SCCR English II TDA Rubric
Writing Checklist
Text-Dependent Analysis Text
Excerpt from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
From the Birmingham jail, where he was imprisoned as a participant in
nonviolent demonstrations against segregation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
wrote in longhand the letter which follows. It was his response to a public
statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of
the South.
You may well ask, "Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn't
negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation.
Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to
create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that
has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so
to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the
creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may
sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word
"tension." I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but
there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.
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, we must see the
need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that
will help men to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the
majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So, the purpose of direct
action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the
door to negotiation. We therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation.
Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to
live in monologue rather than dialogue. One of the basic points in your
statement is that our acts are untimely. Some have asked, "Why didn't you give
the new administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this
inquiry is that the new administration must be prodded about as much as the
outgoing one before it acts. We will be sadly mistaken if we feel that the
election of Mr. Boutwell will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr.
Boutwell is much more articulate and gentle than Mr. Conner, they are both
segregationists, dedicated to the task of maintaining the status quo. The hope I
see in Mr. Boutwell is that he will be reasonable enough to see the futility of
massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure
from the devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not
made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent
TDA Writing Prompt &
TDA Essay Response
Writing Prompt
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King explains his reasons for
social protest because of resistance that he met from the clergy. In recent
history, some NFL players have met resistance from the public and the league in
their efforts to protest racial injustice by kneeling during the singing of the
National Anthem. How does this modern form of social protest compare/contrast
to Dr. King’s arguments for social protest during the Civil Rights Movement of the
1960s?
TDA Essay Response
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man of tranquility, justice, and equality, led the
Civil Rights Movement of the African American community throughout the 1900s.
When leading the tranquil march in Birmingham, however, he was confined due
to his parading without a permit. After this, his name is put through the ringer by
clergymen. He describes his reasons for his protests in his response, “Letter
from Birmingham Jail.” In comparison to this, just last year, several NFL
(National Football League) players and teams took a knee during the singing of
the National Anthem. This was done in protest to racial injustice in America. This
modern form of social protest compares to Dr. King’s arguments for convivial
protest during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s due to the peaceful
protests, the scrutiny given to those involved, and it contrasts due to the process
of which the protest was presented to the public.
Peaceful protests, a staple point of American Democracy. This process of
expression was put in a spotlight to America in both the Civil Rights Movements.
For example, King explains,” Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so
forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?” Direct action meaning his protests,
speeches, and parades. On the other hand, the journalist Garber explains,” Their
collective protests, however, had been limited—deviations from the norm.” Their
protests are being acknowledged. King later explains, “I have earnestly worked
and preached against violent tension…” He has worked on peaceful protest and
non-violent solutions, similar to the NFL’s “collective protests.”
Words such as scrutiny and degradation have to do with an attack against
someone possibly due to their beliefs which occurred to both the NFL’s protests
as well as Dr. King’s protests. For example, he states, “One of the basic points in
your statement is that our acts are untimely.” King, in his letter responding to
said scrutiny, retaliates by acknowledging their attacks. This shows that people,
currently these clergymen, are attacking him and his movement whenever the
opportunity comes up. In the NFL's protest, for example, Garber states, “...after
pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups
seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light
and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has
reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
Excerpt from “They Took a Knee” by Garber
Terrell Suggs took a knee.
Leonard Fournette took a knee.
At a game played in London on Sunday afternoon, many of their
fellow Ravens and Jaguars took a knee.
