A Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham

To sum up, in his letter in response to the 8 white clergymen who were critiquing the mass protests he and the civil rights community was involved in while in Birmingham, Martin Luther King discussed how what was taking place in the United States, particularly in Birmingham, is unjust which is why people were protesting against. Also, that the church is not as great as it once was since its followers have not accepted African-Americans as equal, instead segregation was still taking place. Within his letter, he is making justice claims and makes them in a particular way with the intention of arguing the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Martin Luther King makes his arguments through the use of events that were taking place around him during the protest. In creating his argument, he uses rhetorical devices and in order to make his point, he uses cultural and legal resources.

Firstly, at the beginning of his letter, Martin Luther King pointed out the overall strategy that the civil rights community was undertaking. The strategy that was used in order to bring about equality and put an end to …show more content…
One instance in particular was when the civil rights community “decided to set [their] direct-action program around the Easter season, [...] knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, [they] felt that this was the best time to bring pressure on the merchants for the needed changes” (King, 1963, p. 2) Even though they chose not to go along with this plan and would do something instead after election day, it shows the importance money has in bringing about change. This is particularly true when it comes to sustainability issues for I have learned that how an individual spends their money can have great power. It forces companies to change and produce different, more environmentally friendly,