![]() ![]() I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. In response, King says,īut your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. In their newspaper article, his accusers had agreed that while injustices and racism were rampant in Birmingham, the problem should be solved in the courts by following the due process of law. King also uses ethos in the letter to justify the overwhelming need for nonviolent protests. Additionally, in any case, as King posits, “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” Therefore, his presence in Birmingham is justifiable, and the eight clergymen were mistaken to brand King as an outsider. If there is injustice in Birmingham, he ought to be there, because as a civil rights activist, he becomes part of the city the moment such inhumane acts start taking place. In the second instance, King exposes the logic behind his warranted presence in the city, not as an outsider, but as a champion of freedom rights and justice. This line of thinking is common logic, and his accusers should at least understand the same. As such, in the first instance, he uses the logic that under normal circumstances, people are invited to different places and they honor that call by responding and showing up for the invite. King seeks to directly address the criticisms against his presence in Birmingham and instead of evading the question, he uses a two-pronged approach to ensure that he is clear on what he says. The use of logos as explained in the above passage is highly effective. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Therefore, injustice in Birmingham meant injustice everywhere else in the US and beyond, and as a champion for human rights, civil liberties, and justice, he was justified to be in the city. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. In this case, his presence in the city should not be questioned because as King goes on to say, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In the second line, King introduces even a more compelling reason why he is in Birmingham – “because injustice is here”. Therefore, he had not “trespassed” or come uninvited on the contrary, he was in the city as a guest. First, he argues, he was in Birmingham because he was invited by his fellow brothers. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” In this case, King uses two reasons to appeal to logic while justifying his presence in the city. Therefore, in a bid to address this issue, King says, “So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here I am here because I have organizational ties here. This line of thinking was one of the major issues that the eight clergymen had raised in their newspaper article. King uses logos when responding to the claim that he was an outsider coming into Birmingham city to bring chaos. In the letter, King uses logos to appeal to logic and ethos to appeal to emotions and respond effectively to the criticisms leveled against his support for nonviolent protests as discussed in this paper. The letter outlines various issues that King felt needed to be addressed for the people in the city to get justice and civil rights. King then addresses the claim that he is an outsider leading protests in Birmingham by noting that he was invited to join his brothers and sisters in the fight against the widespread injustices and racism in Birmingham. In the letter, he starts by noting that the clergymen are people of goodwill and acknowledges that perhaps they were genuine in their concerns about nonviolent protests, and this approach sets a reasonable tone for the dialogue. Therefore, King wrote the letter from jail in response to the criticisms that these fellow clergymen had raised in their article. While in jail, eight white Alabama clergymen wrote a newspaper article titled “A Call for Unity” condemning King’s nonviolent protests. ![]() However, King together with other members of the caucus were arrested. These protests were mainly non-violent under the leadership of King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). On April 3, 1963, highly organized marches and sit-ins started in Birmingham in protest against racial segregation and racism in the city. wrote the famous “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” responding to criticisms leveled against the nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.
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