Before the Lions met the Falcons in Detroit on Sunday, Rico LaVelle
sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And then he took a knee.
They were replicating the gesture of Colin Kaepernick, the former
49ers quarterback who, starting in 2016, had been kneeling during
the pre-game singing of the national anthem. “I am not going to
stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black
people and people of color,” Kaepernick explained. “To me, this is
bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the
other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid
leave and getting away with murder.” Kaepernick’s 49ers
teammates, Eric Reid and Eli Harold, took a knee. The Beaumont
Bulls, a high school team, took a knee. Their collective protests,
however, had been limited—deviations from the norm.
This weekend, however, the kneeling became a movement:
Kaepernick, after President Trump mocked the notion of athletes
engaging in politics during a rally on Friday, was joined in his quiet
protest by an unprecedented number of his fellow football players.
And also, in spirit, by many of his fellow athletes. And by several
NFL franchise owners. And by the NFL itself. On Sunday evening,
President Trump mocked the notion of athletes engaging in politics during a rally
on Friday…” The NFL is shown to have faced their own unnecessary scrutiny
and attacks for their protests. This attack on their protests, which is just one
example of the insurmountable amount of attack, is similar to that of Dr. King's.
Scrutiny and degradation makes these two protests similar as they both faced it,
and continued to preserve.
As the 2010 movie “Megamind” states, “But there’s one thing you lack,
presentation!” Presentation is the key factor to the remembrance and impact
upon an audience. For example, Dr. King states, “My friends, I must say to you
that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and
nonviolent pressure.” This “nonviolent pressure” he speaks of is an allusion to
his protests and marches, the same reason he is in this prison to begin with.
Garber states, “...took a knee.” This “taking a knee” was their protests, which
was broadcasted to major news networks and sports channels across the entire
country. Garber, to provide more emphasis on how their protests reached the
public eye, states, “...the Associated Press reported, ‘only four players knelt or
sat, and two stood with their fists raised. In the nine early games Sunday, AP
reporters counted 102 players kneeling or sitting, and at least three raising their
fists.’” The Associated Press and other major news networks across the country
broadcasted this and described the influence of this. The NFL protests were
shown to everyone at once in a power stance against the nation’s flag and pride,
whilst Dr. Martin Luther King Jr decided to show pride towards his country and
those who attacked him and still push his beliefs through marches, sit-ins,
pardes, speeches, and more.
The NFL and Martin Luther King Jr. Both of the figures of power and pride in
the country protested the same country’s beliefs and prejudices through peaceful
protests. Eene with the early one-hundred year gap in between these influential
protests against racial injustice, they are still very similar. The peace was kept
throughout all of these protests. No one was injured due to these people
protesting their beliefs in either the Civil Rights Movement nor the NFL kneeling
protests. Scrutiny and judgment was passed in the way of both of these protests,
whether it be the president mocking them and exclaiming for their prosecution,
or it be clergymen in the south describing their political and personal beliefs
against a movement. Finally, the presentation and coverage of these protests,
one of the few contrasting factors. One was slow and methodical, thinking of
where to mark next to reach a wider audience, contrasted to the NFL’s protests,
which was broadcasted to the nation and the world before a second glance.
These two protests had over sixty years in between them, yet they are similar in
so many ways when given a second glance between the two.
during its primetime games, CNN reported, the league will re-air a
one-minute ad, produced for the Super Bowl earlier this year,
created to “demonstrate the power of football to bring people
together.”

It all happened slowly, until it all happened quickly. “Last week 5000 characters
across the entire NFL,” the Associated Press reported, “only four
players knelt or sat, and two stood with their fists raised. In the nine
early games Sunday, AP reporters counted 102 players kneeling or
sitting, and at least three raising their fists.” (Later in the day, the AP
modified its estimate to “more than 130.”)

Football is a sport, in the most literal of ways, about progress: Its

players move yard by yard, methodically and strategically, down the
field, for first downs and then second and then third—a game of
steady movement and minute measurement. But the drama of the
sport often comes in those instants when, indeed, the slowness of
progress becomes quick: the moment the arcing pass finds its
recipient. The moment the tackle is evaded and the field is clear and
the runner, weaving and winding, makes it to the 15-yard line, and
then the 10, and then the 5, and then the end. Those are the
moments that make the difference between wins and losses. They
are the moments that make the game what it is.

History moves in a similar way. Its events proceed methodically until,

inspired by a split-second happening—a perfect pass, a surprise
tackle, a moment of quiet human ingenuity—they race forward. This
weekend, #TakeAKnee—the small protest turned into a widespread
one—became one of those moments.