Ty-Asia Miller Essays - Politics, Activism, , Term Papers

Ty-Asia Miller Professor Pickens College English-180(24) 23 November 2009 Letter from Birmingham Jail In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a triumphant letter to eight clergymen from his cell in Birmingham Jail, Alabama. King was arrested and imprisoned for being engaged in nonviolent direct actions. Similar to King, these clergymen were Christians that also preached from the Bible, but they complained about his actions being "unwise and untimely" (King 213). Many other people that happened to read King's letter believed that upheaval would begin if African-Americans were granted "true" independence and freedom. King was confident that his letter would produce a deep and vivid impression to all of his readers. In order to get through to everyone, King's "method was that of careful reasoning, focusing on the substances of their criticism, carefully analyzing it against his position, following it with the clearest possible statement of his own views, and why he feels they are worth adhering to" (213). Although the letter was addressed to the eight clergy men, his real audience was the "white moderate", also known as the middle class. If he could gain support from the majority in America, then he was confident that the civil rights movement could achieve their goals. A method that King uses to present his argument is writing in a non- aggressive style. This was very important considering the fact of who his target audience was. If King would have written his letter in a very aggressive way, the meaning and the main purpose of his writing would have been lost. For example, King states: "Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that the individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half of the truth s to be unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind tension in the society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding brotherhood" (216). This shows that King's language is forceful, but appropriate when he expresses himself. King recognizes his own faults, but more importantly he does not put the blame on anyone. He helps to reunite both sides of the struggle against racism. It is exactly this type of logical, non- threatening appeal that makes King's letter so effective. The letter that King presents to the clergymen also alludes to several biblical scriptures and characters. Similar to King, Paul Epistle wrote several letters while he was imprisoned in Rome. "Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their village and carried their 'thus saith the Lord' far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid" (214). Paul and the early Christians refused to abide by the unjust laws of the Roman Empire. They were willing to stand against lions and deal with excruciating circumstances. As the reader can see, King was very passionate about his beliefs in the same way that those he compared himself to were. By directly referring to something the readers recognized, such as the Bible, King would be able to accomplish his purpose. King's draws the audience more deeply into the letter when he helps them visualize what is being described in his writing. When King wrote to his audience, he invoked them with a lot of sensory details. For example, King uses imagery when 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 policemen who view them ads 'dirty nigger lovers" (225). King does not just state, "some white people that helped us have been through a lot, such as being imprisoned and abused," but he uses more details so the reader is able to grasp what he trying to say. By reading this sentence, his audience was able to visualize people being badly beaten by the police with guns and sticks, while bleeding all over the place. They can also visualize these people being imprisoned in a jail cell, lying on a bed with roaches crawling all over the floor, walls, and ceilings. King