Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

The letter written by Martin Luther King, Jr. titled Letter from Birmingham Jail, is written to put forth a message. Throughout the letter written, King is diving into the concern surrounding just and unjust issues towards the African American community in Birmingham. This argument is addressed when Martin Luther King, Jr. states "One may well ask, 'How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?' The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that 'An unjust law is no law at all."(p.3). The point that is being made here is that certain laws are unjust because the majority is inflicting something on this minority based on a difference, (King, p.3). King's main argument is surrounding how the unjust laws are affecting the individual's life and justified his …show more content…
In order for a law to be just, the majority must convince the minority and be willing to follow the law themselves (King, p.3). King explains how he felt about the unjust laws through this letter, he provides examples of how it felt to be part of the minority. An unjust law is affecting the lives of everyone who is part of the minority in every aspect of their daily lives. King believes that freedom is never voluntarily given by the majority or leader, it has to be demanded by the minority (King, p.2). This in itself is an unjust and immoral action towards the minority. Unjust laws towards a minority will never be fair or even completely gone, King provides an insight through his letter as to the emotion and experiences he went through as part of a minority. These unjust laws have occurred throughout history, examples such as women being excluded from voting rights or the LGBTQ+ community being exiled during the AIDS crisis in the