In the 1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement was strongly impacted by Martin Luther King Jr. Sitting in solitary confinement in Birmingham Jail, he strongly advocated against racism and worked to successfully improve conditions for African Americans. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, he achieves the message of racial equality through utilizing the rhetorical devices of addressing the counter argument, rhetorical question, diction, and imagery.
King uses rhetorical question to strongly prove how unjustly slaves were treated. He asks the white clergy men if black's actions provoked violence by saying, "Is this a logical assertion"(163)? King reasonably interrogates the whites if being black was a fact that sparked …show more content…
He states how unfair the blacks are treated and says, “we were the victims of a broken promise”(156). Certain promises were established to remove segregation posters and signs in stores, but it did not last very long. King uses diction to establish the upset in the injustices of the signs whites displayed in stores. According to people of color, the signs were words that constantly reminded them of how awful it was to be black. It was a sign that made the whites feel protected in stores, while it was a sign that made the blacks feel segregated and threatened. King also shows diction when he states, "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality"(159). King dictates how factors proven to be unjust were segregation since they did damage a true human being mentally and physically. King proves how one can not easily determine if a person is good or bad by the color of their skin because it is morally wrong and unjust. He successfully concludes his statement by explaining how segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound. Another example of diction is when he says, “For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait"
King uses rhetorical question to strongly prove how unjustly slaves were treated. He asks the white clergy men if black's actions provoked violence by saying, "Is this a logical assertion"(163)? King reasonably interrogates the whites if being black was a fact that sparked …show more content…
He states how unfair the blacks are treated and says, “we were the victims of a broken promise”(156). Certain promises were established to remove segregation posters and signs in stores, but it did not last very long. King uses diction to establish the upset in the injustices of the signs whites displayed in stores. According to people of color, the signs were words that constantly reminded them of how awful it was to be black. It was a sign that made the whites feel protected in stores, while it was a sign that made the blacks feel segregated and threatened. King also shows diction when he states, "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality"(159). King dictates how factors proven to be unjust were segregation since they did damage a true human being mentally and physically. King proves how one can not easily determine if a person is good or bad by the color of their skin because it is morally wrong and unjust. He successfully concludes his statement by explaining how segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound. Another example of diction is when he says, “For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait"