Letter from a Birmingham Jail
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" was written on April 16, 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr. in response to a letter published in a Birmingham, Alabama, newspaper in 1963. Eight Birmingham Clergymen presented a letter to the public, previous to King's letter, as a means of protesting the progression of desegregation in Birmingham through the peaceful demonstrations brought on by the Negro community. King responds to the numerous claims made by the clergy men throughout their letter in a clear and intelligent way that allows his readers to make their own judgments on the issues at hand. The clergymen saw the demonstrations as an unwise, untimely, and a disrespectful way for the Negro community to get their message across to the powers that be. King felt that it was important to allow the public to see the other side of the argument because the clergy men failed to give the demonstrators any credit for their actions. The clergy men thought the issues plaguing their community were ones that would be dealt with in a court room and not on a street corner. The undisputable message King was sending to his readers when he wrote this letter was that the Negro community would no longer stand idly by as the white leaders of t
The truth is that if everyone was given the opportunity to live their lives on an equal plane we could avoid the demonstrations and rallies that only result in more problems for everyone involved. And although some progress has been made by a limited number of "rebellious" leaders and political figures that support the Gay community, there is still no way for a man to legally wed another male. The way King fought for equality; so too are the Gay and Lesbian Americans around the country that are being denied the right to marry someone of their same sex. He legally married several Gay couples before he was removed from power and reprimanded for his illegal actions. The fight for equal rights brought on by both the Black community during the Equal Rights Movement and the Gay and Lesbian community during the Gay Liberation Movement resulted in rallies and protests from their unjust treatment. He did not go into Birmingham with the intentions of causing more problems for the town, yet the local leaders looked at him as another problem they had to overpower. In King's time of protest the white leaders asked for patience from the Black demonstrators. King notes in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" that Birmingham had the highest number of vandalized Black churches and homes and the numbers of solved crimes were minimal. King points out some of the flaws in the legal system by bringing up the difference between just and unjust laws. I feel as thought the points that were made throughout my analysis were justified ones. King believes that living life in a morally superior way should be more important than following laws that condone immoral treatment of another human being. The reason his presence in Birmingham was so influential was because of the extensive amount of experience he had in dealing with peaceful protests and demonstrations. It was stated that bringing in an outsider to solve a towns problems will only lead to more trouble, but King repeatedly justifies his involvement in the Human Rights Demonstrations with evidence backing his presence in the town. The only problems King had against waiting for local officials to take the proper steps towards desegregating Birmingham were; the Black community had been waiting for hundreds of years to be thought of as equals in their own country, and that the very local officials who were supposedly working hard on behalf of the Black community were the same people who had repeatedly lied to them. The influential leaders that emerged during that time in history provide a level of comfort for the people who are now facing similar issued in today's world.
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