Critique Of Letter From Birmingham Essays Example

Blacks in the United States had suffered a lot due to segregation and mistreatment because they were considered inferior to their white counterparts. After several years of mistreatment, segregation and inequality there was reason to protest against the unequal treatment of blacks throughout the country. It is for this reason that black leaders and the entire black population organized non- violent protests to air their grievances. It is around this time, that Martin Luther King Junior wrote a letter titled Letter from Birmingham Jail. It is a passionate letter that sought to address and respond to another letter that had been written by a group of eight clergymen against King’s pro- black American organization that was organizing non- violent demonstrative actions that were geared towards fighting racial prejudice among other injustices directed at black Americans in Birmingham. The letter addressed things that had been ignored in the United States for a very long time even when the country boasted of upholding human rights of all individuals irrespective of the racial backgrounds.
In the letter, King gave an explanation of why he did things the way he did and the reason the things he did were done that way. MLK tried so much to defend himself and fellow blacks for their involvement in the non- violent protests in an effort to bring to light the civil rights of African Americans. He went on to defend the legitimacy of the protests because they had tied using negotiations there before but they did not bare fruits. At the time of his arrest, he had organized protests to condemn the segregation of blacks in Birmingham because they were forced to operate from some areas of the city and not others. He insisted that their demonstrations were necessary if blacks were to fight for the civil rights which had taken far too long to benefit them.
Something that is noticeable in the letter is that it has a persuasive touch and this was its clear objective. MLK uses logic and emotion to convince the clergymen that he understood their position and offered an answer to what they wanted to hear. He tells them that he had to answer all the criticism he received then he could not find time to do any of his jobs but that he chose to reply them because he deemed it to be important, and through this he achieves his goal of setting the tone of his letter in a non- blaming manner. The tone he sets is non- violent and in as much as he felt that the promises that had been given to the ‘Negro’ had been broken he was not keen on addressing the issue non- violently just like he had done before in the protests. MLK cleverly tackles the problem at hand, by not directly attacking the leadership and the white population but by addressing the political, religious and black community.
MLK has a clear and arguable position of criticism of the mistreatment of the African American community while at the same time he justifies their non- violent protests. He goes on to say that they had to find a reason to avoid violence because it could create unnecessary tension which was unwarranted. His mission to use non- violence is clear because he does not only want to air the grievances of the blacks but also wants to make the whites feel part of the journey towards the abolishment of segregation. He creatively uses emotion and logic when he specifically addresses the broken promises of the past when he says that their hopes had been blasted in the past and that left them with a deep disappointment Despite the ill treatment of blacks King does not dwell on settling scores or paint the political and religious groups as bad but as brothers in the cause and fight for African American rights. The legal and moral rights of the black population forms the central theme of the letter and King does not fail to ensure that this is what his readers were going to get from it. But he directly communicates to them that they needed to behave as is expected by law. King was communicating the fact that even the white population knew very well that what they were doing was not right and, therefore, needed to act accordingly.
Illegal racial segregation was an emotive matter at the time when King was writing this letter. It continues to be to this day because but King chose to address the issue in a way that sought to unite all people and make them deal with it. He creatively uses his prowess on spiritual, social and political matters to creatively communicate his concerns and appeal to all people from all these angles. The letter is out to persuade non- violently something that is in agreement to his actions. His tone and language speaks it all and even if this latte was put in the context of the American society today, it will do a great job in reiterating the civil rights of all Americans and equal treatment of all Americans regardless of their races.