Discrimination in Dr. King's Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay Sample

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, which he uses to convey the message as to why discrimination, was so difficult, for the African American community. Dr. King productively used credible, reliable, and ethical reasoning to determine that. The letter included examples like quotes from past leaders and information that he had experienced to get his point across.   

Throughout the letter Dr. King used ethical, reliable, and credible reasoning to talk about discrimination. For example, in the letter he used the rhetorical device point of view saying “I have been disappointed with the white church and its leadership... I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on the issue.” He continues to say, “I do not say that as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong... as a minister of the gospel who loves the church, who was nurtured in its bosom, who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings, and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.” He was basically telling the clergymen that he wanted to let them know that what they were doing had some good and bad to it, but he just wanted to give them advice on what they could have done better. He wasn’t coming to them to be malicious, but to come from the standpoint of someone who is heavily involved in the church and knows what a good church looks like.  

“We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sister and brothers at whim; when you see hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters...When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told fun time is closed to colored children...There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into abyss of despair. I hope sirs, you can understand his legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” This quote goes with what was previously said which was that he included information from what him and other African Americans were faced with. He used his perspective, and the emotions that he felt to convey that message. The African American community were the people who were being oppressed, which meant that they had to demand to be free, because the oppressors were never going to willingly give them the freedom they deserved. Dr. King knew that one day, everyone was going to read this letter, not just the clergymen. He wanted to let them know that African Americans were not violent, they never wanted things to get violent, being treated equally was their main issue. This section of the letter gave proof that the violence was towards them not the other way around.   

Past leaders that Dr. King included were Socrates, a Greek philosopher, Apostle Paul, a follower of God. When he was explaining why he was in Birmingham he said it was because of the injustice that the people were facing in Birmingham. He compared it to Apostle Paul saying, “Just as the prophets of the eights century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns, and just as Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world.”  He did this because he knew that since the clergymen were religious leaders, they would understand the point he was trying to make. The quote “Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help me rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.” Dr. King used this to let them know that they wanted to take direct action that was nonviolent. Socrates connects to that, but it also opens the door for more negotiation to be had.