This is a precise definition based on fact that is hard to refute. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered.
#Birmingham text annotations code#
An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting because it did not have the unhampered right to vote. On the other hand, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow, and that it is willing to follow itself. An unjust law is a code that a minority inflicts on a minority that is not binding in itself. Let us turn to a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. Still, providing just a general idea would not be adequate to persuade the audiences so he needs to expand his idea deeper, for example: He then made a very logical set of distinctions between just and unjust laws, in which he suggests that when laws are unjust it is not wrong to disobey them. He agreed that it was strange for him to break the law while urging people to respect the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation. As he moved his argument over the anxiety of clergymen on black men’s willingness to break the law. King’s usage of logical argument is very strong in the letter. Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and we’ll deliver the highest-quality essay! Order now
As a result, it enhances his credibility that he is a well-educated and sincerely man who has a strong passion to fight for freedom. Furthermore, he does reference his action and label himself to many of the historical examples such as Socrates who provokes a tension in the society to bring people out of the myths and false belief, or even Amos who is an extremist for justice, convincing his audiences that he and his people are fighting for the righteousness in the society. This statement helps to uplift his action that it is well thought and planned based on the truth. We started having workshops on nonviolence and repeatedly asked ourselves the question, ‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?’ and ‘Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?’”. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification. He then says that “We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. Even though his nonviolent campaign is criticized to be a potential harm to the city, he explains all of his action with clarity that he and his people didn’t try to create violence. He uses this comparison to show the similarity of his action like a good will mission of those prophets who bring peace, and freedom to the society. Alongside of presenting himself as the president of SCLC, he adds more ethos appeal in his letter, comparing his action to a religious movement such as, the Apostle Paul and other prophets who left their cities to spread the message of Jesus Christ to other cities. He is not an outsider who come in the city to do a protest, instead being invited here in the name of president.
We have some eighty-five affiliate organization all across the South, one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” He clearly shows the clergymen that he is part of the city because one of his organization is located here. Clarifying his present in the city, oppose to the clergymen’s claim for being “outsiders coming in”, he introduces himself by stating that “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern State, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. King initially responds to the criticism with an effectively use of ethos in his opening letter. Throughout the letter, King uses a combination of rhetorical appeals such as, logos, ethos and pathos to support his arguments and persuade his audiences to believe in what he says.ĭr. His main audiences are the clergymen and white moderates who do not agree with the black community movement. He addresses every clergymen’s concerns about his action with a formal tone. In his letter, it was intentionally written to respond to criticisms of the eight white clergymen on him and his fellow activists’ action, as being “unwise and untimely”. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Martin Luther King, Jr during the time he was imprisoned in jail, after the demonstration of a peaceful protest against segregation in Birmingham city.
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