16th Street Baptist Church Essay

On September 15, 1963 the group made a dreadful act. They placed a bomb under a staircase to the basement of 16th Street Birmingham Baptist Church. Four Girls, Denise McNair, who was eleven, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins, which were all 14, were killed in the bomb that exploded at 10:19 a.m(gale group). Twenty-two other people got injured, but were fortunate enough to survive. Former KKK members that included veterans supposedly committed the crime.

In A letter from Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King Jr writes to the clergy men and his supporters as “A Call for Unity”. King had been put under arrest from partaking in a peaceful march against segregation on property that he did not have permission to be marching on. In the 1960’s segregation laws and policies were under the Jim Crow regulations; separate racial schools, colored-only bathrooms, separate places for the colored to eat and they would have to sit in the back of the bus. The letter King wrote was critical because he reaches out to the Clergymen from Birmingham Prison and uses the rhetorical appeal of his own character to establish his credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice.

The Bombing 16th Street, Baptist Church The tragic event occurred on September 15, 1963. The act was carried out by members of the Ku Klux Klan, people who disliked blacks and did horrible things because of this, in Birmingham, Alabama. Alabama was a Southern state and allowed segregation. The explosion went off at approximately 10:20 A.M., when Sunday school was ending and the service was beginning.

In the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr addresses seven clergymen about a letter they wrote about King and his demonstrations with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King addresses these clergymen in a professional manner, but he also states the reasons why he and the rest of the protesters are protesting. Even though people have different views of the world, everyone has the same hopes and dreams for their country to be perfect. During Dr. King’s time the topic was about race. In today’s world there is the same topic but we have come a long way.

Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963 a church bombing took place. 16th street Baptist church was a segregated church it belongs to the colored men and women of the town. There was 4 girls deaths and 14 injured during church service. The 4 victims were Addie Mae Collins age 14,Densie

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he is addressing the Clergymen, more specifically the white church and its leadership who criticized his efforts in the civil rights movement, by calling his demonstrations unwise and untimely. He is also simultaneously addressing the national audience as well in letting them know of the injustices of the time. It was 1963, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from inside a jail cell. He had been arrested during an anti-segregation march for not having a valid parading permit in Birmingham, Alabama. In this letter he addresses the criticisms that were brought forth to him.

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.

Rhetorical Strategies: Letter from Birmingham In 1963, Birmingham Alabama was a place where African Americans struggled for equal rights. From segregation to discrimination, Birmingham consisted of all many injustice activities which involved civil rights. In 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested from protesting the treatment of African Americans.

In the “letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he uses pathos, logos and rhetorical devices such as imagery, sarcasm and biblical allusions to show how his work of nonviolent protests are smart and how Birmingham has violated their civil rights. He expresses himself in his letter by explaining why he can not wait any longer because of the countless murders, the unsolved bombing, lynching, and violence towards the black community. MLK Jr. came across a statement which was a call for unity by eight Clergymen while being in the Birmingham city jail because of him not having a license to protest. In response to the eight Clergymen, Dr. king decided to write a historical letter letting them know that freedom was not an option because of the false promise and the continued violence. The letter is written to inform the people who are against, neutral and with segregation that it is time to take action and prove to the clergymen why he will stand up for what is right.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from his jail cell in Birmingham after he was imprisoned during a march for civil rights. This letter was in response to one written by church leaders in Birmingham condemning the actions of Martin Luther King Jr. and his compatriots. They felt the march was “unwise and untimely” and expressed a belief that the problems he was protesting were better fought through the court system. Overall, Dr. King spoke about the necessity and process of non- violent direct action, just and unjust laws, and of his disappointment in the actions of the white moderate. He argued with the words and logic of a well-educated gentlemen to counteract the church’s argument which appealed to white moderates.

The Church itself was the 16th Street Baptist Church and was designed by the State of Alabama 's only black Architect and was finished in 1911. The church was a large part of a heavily segregated in arguably one of the most racist towns in America. Birmingham had no colored Police officers of Firefighters and very few blacks could vote. The Church was very significant. The Church, besides having mass meetings of the local black community and holding various events was also a Rally point for the Civil Rights

According to “The role of the Black church in the Civil Rights Movement” by Vicki Phipps, the church was important because after slavery, black people could go there and feel safe. “People can only be enslaved for just so long before they find the hope inside to rise up for justice” (Phipps n.pag.). For a while the Civil Rights leaders did not have a place to meet and discuss things. The black community eventually migrated towards the Churches to plan their next move. “...the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, served as an organizing center for rallies and marches for racial desegregation…” (“Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing").

Civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, argues against criticism from eight Alabama clergymen, and addresses their concerns. He defends his position, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), against accusations of disturbing the peace in Birmingham, as well as explaining his values and opinions. Throughout the letter, King adopts a strong logical and credible tone, and reinforces his position through the use of strong emotional justifications, in order to appeal to the clergymen and defend his public image. Martin Luther King opens up his Letter from Birmingham City Jail by appealing to the clergymen's emotions, and assuring his peaceful response, which he describes in "patient and

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.