest cultural ideals seriously.He also references a dozen historical heavyweights, from Abraham Lincoln (24), to Paul of Tarsus (3, 24), to Socrates (9, 17, 21), to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (17) (they don't make names like they used to), arguing that he and his followers are in this lineage of freedom fighters, countercultural visionaries, and righteous sufferers of persecution. But his ethical standing is implied by the way he frames his argument and stakes his claim on a moral truth higher than local laws and ordinances. He doesn't claim to be the foremost authority on Jesus or the greatest political strategist of all time, for instance. King makes an appeal to his readers' hearts and heads while alluding to the moral authority of the Christian tradition, American ideals, and the collective suffering of the African American community.Let's check out each one more closely.EthosAside from introducing himself as the president of the SCLC, Dr. There's a little bit of everything in "Letter from Birmingham Jail": Dr. ![]() ![]() King knew how to rhetoric the you-know-what out of speeches. My question is, how could these bastards get away with this for so long? How could they have possibly justified slavery and segregation, with the whole world just looking on, ignoring? These so-called clergymen of the time were total hypocrites, as MLK put it mildly, I believe for the sake of peace.RhetoricEthos, Pathos, and LogosMaybe it was all the preachin'. I don’t know if some of us living now would be able to handle living in that part of the world at that time. You know, we all know that there has been racial and religious discrimination and segregation throughout history from the early Christians to the Jews extending to Africans and blacks around the world, and we all know about the civil rights movements in the United States in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, but MLK’s essay shed a light on how the situation really was during that period it actually gives us a taste of what it was really like to be a black person in segregated America. I noticed that he addressed his critics as “My dear fellow clergymen.” I think that this shows that, being a clergyman himself, he places himself on an equal footing as his critics, that he is indeed one of them and not less than, and this is a powerful evocation. King, under the most trying of circumstances, proved this is no excuse. Too often political opponents cite seemingly insurmountable differences as an excuse for poorly articulated ideas and simplistic debates. One of the gifts of this essay is that it was created out of political conflict. By taking the time to answer his critics (or persecutors, as he is in prison) with patience, logic and intelligence, as opposed to retaliating with more rhetoric, he creates a work that transcends it original purpose and becomes a meditation on injustice. King understood his audience, and constructs a reply that not only addresses their criticisms, but also elevates his cause. In a deliberate tone, King categorically responds. These people shamelessly called King an extremist, and questioned the urgency of his call for racial equality. I know he was smart, but I never imagined he was this smart. King had an extraordinary way with words. King composed this essay as a response to eight Southern Christian ministers who wrote a letter to the newspaper criticizing King’s nonviolent protests and urging him to let the battle over segregation be settled in the courts.Īs it turns out, Dr. From that time, I figured that MLK was deep, but after reading this essay, I see that he was much, much deeper.ĭr. Why isn’t this a required reading in all our African high schools? When I was a kid, my dad used to drive us to Mombasa and back during vacation time, and he would make us listen to MLK’s “I have a dream” speech the whole way there and the whole way back. Martin Luther King Junior (MLK) is that it must be one of, if not, the most profound documents I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. My first impression after reading The Letter From Birmingham Jail by the late Dr. ![]()
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