His letter is known as "The Letter From Birmingham City Jail." Martin Luther King used ethos, logos, and pathos in his letter to persuade the white clergymen and the community that non-violent protests were necessary in the movement for equal rights. In his letter, Martin Luther King used the element of ethos to establish his credibility. By explaining his reasons for taking action and proving the goodness of his character, Martin Luther King effectively used ethical appeal. "But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here"(MLK).
Also, in his letter his tone was strong, but neither violent nor threatening towards the clergymen. Similarly, King portrays a sense of concern for the clergymen and they ways in which they are willing to obtain the peaceful ends they seek. He senses the still-present fear of the white community in the letter of complaints from the clergymen. King was offended by how the clergymen only planned on addressing the African American community for their actions while letting the whites go on with their violent and oppressive actions. Dr. King fought his whole career for equality amongst the races, meaning all communities with violent, racist actions should be addressed.
King and Malcolm kept a perfect balance while they were alive. King urged protesters to remain peaceful while Malcolm stirred up protesters into violence. Together they kept African Americans seeking justice from becoming “do-nothings” or violent revolutionaries. Eventually King and Malcolm might have converged and joined together to attempt to reach their common goal. Malcolm once expressed to King’s wife an interest in joining the nonviolent movement.
Letter from Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. uses many different types of strategies to convince his reader bout his views on cultural segregation. King’s letter is a direct response to the eight white clergymen of Alabama. They believed that these civil rights movements should be fought in the courtrooms and not on the public streets of Birmingham. They referred to King’s action of protest as “’unwise and untimely’” ( qtd in King 289 ). Rather than writing a letter agreeing with the clergymen, King arouses his readers by bringing ethics, emotions, and logic to provoke thought and push his opinion about civil right protest.
While Mr Washington tells thst the success of African Americans depends on their own efforts, W.E.B. DuBois, arguing with his ides, says that “It has been claimed that the Negro can survive only through submission“. DuBois calls Washington the leader of two races and the compromiser between South and North, but in reality the only thing that Washington does is that he is trying to find a decision which will stop the segregation of African Americans, but without making problems for the rest of
By submissive they meant that they were to accept to continue to work as a means of being useful to the white society. Many blacks rejected Washington’s idea of submission and were then influenced by Du Bois. Du Bois rejected the viewpoint of Booker T. Washington proclaiming that he was convicting their race to physical work and everlasting
He explains the difference between unjust and just laws saying a just law is one that is made by man but parallels the code and laws of God. And thus, he can rightfully tell people to disobey the unjust segregation ordinances because they are not morally correct. [627] He then point out the distinction between his arrest for not having a permit to parade, and that he was really arrested because he was promoting desegregation. He then points out the First amendments right of peaceful assembly and protest. He says that if you are going to disobey the law you must do it so with a willingness to admit it and acceptance of the appropriate punishment- that in turn is an example of respecting the
Much of his writing focused on the problem of racism in the United States. Baldwin argues that racism is a psychological problem that white America has, and concludes that until white people can learn to love themselves the problem cannot be cured. “There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you (The Fire Next Time, 19).” As an African American, Baldwin was well equipped to unmask the illusions of white supremacy. Baldwin might sound a little harsh when he is talking about white people, but he did not hate white people even though their attitudes and actions infuriated him. “Instead, he developed an unsentimental compassion for whites so trapped by their fear that they are deeply alienated from their true selves (Jon, 3)”.
King lived in a world where people were not treated the same based on their skin color. King knew the African-American community was being unfairly discriminated against and knew he had to impact a change. He was definitely not the only person trying to bring a change onto the African-American lifestyle and freedom, but he went about his ways differently than many other activists. Martin Luther King Jr. was firmly against unnecessary violence, preferring to make his impact with words instead. He was smart enough to realize that resorting to violence during the fight for freedom was only going to cause more problems.
Every race has people that are discriminatory and this includes groups lime the black panthers other African supremacy groups are just as guilty in the category if racist groups as the KKK. The problem with hate groups are that they skew views people have about other races causing them to themselves become racist subconsciously. Studies have taken place at Stanford university as well as the university at California berkley that have studied racism and subconscious racism are still a very prominent aspect of humanity. Part of the problem in the unsuccessful attempts to kill racism is that there are people who don't admit that it's real anymore. Acceptance is a viable part if repentance.