Bianca Butler

Marie Whitney

Green

04/27/15

Reading Analysis 3

I. Summary of the contents of the article

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to a

letter that eight clergymen had written that criticizes Dr. King’s actions in regards to

the march in Birmingham. Dr. King opens the letter with a statement regarding the

reason why he is in Birmingham. King is there because he believes that there is an

injustice that is happening. He argues that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice

everywhere. Dr. King outlines the four basic steps in any nonviolent campaign. The

first is collection of facts to determine whether an injustice is actually happening. The

second step is negotiation. The third step is self-purification. The fourth step direct

action. Dr. King points out that his group has preformed all of the steps in

Birmingham. Dr. King disuses the idea that his group decided to use direct action to

force negotiation. The clergymen claim that Dr. King is being untimely because there

is a “new” administration in place and they haven’t had the chance to act yet.

However, King argues that the new administration must be prodded. King argues that

they have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for their constitutional

god given rights. King then goes into great detail about the differences between a just

and unjust law. A just law is defined as a man-made code that squares with the moral

law or the law of God. An unjust law is defined as is a code that is out of harmony

with the moral law. An example of the difference between the two is when Dr. King

discusses the reason he is in jail. He was arrested on the charge of parading without a

permit. King argues that the law itself in just but the way that the law was used in this

case is unjust because it was used as an attempt to silence the movement, rather than

to ensure the safety of the people.

II. Identifying the authors main theme(s) or thesis

Race and equality is the main theme in Dr. King’s letter. Race and equality are

important because both letters talks about race and equality. The clergymen states that

“hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions.”

However, this has not been the case. Justice and injustice is another one. The

clergymen believed that the way the police and community handled the protest and

jailing of the people involved was just. However, Dr. King believed that it unjust how

the police used the dogs to attack the protestors for their nonviolent resistance.

III. Evaluating how effectively the author expresses goals or supports the thesis with

strong details and evidence

Dr. King accomplishes his goal in this letter. His goal was to rebut the criticisms

that the clergymen presented in their letter. He did this by creating a well-reasoned

argument that refuted all of the clergymen claims. His other goal was to answer the

clergymen’s letter in patient and reasonable terms. He did not personally attack the

clergymen and was not mad at the clergymen for what they had said in their letter.

King simply wanted to promote understanding of the African American cause. In

short, he wished to educate the clergymen. We believe that Dr. King supported the

validity of his thesis by using undeniable real-life examples and facts. He used a lot of

first hand examples that are difficult to refute and lend validity to his claims. Dr.

King’s argument about how his group followed the nonviolent campaign four basic

steps lends credibility to the letter because it shows that the movement has a logical

progression.

IV. Personal critical remarks

We believe that Dr. King wrote this letter with intellectual insight. In the letter,

Dr. King works very hard to refute the claims made by the eight clergymen. The

thoroughness that Dr. King refutes the clergymen’s claims is what really stands out in

this letter. We also like how Dr. King referred to himself as an extremist, stating that

Jesus Christ, Paul, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were all extremists. Dr.

King uses a lot of descriptive language in his letter especially when he gives the

example of an individual who has to explain to their child the reason why the child

cannot go to Funtown (an amusement park advertised on television) because the child

has the “wrong” skin color. Another example of Dr. King’s descriptive language was

when he discuss the idea that an African American person’s first name becomes

“nigger”, their middle name becomes “boy”, and their last name becomes “John” and

how the mother and wife are never given the respected title “Mrs.” In addition, we

like how Dr. King states that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

This idea permeates the entire letter and sets the tone for the rest of the movement.