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King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Ed. Ali B. Ali-Dinar. African Studies Center. University of Pennsylvania, 2010 Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

Martin Luther King Jr in " A Letter from a Birmingham Jail" starts off by saying that he doesn't care about everyones criticism, his actions that leads to him being in jail is necessary to show injustice in the country. If he only cared to respond to others criticism, he would get nowhere. Although, he thinks of the Clergymen as kind people, he will only take their criticism under consideration. King Jr tells the audience why he is in Birmingham. He has people counting on him so he keeps his promise, he is called for a nonviolent protest. Saying the Clergymen have taken the side of the whites and they believe, in paragraph 2-2 “Outsiders coming in" isn't a good thing. King begs to differ. He believes that if you live in USA then you should never be considered an outsider regardless of your skin tone. MLK at the time is the president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference an association joining more than eighty organizations working to help each other to stabilize their community, they always share staff for financial & educational purposes. King says that there are four convenient steps; figure out whether there is inequality, adjust, self purification, and absolute activity. In paragraph 4-1,2 Martin says, " I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.". King also says that there can't be justice when there is injustice. He agrees with St. Augustine, “An unjust law is no law at all” and “ If you live in a country built on freedom then you should never be considered an outsider regardless of your skin tone. In paragraph 18,1 “I must make two honest confessions to you my Christian and Jewish brothers” King compares what Adolf Hitler did to Jews in Germany and that it was legal such as is with the Ku Klux Klan with colored people.

King is disappointed

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