Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter To Birmingham

Passage A of Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter to Birmingham is composed of specific stylistic strategies that effectively convey his central idea that the black community’s protests against segregation are justified as it has suffered from widespread societal restraint for centuries throughout history. King’s argument in this passage is facilitated by means of a syntactical structure composed of a long list of the abundant struggles that have faced blacks as well as an appeal to the legal and moral authority of just societal laws. Both of these stylistic elements serve to advance King’s main intention in writing this excerpt of the letter, which is to persuade the recipient to understand both the anguish that has resulted from centuries of black discrimination and that black people’s willingness to disobey “unjust” law is justified. Throughout Passage A, King uses a long list of examples of segregation and prejudices that have faced
He states: “Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools... One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” King’s appeal to the legitimacy of laws that are fair and lead to a positive outcome, such as the 1954 law enacted by the Supreme Court, indicates that although he opposes legislation that has undermined the black community, he earnestly embraces laws that benefit the welfare of all. In his appeal to the notion that all individuals must obey the legal and moral value of “just” laws, King intends to suggest that it is compulsory to disobey “unjust”