Martin Luther King Jr.: A Letter from Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr.: A Letter from Birmingham Jail
Achieved Freedom
The 1960’s was one of the on the best eras of United States history. It was the time when man first set foot on the moon, the first Super Bowl, and when The Beatles took over the U.S. But, the 1960’s was more than that. It was when American citizens could live with the true freedom that they had imagined when their ancestors came to the Promised Land on ships. The 60’s was when the civil rights bill was passed, giving all Americans equal rights. That all started from the civil rights movement, which was spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. Throughout the process, MLK had to spend almost a week behind bars, and that’s where he wrote an open letter to make his point. He used many things, such as his reputation/ authority, the emotional appeal of the civil movement, and exemplifying his opposition’s opinions.
In MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, he displays his reputation and authority, but still keeps a humble mood throughout. Dr. King shows his rank in the first words of the letter by saying, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” he says fellow to construct the image of being more on their side, whether or not he was at that point in time. Using the word fellow seems like a friendly greeting, as well as a humbling word because it puts everyone on the same level. MLK creates a leader type of vibe when he illustrates how he was “Catapulted into the leadership.” This shows that the people trust and respect him enough to put him into such a great position without any protest or opposition. His authority is a great deal of who he was, but as all great leaders, his words had an emotional effect on every individual.
Dr. King used numerous words, and phrases to make the letter more hard hitting as well as emotional. The way that he shapes his words, infers that he is ultimately trying to put all individuals on the same level, which is essentially what the civil rights act would accomplish years later. In the letter, MLK says that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality” which is saying that we are on the same level, but act as enemies. He repeats over and over that as men we are all the same, have one common goal, also we are in a clergy together which makes our