Analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (SUMMER READING)

Title: Letter from Birmingham Jail

Author: Martin Luther King Jr.

            This essay was a very lengthy letter written by Martin Luther King Jr to eight white Alabama clergymen. He even jokes that “Never before have I written a letter this long (or should I say a book?).” It takes place during the height of racial tensions in Birmingham, Alabama. Thousands of people joined Martin Luther King Jr in lunch counter sit-ins, marches on city hall, and boycotts of downtown merchants. Hundreds of protesters were arrested during civil rights demonstrations, including King himself. While in prison he writes this letter as a response to a newspaper letter published by these clergymen calling for him to stop his campaign of nonviolent protests. King is himself also a minister and feels that as fellow men of god he must respond to them because they “are men of genuine good will.” This letter is very organized, it goes through a laid out series of points that it uses to argue against the statements put forth in the newspaper letter. King’s argument is always completely sound and he is able to discredit every criticism to his tactics in a polite and eloquent manner. He employs multiple references to the bible and Judeo-Christian morals. For example the first criticism he counters is the idea of “outsiders coming in.” King points to how “the Apostle Paul left his little village Tarus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city in the Graeco-Roman world.” While King is trying to persuade these 8 men that his cause is just, he embraces many of the criticisms that the clergymen direct towards him. In response to being called an “extremist” King does not deny this title. Instead he embraces it naming many other great men who in their own time may to have been “extremists.” This letter has been called Martin Luther King Jr’s best persuasive piece. It is not hard to see why his combination of personal anecdotes of violence against African Americans and big picture ideals makes his message impossible refute.