An Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

During the Spring of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led about a thousand African-Americans through non-violent protests in the business district in Birmingham. Unfortunately, he and other top activists were thrown into jail by Birmingham police in retaliation and were treated under harsh conditions, as did all African-Americans. On the day of his arrest, the Birmingham, Alabama newspaper published The Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen called King’s activities “unwise and untimely,” calling for the community to renounce protest tactics that caused unrest in the community, to do so in court and “not in the streets.” King wrote back from jail arguing each point the clergymen wrote in their “public statement”. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, King writes point by point his reasons for coming to Birmingham and the actions he had committed and why he wishes to continue his fight for equality. King successfully employed the use of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos by arguing back on legal, historical, and political grounds. King assured the clergymen that there was logical reasoning for him coming to Birmingham and for the actions he had committed, not to mention the legality of his coming. According to King in his letter, he states, “So I, along with several members
In his beginning words of his letter, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”, he already begins to show that he will speak in a manner of professionalism, despite the clergymen arguing against his efforts. The reason for writing in this manner was so the clergymen may accept the credibility of his paper, to show King is willing to speak on the same level This was so he will not appear to be some rowdy convict demanding freedom by force, but rather as a professional sending a letter of respect and understanding for the clergymen. King speaking in such a professional manner from a jail cell