How do they strengthen his argument and underscore his overall message? There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. And now this approach is being termed extremist. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. By speaking in their voice, he suggests a sense of deference even as he is dismantling his opponents arguments and revealing them as misguided, or worse, fools. I am here because I have organizational ties here. To delay justice is to be cowardly and unjust. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. Not affiliated with Harvard College. The logical and well put together letter was written as a response to a statement in the newspaper, which was written by some clergymen. He was invited there 2. GradeSaver, 30 July 2014 Web. Preceding this passage, he explains his disappointment, arguing that the church merely validates an unjust status quo, rather than being a force for social change and human betterment, an active part of the struggle for mans dignity in a cruel world. Answers for letter from birmingham jail letters crossword clue, 3 letters. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Whereas most of the Letter operates through sleight of hand logical arguments or naked pathos, this section is unusually harsh and direct, ultimately suggesting that Dr. King is now prepared to admit that while he would like the support of his audience, he and his brothers and sisters will persevere and succeed even without it. Isnt this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to Gods will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? How could I do otherwise? On April 3, 1963, the Rev. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene Bull Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. It is a marvelous mixture of logos and pathos. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Full text of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. 16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. His difficult arguments end up practically unimpeachable precisely because he has presented them through logos as well as through pathos. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. Knowing that their fears and anxieties will predispose them to doubt his call to action, he presents the call through a variety of rational arguments and personal pathos. "Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay Questions". ", "But more basically, I am in Birmingham" through "live in monologue rather than dialogue. But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. M artin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" responds to criticism against him and outlines the ideology of nonviolent protest. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.. How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? 1. collection of facts 2. negotiation 3. self-purification Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. The injustices that happen in Birmingham effect other places. And yet he does not carry this restraint to the point of apologizing for encouraging tension. Through a variety of unambiguous comparisons the just crusader to Jesus, and the moderates to those who did not protect the Jews of Nazi Germany Dr. King decries moderation as the largest obstacle towards equal rights in America at the time. By suggesting that he would have broken Nazi laws because they were unjust, he challenges his audience to do the same with segregation laws. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. But is this a logical assertion? It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Is not segregation an existential expression of mans tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. This phrase, one of the letters most famous, serves several purposes. Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. Secondly, Dr. Kings use of multiple traditions for his allusions reinforces the unimpeachability of his argument. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. Letter from Birmingham Jail: S: Martin Luther King Jr. born in January 15, 1929, Atlanta Georgia, the Ebenezer Baptist Church. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchantsfor example, to remove the stores humiliating racial signs. Based on the arguments he makes and the stipulations he assumes, it is possible to construct the audience he means to be affected by this letter: a moderate, white, generally moral but conflicted group. I'm not sure what you mean by "these people". In "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr., uses logos, pathos, and ethosto support his arguments. This passage is a rather concise description of the call to arms that lies within the Letter from Birmingham Jail. Arguing that time is neutral, Dr. King illustrates the importance of individual action. First is his argument that all men are interrelated, and responsible for one another. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birminghams economic community. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? What the passage does is distinguish between conformity and individual responsibility. Over and over I have found myself asking: What kind of people worship here? Im afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. Isnt this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Let me take note of my other major disappointment. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. In at least 750 words, explain which of these modes of appeal you personally find to be the most effective in King's "Letter," and why. Pick no more than two modes of appeal. In that dramatic scene on Calvarys hill three men were crucified. What gives them such exceptional power is that they operate with the protection of both the secular (the sacred heritage of our nation) and the divine (the eternal will of God.) Echoing his earlier arguments that the law and morality cannot be considered as independent concepts, he insists that he will triumph because he believes in justice, and implicitly warns those who do not join him that they are cowardly, promoting injustice instead. It will cover the parts of the SOAPSTone method, offer examples, and give a sample. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. He stipulates through pathos that good men want a solid rock of human dignity, and then argues that direct action like that of the SCLC is the only way to reach such a transcendent state. The Eight White Clergymen who wrote "A Call for Unity," an open letter that criticized the Birmingham protests, are the implied readers of King 's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." King refers to them as "My Dear Fellow Clergymen," and later on as "my Christian and Jewish brothers." Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. Through a variety of legally-structured arguments, Dr. King illustrates the fallacy of both these assumptions. 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. We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. 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. His attack here on the clergy who seem to support law and order without considering the repressive segregation that comes with such order is not very subtle, comparing them to Nazis who persecuted Jews simply because their prejudices were protected by the law. And yet little by little, it becomes clear that Dr. King intends this statement for a much larger audience. ", "One of the basic points in your statement" through "I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. Search for crossword clues found in the Daily Celebrity, NY Times, Daily Mirror, Telegraph and major publications. I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. Martin Luther King's open letter written from Birmingham Jail is one of the most famous open letters in the world. How does the Letter deal with the subject of race? 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