A King vs. His Clergymen
A King vs. His Clergy Both “A Call For Unity” and “Letter Form Birmingham Jail” seemingly have good intentions. King’s letter is however more sincere and thoroughly addresses all of the issues stated in the letter form the Clergymen. The Clergymen argue very brief and one-sided points while King elaborates on all of his and has an explanation for all of the Clergymen’s accusations. King shows more passion in his letter than the Clergymen and the quality of his words is significantly better.
In “A Call For Unity” the clergymen state that some of the demonstrations have been “directed and led in part by outsiders” (Carpenter, et al. par 3). One can safely assume, such as King does in his response letter, that the Clergymen are accusing King of being an outsider. Farther into their letter, the Clergymen stress that the local problems should be handled locally and that the people should “unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham” (Carpenter, et al. par7). This is a very obvious attempt for them to stress that they feel as though only local citizens should handle this problem. This could either be because they want to try to fix the problem themselves or because they believe things were fine the way they were and they do not like outsiders coming to town and causing a ruckus. In King’s response letter, “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he refutes the Clergymen’s accusation of King being an outsider. He states that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (King, par 2). This is an organization that operates with other Christian groups throughout the South. He also says that he was invited by one of the groups his organization is associated with. By doing this King also informs the Clergymen of his authoritative role throughout the South. He may not be a citizen of Birmingham but he was invited by some of the citizens of Birmingham to help their cause. This just further proves that King is not a random outsider looking to
In “A Call For Unity” the clergymen state that some of the demonstrations have been “directed and led in part by outsiders” (Carpenter, et al. par 3). One can safely assume, such as King does in his response letter, that the Clergymen are accusing King of being an outsider. Farther into their letter, the Clergymen stress that the local problems should be handled locally and that the people should “unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham” (Carpenter, et al. par7). This is a very obvious attempt for them to stress that they feel as though only local citizens should handle this problem. This could either be because they want to try to fix the problem themselves or because they believe things were fine the way they were and they do not like outsiders coming to town and causing a ruckus. In King’s response letter, “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he refutes the Clergymen’s accusation of King being an outsider. He states that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (King, par 2). This is an organization that operates with other Christian groups throughout the South. He also says that he was invited by one of the groups his organization is associated with. By doing this King also informs the Clergymen of his authoritative role throughout the South. He may not be a citizen of Birmingham but he was invited by some of the citizens of Birmingham to help their cause. This just further proves that King is not a random outsider looking to
Cited: Carpenter, Durrick, et al. “A Call for Unity” Perspectives on Argument. Ed. Nancy V. Wood. 7th Longman. 2011. 307-308. Print. King, Martin Luther. "A Letter from Birmingham Jail." Perspectives on Argument. Ed. Nancy V. Wood. 7thLongman, 2011. 308-321. Print.