An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African-Americans endured and still endure an ungodly amount of disenfranchisement, segregation, and overall discrimination. The courage of more than one brave American helped cultivated what is widely known today as the Civil Rights Movement, one of the greatest social movements of American history.
With any great social movement comes its accompanying literature. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led highly publicized demonstrations in Birmingham that received criticisms from local clergymen. Ultimately, King was arrested in Birmingham for not having a permit to parade. From the cell that he was jailed in, King responded by writing the epitome of what the Civil Rights Movement stood for: the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King justifies the civil rights demonstrations because of the fact that direct action is necessary to combat the injustices that African-Americans underwent. His purpose is to not only convince the clergymen, but also all American moderates of the plight of African-Americans in order to prove that the demonstrations were essential. In his “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” King uses a ethical appeals, claim-support organizational …show more content…
King’s letter, organized in a claim-support structure, provided a clear and easy to understand flow that aided in communicating King’s purpose. The traditional claim-support structure however is more associated with arguments that are for and not against, which is a tad different from how King’s letter is developed. Throughout the letter, King takes claims from the clergymen and other opponents and debunks them using supporting evidence. King utilizes the strategy in a different way since he is attempting to challenge his opponents views, not prove them true. Regardless, King follows the same overall pattern of a claim-support argument and it is of great advantage to
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