Letter from Birmingham Jail Analysis

             It is disturbing to know that fighting for our natural born rights could wind us up in jail. Martin Luther King Jr. experienced this very thing when he nonviolently protested against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written while he was in jail and is a superbly intelligent, logical, and articulate argumentation about his actions and the injustice with which they were precipitated. King uses the theme of law to support his points and emphasize the importance of the letter.
             King devotes a few paragraphs to first distinguish the difference between "just and unjust" laws. He says, "any law that uplifts human personality is just", and that "any law that degrades human personality is unjust" (517). Clearly then segregation in any degree is unjust because King says, "it distorts the soul and damages the personality" (517). He uses these statements to appeal morally to the clergymen. The Reverend King also gives many explanations about the timing of their protest. He argues that time is not the answer to problems but a "neutral variable" that when used effectively, yields solutions (520). With the Supreme Court ruling against segregation in public schools, the urgency to further desegregation was at hand.
             Another point that King addresses is the need to break laws. He is the first to admit that there is a legal and moral responsibility to obey laws, "just" laws. King says, "one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty" (518). He adds "that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law" (518). Through these statements, King is conceding that he knows a...

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