Professor Case
Eng 124.06
5 October 2016
Segregation Law
While in Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr writes a letter response to a public statement, wrote by white religious leaders in the south. In this letter that, Mr. King writes, he hits the topic of discrimination and segregation opposed on the African American community. Because of the leadership role that Martin Luther King was portraying, this led to him being arrested and brought to Birmingham Jail. This is where King begins to write his letter calling out segregation issues by using the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos.
First, some initial background information about Martin Luther King. MLk comes from a long line of southern Baptists, where his …show more content…
King has already made it clear in his past that he does not believe in using violence as a protest tool. He once again makes that clear when king writes, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: a collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham.’’ (1). King shows through this statement that the protesters in Birmingham were participating nonviolent protest, abiding by the laws in Birmingham. King is trying to Persuade the readers that the protest in Birmingham committed no wrongs or crimes. King’s statement use an appeal to persuade the readers to be on the side of the protester 's nonviolent …show more content…
King used his letter to help with exploiting the discrimination opposed on the African community, that was protesting in Birmingham, Alabama. King puts his words to good use in trying to appeal to the readers by persuading them to support his cause. Also, King uses his credibility as a person of a high religious standing to point out the morally inaccurate discrimination that has been directed towards King and his staff while their time in Birmingham. Another way Martin Luther King Jr used his words to exploit the wrongs of the Birmingham authority, was how he used a logical approach to explaining the methods of twisting the law of the land to unlawfully arrest King and a few members of his staff. All in all Martin Luther King Jr has successfully used three rhetorical appeals to spread awareness of the injustice segregation that has been unlawfully opposed in Birmingham, Alabama through his writing in the Letter from Birmingham