MLK response
Responding to Letter from Birmingham Jail
1) The decision the clergy members strongly desired for King to rethink was continuing to conduct in non violent protests and promote civil disobedience. This was after King and his disciples had protested in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King through this letter absolutely justified his peaceful marches and proved there were are no other alternatives other than to protest. I can accept this argument because of his strong examples of accepted civil disobedience and identifying that there are no differences. These examples would be: the Boston tea party, Socrates, and Jesus Christ.
2) Current events in the past few years support the statement made by King that “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.” Most recently in the US an African American man and women were running for president. This current status of equality between men and women, African Americans and whites demonstrates how far the world has come. At one point and there would be no way an African American or women could run for president, yet now in 2008 it is happening, this only encourages the currently oppressed to continue to fight.
3) King’s intended rhetorical device to have on the letter’s original audience was to demonstrate the passion and desire he has for what he believes in. By using allusions, balance and parallelism, understatement, and metaphors King reinforces the struggles, aspirations, and justifications in an intelligent way to draw the Clergymen’s attention. King’s elaborate style may get in the way for one who reads his letter without the understanding of his pain and suffering, yet for one who can understand it, it only enhances the letter.
1) The decision the clergy members strongly desired for King to rethink was continuing to conduct in non violent protests and promote civil disobedience. This was after King and his disciples had protested in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King through this letter absolutely justified his peaceful marches and proved there were are no other alternatives other than to protest. I can accept this argument because of his strong examples of accepted civil disobedience and identifying that there are no differences. These examples would be: the Boston tea party, Socrates, and Jesus Christ.
2) Current events in the past few years support the statement made by King that “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.” Most recently in the US an African American man and women were running for president. This current status of equality between men and women, African Americans and whites demonstrates how far the world has come. At one point and there would be no way an African American or women could run for president, yet now in 2008 it is happening, this only encourages the currently oppressed to continue to fight.
3) King’s intended rhetorical device to have on the letter’s original audience was to demonstrate the passion and desire he has for what he believes in. By using allusions, balance and parallelism, understatement, and metaphors King reinforces the struggles, aspirations, and justifications in an intelligent way to draw the Clergymen’s attention. King’s elaborate style may get in the way for one who reads his letter without the understanding of his pain and suffering, yet for one who can understand it, it only enhances the letter.