Summary of MLK Jr.\'s Letter From Birmingham Jail
This piece is a summary of the Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 16, 1963. At the time King was extremely grieved by the way the church, especially the white clergy, was not in support of the religious civil rights movement. He wrote this letter as a disgruntled response to the church's separation of holy and worldly matters concerning his cause. King was in Birmingham because he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the organization was associated with eighty-five others in the southern United States. An Alabama partner asked for his presence and participation in a non-violent protest. The fundamental reason that King was in Birmingham was because there was inequality there. He was lead out of his normal surroundings to aid minister to others just as the Apostle Paul was. King believed that we are all part of one large union; if something has an effect on one of us, has an effect on all of us. He asks the white moderate clergy if they really want to be at peace after dealing with the surface of a problem, and leaving its source affluent. King believes white supremacists gave the oppressed African Americans no choice but to act out.
The other is a violent group who has lost faith in America, Christianity, and trust in all white men. He states that the church is now ineffective, and lacks a strong unified voice. He believed the judgment of God had come on the church stronger than ever before. King was in disbelief that the clergymen see the nonviolent acts as severe. He says that they, and not the white supremacists, were inhibiting the civil rights process. Also King believed that a law is unjust if it affects a group of people who had no part in making it. He used Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement as the main example. " He believes the protestors should have been commended for their courage and discipline. King states that he agrees with St. He knows that one day America will fall back on the principles it was founded on. Augustine in that "an unjust law is no law at all. " A just law is one that lines up with moral code. King believed that direct action would create chaos that would open the door for negotiation. He uses the historical references of Jesus, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson to show that oppressed people will only stay that way for so long; they will eventually be reminded of what is rightfully theirs and simply take it.
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Acceptance Essays
