Letter From Birmingham Jail Thesis

A preacher, an author, and a leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. defends the actions of the African American community in his essay “A Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King’s purpose is to prove why the negative “extremist” label that is slapped on the protesters does not accurately reflect the actions that are taken to fight for equality. He adopts a hopeful tone in order to connect to the rationality and humanity in his mainly white audience despite their differences. King begins his refutation of the clergymen’s accusation that protesters are being too extreme by explaining how in the scheme of things, the actions of the protesters were far from extreme in comparison to the actions of Black nationalists who believed violence was the answer. He targets the rational aspect of his audience by
He declares that “was not Jesus an extremist for love” and “was not Amos an extremist for justice.” Because King’s audience is specifically the clergymen to whom the letter is addressed and to all other white people who share their opinion, they are able to understand the connotation and the importance of the people King brings up. King also includes quotes from each influential person his names which establishes a solid foundation for his stance. He compares Abraham Lincoln’s view on how “this nation cannot survive half slave and half free,” and Thomas Jefferson’s words that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” to the unjust situation in which King and the rest of the African American community find themselves. The direct quotations not only appeals to logos, but also ethos because even though King sits in a jail cell as he writes the letter, he still knows the works of all of those people and can accurately quote them which establishes his credibility as a learned and knowledgeable