In April of 1963, when segregation was at its peak, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was jailed for his civil rights efforts in Alabama. A few days after Kings’ arrest, a group of 8 local white clergymen got together and criticized his protests. While in his jail cell, King replied to the ministers as well as to the white middle class by writing his response on the margins of a newspaper and on toilet paper. He excels in the structure of his letter and the usage of pathos, ethos, and logos to protect him in the dispute. From his creditability of being the President of the SCLC, to the emotional appeal to the white moderate, all the way to the logical persuasion he uses by reasoning, King justifies his desire for racial justice.
The clergy’s claims were that no African American “outsider” should be allowed to establish or lead any protests. They attacked King’s demonstrations as “unwise and untimely,” and concluded, “We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham.” King’s letter responded to the clergy explaining …show more content…
He needs them to feel some type of distress of living as an African American citizen. In cases like this, being risky is necessary. He states, “I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.” It may be the only way to get this matter controlled. His final plea is to the citizens of the white church. He stressed the errors of their ways, as “good” Christians. King concluded with an apology to any person that he might have disappointed or offended in the process of trying to get justice for
The clergy’s claims were that no African American “outsider” should be allowed to establish or lead any protests. They attacked King’s demonstrations as “unwise and untimely,” and concluded, “We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham.” King’s letter responded to the clergy explaining …show more content…
He needs them to feel some type of distress of living as an African American citizen. In cases like this, being risky is necessary. He states, “I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.” It may be the only way to get this matter controlled. His final plea is to the citizens of the white church. He stressed the errors of their ways, as “good” Christians. King concluded with an apology to any person that he might have disappointed or offended in the process of trying to get justice for