Birmingham Jail Thesis
Short Write #1
1. Martin Luther King Jr.’s thesis in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail is repudiation of the clergymen’s disapproval of his direct action-nonviolent resistance campaign.
2. Martin Luther King Jr supports his thesis by starting out refuting the idea that he is an outside protestor that doesn’t belong in Birmingham. He was serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in the southern states. The associate in Birmingham asked him to be on call to participate in a nonviolent direct-action program, therefore he was invited to Birmingham. Then he goes on to talk about his continued presence in Birmingham is not because he was invited but due to the injustice to the Negro community …show more content…
From a critical viewpoint, King makes a very persuasive argument using logic and emotions to influence the audience that he is in fact right in taking a non-violent action but more so justified from the basic humanity laws. He denies idea that he is supporting some laws while breaking other by making a distinction between just and unjust laws. He talks about the difference between moral and political and just and unjust laws. For example, Parade law that put him in jail is just in letter but unjust when applied to violate constitution. King also justifies breaking laws by citing historical examples of civil disobedience, such as: the Old Testament, Early Christians in Rome, Socrates, Boston Tea Party, Freedom Fighters against Hitler. He then uses emotions to convince his readers that it is the white moderate that are really at fault, conveying the message that he is a victim of circumstance and society. He uses this to lead into the criticism of his extremism. King is really a moderate between two extremes of black action between doing nothing and becoming violent. He cautions that without his movement, the extreme of hating whites will win out and cause more violence. He then shows that he is indeed a pacifistic by recognition and praise of those whites who have helped his cause. King tries to refute the clergyman’s disapproval of the actions that occurred in Birmingham, he tries to redirects praise to the civil rights protestors, and reconstructs a harmonious
1. Martin Luther King Jr.’s thesis in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail is repudiation of the clergymen’s disapproval of his direct action-nonviolent resistance campaign.
2. Martin Luther King Jr supports his thesis by starting out refuting the idea that he is an outside protestor that doesn’t belong in Birmingham. He was serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in the southern states. The associate in Birmingham asked him to be on call to participate in a nonviolent direct-action program, therefore he was invited to Birmingham. Then he goes on to talk about his continued presence in Birmingham is not because he was invited but due to the injustice to the Negro community …show more content…
From a critical viewpoint, King makes a very persuasive argument using logic and emotions to influence the audience that he is in fact right in taking a non-violent action but more so justified from the basic humanity laws. He denies idea that he is supporting some laws while breaking other by making a distinction between just and unjust laws. He talks about the difference between moral and political and just and unjust laws. For example, Parade law that put him in jail is just in letter but unjust when applied to violate constitution. King also justifies breaking laws by citing historical examples of civil disobedience, such as: the Old Testament, Early Christians in Rome, Socrates, Boston Tea Party, Freedom Fighters against Hitler. He then uses emotions to convince his readers that it is the white moderate that are really at fault, conveying the message that he is a victim of circumstance and society. He uses this to lead into the criticism of his extremism. King is really a moderate between two extremes of black action between doing nothing and becoming violent. He cautions that without his movement, the extreme of hating whites will win out and cause more violence. He then shows that he is indeed a pacifistic by recognition and praise of those whites who have helped his cause. King tries to refute the clergyman’s disapproval of the actions that occurred in Birmingham, he tries to redirects praise to the civil rights protestors, and reconstructs a harmonious