Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter To Birmingham City Jail

In the essay named “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Junior, He uses many great approaches to many different problems faced in his time. The fact that he wants to use a nonviolent approach to solve these problems is not only an admirable thing to do but also the right thing to do. Instead of using violent means to make his points, he instead uses things such as sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and many other ways to peacefully make his point. This in turn breaks the cycle of hatred between the races at that time. If he had used other means, then the problem would have only escalated and gotten worse.

It is impossible to combat injustice by appeasing those who are injust. Martin Luther King is a famous civil right activist who put his life on the line to stop the unjust treatment of African-Americans in the United States. King’s efforts combined with other civil rights activist’s allowed African Americans to gain many rights that they previously did not have. The civil rights movement made use of protests and boycotts to force change. Martin Luther King was arrested for prostesting and was placed in Birmingham jail from which he wrote a famous letter explaining his rationale for his actions.

Martin Luther King Jr references Paul when he states “So I am Compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to Macedonian call for aid”(444). In addition to establishing that he is a religious man he also show that he is a literate, knowledgeable and wise man when he quotes Socrates, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson who were all seen as radical leaders of their time periods but are now heroic leaders of change. One of the main focuses of his argument is Justice and direct action which is an idea that King supports throughout his argument by showing that he has immense knowledge of court cases and historical situations which agains adds to his

Martin Luther King Jr. maybe one of the most notable Americans to ever live. He stood up against the racial injustices of his time to become the greatest and most influential civil rights activist. In his “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, King writes to the clergymen of Alabama explaining his stance against segregation and the importance of civil disobedience to fulfill a more just society. In his letter, King expresses many philosophical ideas to support his stance on equality.

King was a very influential man and sought after one goal, equality and the freedom from oppression that the African Americans in the United States endured day in and day out during this time period. King instituted many marches, rallies, boycotts, along with numerous prayer and worship sessions during the civil right movement. His work in the field of human rights enabled him to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King states, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” Oppression, hate, and racial injustice plagued our nation and stood out as one of the most compelling and long-term social wounds during this time period.

Dr.King wanted all African Americans to be treated equally, he wanted freedom for his brothers and sisters. He urged people to stand up and push for freedom in a nonviolent way but the road to freedom was not easy. You had to be willing to lay down your life even if it meant you could end up dead, he states “Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of angry policemen...” (King 274) Dr. King describes the experiences of what they had to endure, these are the experiences the people who joined him had to face.

On one hand, Socrates sees the majority and its opinion as irrelevant to justice, asking, “Why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the many?”. In fact, he not only argues that the beliefs of the many are unimportant, but goes so far as to imply that the moral code of the majority is patently unjust: “Doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality of the many - is that just or not?”, to which Crito replies: “Not just.” King, on the other hand, contends that the question of whether a law is just is in part determined by the majority-minority dynamic: “An unjust law is a code that a . . . majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself . . . By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself.”

Doing the right thing sometimes doesn’t lead to happy endings or an impact on the people. King was protesting in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama for black rights, anti-segregation

But, King was not going to let them take him down and that he is going stand what he believe what was right. He believes that justice itself is in contradictory. King believe injustice can be blackmail to justice and it can be place anywhere.

“As King wrote about nonviolence, he no doubt recalled the numerous instances in which civil rights activists had maintained their courage and discipline and responded to their oppressors with love” (Colaiaco). Martin Luther King believed that it is impossible to achieve a moral end by immoral means without causing damage to the soul and making oneself unworthy. One of the requirements of the volunteers of the non-violent demonstrations was to sign a “commitment card” which contained the Ten Commandments of the nonviolent movement. The first commandment required them to “meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.” Others explained that they must “walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love” and “refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.”

In the letter, King outlines his poignant philosophy of civil nonviolence as a means of achieving social justice, while also making powerful arguments to promptly end racism and

King demonstrates his defiance when asks, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn't negotiation a better path?” He argues that negotiation alone is not enough to create change, and that individuals must take a more active role in fighting for their rights. He believes that nonviolent resistance is the most effective means of achieving social and political

King stating their wrong doings, helped prove his point about just and unjust laws and about his wrongful jailing for taking a peaceful stand.

Their radical thoughts were necessary even though they were perceived to be extreme and radical figures. Though Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. lived in different times, their theme of justice is similar. They believed that equality and inclusion had to be incorporated with justice for their society's fundamental and cohesive development. To them, obedience did not have agency and progress required ideas of principle. Socrates and King offered a plethora of principles in their defense against their accusers and the wrongs of their societies.

The principles King lays out rest in our hylemorphic nature: our innate ability to reason objectively so as to lead our emotions, our ability to ascertain whether the human law squares with the moral and eternal law, and our vocation to be pursuers of divine wisdom. As Martin Luther King, Jr. launches his letter, he deliberately sets a “patient and reasonable” tone, thereby, establishing a firm philosophical