Essay On Martin Luther King Jr Letter From Birmingham Jail

On April 16, 1963 while Martin Luther King Jr. was in the Birmingham jail, he decided to write to a letter to a group of clergymen. This letter was first composed on the margins of a newspaper, then continued on scraps of writing paper. He was very disappointed because Negros aren’t being treated fairly despite laws that have granted freedom. Throughout the southern United States negroes have experienced prejudice, so Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers have been nonviolently protesting against segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. and the clergymen have different attitudes towards King’s activities in Birmingham. The clergymen claim that they agree with certain Negro leadership that has called for negotiation of racial issues. King thinks the community needs to confront the issues that have created tension. The community has constantly refused to negotiate, but now with sit-ins and marches occurring they are dramatizing the issue. The clergymen express the demonstrations of Negro citizens as unwise and untimely. King states that, the demonstrations are well-timed because they have suffered from segregation. He has been waiting many years
King has been charged in the past for parading without a permit. King thinks the law is just because he knows you need a permit to parade. However, the law is unjust because as citizens they were denied the privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. One of the criticisms that the clergymen said was that the demonstrations have been handled with regards to the community as a whole. The demonstrations are viewed as violent even though they are committing acts of nonviolence. King, disagrees he knows protesters have been hurt by the police force. King says that the clergymen wouldn’t have spoken so highly of the police force if they had seen their dogs sink teeth into unarmed, nonviolent