From A Birmingham Jail Summary

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ¨Letter From a Birmingham Jail¨ is all about letting people know how the minorities of that time felt and putting the reader in their shoes. He wrote about how some of the laws in that time were hypocritical or only applied to one group of people. He explains how these laws aren’t fair and promote discrimination. Dr. King then goes on to explain the differences between just and unjust laws in several different ways. The first thing that Dr. King writes is what he thinks just and unjust laws mean. These two definitions gives us an idea of what he thinks just and unjust signify, before he goes deeper into the differences. Dr. King defines a just law as “any law that uplifts the human personality”. Dr. King is implying that if a law makes somebody feel good about themselves and makes them feel better, it is just. As used by Dr. King, just means reasonable, and
King makes notice of the fact that most of the laws being broken at that time were unjust laws. He mentions that people would break unjust laws on purpose as a protest. If you break a just law intentionally, you are just a bad person who wants to break the law. However, if you are breaking an unjust law intentionally, “you must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”, from the words of Dr. King. People would break these laws in order to make a change for the better. The takeaway from the section of “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” that focuses mainly on Just and Unjust laws is an understanding of what just and unjust laws are, and the main differences between the two. King tells the reader this by first explaining what he believes is the definition of a just law. Next, he does the same thing, but this time for an unjust law. Finally, Dr. King explains the difference between breaking a just law intentionally and breaking an unjust law intentionally. Dr. Kings explanation of these laws is still relevant to today’s society in making