Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
A Master of Peaceful Protests and Persuasive Rhetoric To fully understand Dr. King 's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” you must understand what times were like when King wrote his letter, who Dr. King was, and the criticism that Dr. King faced. The 1950 's and 1960 's were turbulent times for African Americans as they fought for equal rights as Americans. Jim Crow laws in the South dictated where blacks could sit in a restaurant or on a bus, they excluded blacks from certain jobs and neighborhoods, they segregated schools and prohibited blacks from voting in elections. There were 4,730 known lynchings of black men and women. There were hangings, burnings, beatings, and even house bombings or arson (Pilgrim 2012). There were also many landmark events during this time period. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in schools was unlawful. …show more content…
One excerpt from the letter stated, “We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could be properly pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.” The letter continued, “However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.” The letter ends with, “We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense” (Priests for life 2012). King 's response to this letter is his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” King uses all three rhetorical devices in his
A Master of Peaceful Protests and Persuasive Rhetoric To fully understand Dr. King 's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” you must understand what times were like when King wrote his letter, who Dr. King was, and the criticism that Dr. King faced. The 1950 's and 1960 's were turbulent times for African Americans as they fought for equal rights as Americans. Jim Crow laws in the South dictated where blacks could sit in a restaurant or on a bus, they excluded blacks from certain jobs and neighborhoods, they segregated schools and prohibited blacks from voting in elections. There were 4,730 known lynchings of black men and women. There were hangings, burnings, beatings, and even house bombings or arson (Pilgrim 2012). There were also many landmark events during this time period. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in schools was unlawful. …show more content…
One excerpt from the letter stated, “We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could be properly pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.” The letter continued, “However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.” The letter ends with, “We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense” (Priests for life 2012). King 's response to this letter is his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” King uses all three rhetorical devices in his