Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , a civil rights leader, was put into jail after being part of the Birmingham campaign in April 1963. He was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was asked by an Alabama group to come to Birmingham. He and members of his organization joined The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and organized non-violent protests against racial segregation.
Because of these nonviolent protests, many of his followers were put into jail.Alabama clergymen published a announcement in the paper stating blacks should not support Martin Luther King Jr. and the other protesters. While in jail, Dr. King replied with a letter directed towards these men and the rest of the community.
Martin Luther King Jr. argued for nonviolent protest with the use of ethos, logos, and pathos in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. Ethos Martin Luther King Jr. is a very smart and reasonable man. He explained why he is in Birmingham and he compared himself to Apostle Paul and other prophets that wanted to bring freedom.He also wanted to bring freedom to other cities and so he promised to help the Alabama group with the segregation issue.
King, being the intelligent and honest man he is, put his argument on the same academic and religious level as the clergymen; he made it hard for the men to prove him wrong. King was able to relate to other groups of people in the audience based on religion, race, and beliefs. He connected to everyone which made him a respectful and true person.In the clergymen's letter, the men stated that they do not approve the protests that took place in Birmingham. The clergymen felt that Dr.
King and his people were disrupting the peace with the city. These men failed to notice that The Alabama Christian Leadership Conference had tried times before to make peace with the city. Nothing was ever done about the issue. An example Dr.
King stated was that the legislature of Alabama set up the state’s segregation laws and there are all sorts of methods used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters.There are unjust laws that are agreeing with segregation and denying the first amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. The clergymen were being bias and only cared about their side of the facts. Nonviolent action needed to take place in order for justice. Pathos Dr. King appeals to the black audiences but also to the white in his letter to show them all the effects of segregation.
He understood that not everyone has experienced segregation so he described the emotions for everyone to understand. He used emotional stories and painted a picture for the audiences.“But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled police curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; 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 that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental shy, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean? ; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading white and colored; when your first name becomes Nigger, your middle name becomes boy, and your last name becomes John… “(King 275-276).King wrote about personal stories that he had faced. His use of imagery gave the reader a picture of how segregation truly affected the African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr.
's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was intended just for the clergymen. But throughout his letter his strong use ethos, logos, and pathos affected everyone. He was honest and respected all that helped him throughout the protest. He outsmarted the clergymen with his education and religious views. Dr. King shared the emotional side of his argument that touched people’s hearts.
The argument was very successful and stopped racial prejudice just like Martin Luther King wanted to do. By relating to all audiences in this letter, this civil rights leader was able to grab the attention and make his voice be heard and become known as a true role model to all.
