Analysis of MLK's Letter From Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr. opens the letter to his fellow clergymen by explaining his reasons to be in Birmingham, mentioning his invitation and also assert that given the situation in this area, he needed to be there. He also makes a point of the fact that he doesn’t normally respond to criticism due to his busy life, but that he feels that his audience would listen because of their sincerity and willingness to listen. He tells his audience that injustice will not disappear if it is ignored, and that taking action against injustice does not bring violence, since it is the oppressors that commit the violence in spite of the oppressed. He goes on to list the steps of a nonviolent campaign, to show that his protests have not been spontaneous but carefully planned, and brings up the argument questioning his action, ruling it out. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed,� he argues. He emphasizes on the issue that blacks have been waiting and told to wait to take action for the “right time”, thus delaying action by most people who believe this statement. Martin Luther King Jr. argues that the main issue regarding the lack of direct action

tion needed for the civil rights movement to be completely and quickly effective is this; people waiting for the time to be right. He compares the Asian and African nations in their speedy way towards political independence to the slow speed of the civil rights movement in America. Consequently, he calls his audience’s attention to the abuses white racist America has brought upon the blacks and keeps on bringing upon them as part of his reasoning to encourage his fellow clergymen to support his nonviolent action. MLK goes on to explain what he sees is just and unjust laws, justifying his campaign’s decision to break some laws, and support other rulings that pertain to the white world. He defines a just law as a “manmade code that squares with the moral law or the law of god, that is to say that it upholds people’s “sameness” and does not discriminate among humans. An unjust law is one “that is out of harmony with the moral law. (…) A human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law,” meaning that it is not a law a god would approve of, a law that treats humans unequally, and therefore it must be broken. He supports civil disobedience in respect to unjust laws in America that support segregation and inequality, giving