Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King was a letter written by the leader of the United States

Civil Rights Movement that emerged as a response to a statement issued by eight white members of
Alabama's clergy. The letter begins with Martin Luther King's explanation of why he came to Birmingham
"But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here". In some way the author feels
obligated and identifies with the Apostle Paul by bringing the "gospel" of justice to all parts of the world.
One of the most famous quotes in Martin Luther King’s letter is "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere" a sentiment that has been repeated throughout popular social movements ever since.
Everything that has happened over time makes Martin Luther King oppose the use of the word
"untimely" by the clergyman; He claims that for so many years he has only heard the word "wait" that
has always become "never", which is why he is tired of waiting so long since the injustice in Birmingham
has perpetuated for too long. In my opinion the author's letter is not addressed only to clergymen (the
leadership of the white Church) but also addresses his disappointment directly to the white moderates
and also to the black folk and to support my argument I have chosen what in Letter from Birmingham
Jail Martin Luther King says “[...]my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past
few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the
regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the
White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to
"order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace
which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot
agree with your methods of direct action"[...]”. He knows that they must be the greatest ally of the
African American community, but they tend to stay on the sidelines and do not help in any effort to
force change. He also criticizes the white society police as he criticizes their praise by the Birmingham
police for maintaining order when, in fact, they had released police dogs and violence against African
American protesters “It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the
demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for
what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently
preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have
tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends.” Addressing these
secondary audiences, it uses all kinds of arguments to sustain its credibility, etc., which encourages you
to resist injustice through persuasion, negotiation, personal testimony, the use of the media and, when
necessary, peaceful protest.

Ideologies

Letter from Birmingham Jail is Martin Luther King’s response to an open letter belonging to a group a
ministers. In jail he wrote this letter to criticize the bad treatment the whites manifest towards the black
people. His letter addresses primary this group that called his work “unwise and untimely” and
secondary addresses people in general who must keep in mind the fact that black people should receive
equal rights and racial injustice should disappear. King inserted some means of persuasion in order to
rise audience’s interest. By ethos, namely by making him credible, King aims to gain readers’ trust: “But
more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here”. He begins his letter by exposing his
current situation- he is in jail and at the beginning he also presents the reason why he is imprisoned. The
reason is that he expressed the necessity to develop a peaceful atmosphere with the blacks, promote
nonviolent actions and fought against the injustice that affects them. Moreover he reveals, how the
south, namely the white community, cancels some fundamental rights of the blacks. By pathos he
establishes an emotional plea that aims to make them more sympathetic. Here he introduces references
to the Bible and religious aspects: “If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early
church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of the millions, and be dismissive as an irrelevant
social club with no meaning for the twentieth century”. The clergymen are members of the church and
what Martin Luther King wants to emphasize is the fact that the clergyman do not portray moral
conduct and in consequence they will lose credit in the minds of the others. Furthermore, by reinforcing
the ethos he wants to make them aware of the hardships that the Negros are facing. By introducing
examples of family members who might face the injustice black people feel his aim is to raise their
empathy. The logos tackles factual information and recurring to it King purposely wanted to make the
south aware of the unjustified repression they manifest towards black people and that they have to
reconsider their conduct.

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King is a masterpiece of a subtle double audience. I
am starting this comment by introducing my opinion on the real addressee of the letter, of course,
in the beginning, we may think he gives a response to the group of clergymen but he only uses
them as an excuse and opportunity to expose the real culprits if I can call them that way. Namely
the political rulers of the community of Birmingham and at some certain points the white citizens of
this town.
 
From the opening part, King announces his status as a Christian with a duty to fulfill and his
innocence but also his knowledge of religious dogma. This fully devoted Christian status of him
allows him to subtle criticize the unfair treatment the church and the community displays in front of
the Negro community. This inert status most of them have shown regarding the situation of African
Americans is the main reason why the manifestations took place because they left Negro community
with no alternative left as we can assume from this quote “There have been more unsolved
bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation.” So if he
and the Negro community love the Church right? Why the church does not love them back by simply
accepting their basic human rights?
  In his use of logos, he presents a detailed process where he and other participants waited and
postponed the event multiple times taking into account the political and economical situation of the
city, so their voice was postponed but until when? He gives details using logic on how the leaders of
the community delayed their rights to make them give up as we can observe in this quote „Too long
has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than
dialogue.”
 
 He also said he talked with some merchants ”to remove the stores' humiliating racial signs.” He
makes a call both for his fellow Negro citizens but also for the White Community using emotions
and pathos by giving examples every person can relate to, so he is trying to make them feel
empathy for their fellows. We can observe this in the section where he speaks about his status as a
father and the sacrifices he and other Negro parents have to make ”[...]and see tears welling up in
her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children.” 
The ethos is introduced by him with certain failed attitudes that other nations used against its
citizens because everything Hitler did was excused by the law, so this oppression that put him into
jail and all this attitude towards the Negro community can be seen in a similar light with what the
rulers did in Germany as we can summarize in this quote "an unjust law is no law at all."
 To conclude, I think M.L. King can be seen as the best example of the second group promoted by
Du Bois, an educated Negro who can represent and lead the two groups on their way to freedom, as
he says in here „We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the
oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. ”