Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most powerful African American leaders of all time. Most known for his I Have a Dream speech, King wrote many other works that support African Americans and their fight for equal rights, including his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In the letter, King addresses many key points, including the fact that “groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.” Getting together with others in groups can be a good thing, but for the most part, groups tend to bring out the bad side in people. Some may argue that individuals tend to be more immoral than groups. From personal experience, some of the most serious crimes were committed by individuals. For example, Adam Lanza, the sole mastermind behind the Sandy Hook Massacre, was responsible for the deaths of almost 30 students and teachers. Another example is James Holmes, the man responsible for taking the lives of 12 people during the midnight premier of The Dark Night Rises in Aurora, Colorado. Each of these mass shootings …show more content…
For example, the Holocaust, an event that resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews, is the responsibility of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Also, the September 11th attacks were not only committed by Osama bin Laden, but by his al-Qaeda organization as well. Since the masterminds of these acts had help from many other people, they were able to take the lives of more people than any sole human being. In addition, personal experience has shown that people tend to act negatively in order to fit in when they are around their friends. It is often easy to influence others to act negatively, and it is even easier to fall into the trap of mob mentality. The issue of mob mentality is often associated with immoral behaviors such as rape and beatings. It only takes a few people to negatively influence an entire group, and most people will begin to follow the crowd in order to fit