Racism In Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Justice Racism has been one of the worst problems black people have endured since they came in touch with the white race. Racism is a belief that one's own race is superior and has the power to rule others. In Martin Luther King's writing “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he answers the criticism given by his fellow clergyman that judged his actions as “unwise and untimely” (King5). King makes the reader understand that black people are tired of being treated as outcasts and as an inferior race thus, reassures the clergyman that black people's inalienable rights are being ignored. However, King proves to the clergyman, in his writing, that black people deserve equal rights by appealing to the reader's emotions, appealing to logic and…show more content…
King notes, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King 8). Basically, King is saying that there are two types of laws that society use. One law is considered just because it favors the human beings personality and elevates him morally, while the other law is considered unjust because it demeans human personality. The reader connects and understands the logic between King's words in his writing because they are reasonable thus, don't understand why racial segregation is being held among the black people if the white people know that such restriction is damaging to the black individuals personalities. Therefore, segregation is considered an unjust law among black individuals throughout…show more content…
King himself writes, “I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some – such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle – have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms” (King12) King argues that even though the majority of the white people treat black people as an inferior race, there are some white individuals that have noted such immoral treatment and have joined black campaigns against segregation. The reader sees how even white people have joined the black people's nonviolent campaigns to fight for their rights, even though they are brutally abused by the white authorities and called 'dirty nigger lovers' (King12). King's actions were criticized and described as inappropriate, and seen as the product of an extremist by eight clergymen from Alabama. King states, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love: 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (King12). The clergyman considered King an extremist, but King does not
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