Birmingham Jail

“Every Crisis Has Opportunity” Throughout the past century there hasn’t been a leader as influential as Dr. Martin Luther King. During the 1960’s the thought of desegregation was merely a fairytale, and King forever changed the landscape of The United States. Like many black Americans King was tired, tired of being discriminated and not being treated as equally as whites. It was through his speeches and letters that King delivered his message greater than anyone could imagine. Ultimately his most poignant piece was comprised during the darkest hour of the Civil Rights Movement, “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”. This letter to his clergymen allowed them to understand his rational of attacking injustice with direct action and non-violence. In the 1960’s Birmingham was the capital for racial inequality in the south. Attempting to rationalize civil rights for blacks through the courts would have taken greater lengths of struggle that blacks could no longer endure. In “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” King answers the question “Why direct action” beautifully,
“Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path? You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (“Letter From A Birmingham Jail”).

In this piece of the letter King is able to answer one of his most controversial beliefs and the reasoning for seeking justice through direct action non-violent protests. Later in the letter King successfully articulates his means for acting now through a play on words with “wait” and “never”.
“For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied” (“Letter From A Birmingham Jail”).

In this pun, King uses great emotion to clearly state that the time to attack segregation and gain freedom is now. Furthermore through these two passages King is able to effectively discuss his decision for acting now by a means of direct action non-violent protests. Secondly all throughout “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” King uses exceptionally well diction by creating a voice for his audience that they can relate too. King purposely used his reverend voice to relate to his fellow Southern Christian Leadership Conference members. It is through his biblical allusions that allow King to relate to his message to his Christian members. “Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left their village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like
Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid” (“Letter From
A Birmingham Jail”).

Here, King relates himself as the great prophets carrying their message, and Apostle Paul who left his village to deliver the message of Jesus Christ. In addition, King uses another biblical allusion to answer the question: “What is an unjust law?” King answers this question by referring to St. Thomas Aquinas,
“An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in the eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (“Letter From A
Birmingham Jail”).

Again, King eludes St. Thomas Aquinas to allow his fellow clergymen to furthermore understand why segregation is unjust. Ultimately in these biblical allusions King is able to relate to his audience and relate to biblical beliefs that are widely known in the Christian religion. Lastly in “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” King effectively motivates his fellow leaders by calling out his fellow Christians. King does this in order to “wake up” his followers to continue the fight for equality. King writes,
“There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society” (“Letter From A Birmingham Jail).

In this piece of the letter King is calling out the church for not standing up for what is morally right, but for what they think God wants them to do. King refers to these people as “ God-intoxicated” and too afraid to stand up for social change. Towards the end of the letter King is able to further motivate his people simply writing that “We” will reach the goal of freedom.
“We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny” (“Letter from A Birmingham Jail”).

Eventually through this passionate passage King is able to create hope for his followers, by using a parallel with the goal of black Americans to the goal of the whole nation. In the end, “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” could not have been more deliberate and powerful than any other action. King was able to justify his message by publically having the will to incarcerate himself for his cause. I believe King created an opportunity in his letter while his race was in a crisis and despair. This letter created hope and love for his people that allowed them to march on for freedom and equality. Shortly after King’s incarceration Birmingham was the catalyst for other cities throughout the south to desegregate. This would not have been possible without “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”