Rhetorical Analysis of MLK Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay

Rhetorical abridgment of MLK Jrs Letter from Birmingham Jail - Essay ExampleThe letter is queens response to the public rehearsal issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. All throughout the letter King emphasizes that the conclusion conducted at Birmingham was quite non-violent in disposition and he warns the authorities that the injustice, segregation and racial discrimination shown towards the negroes force out be everywherecome merely through non-violence and civil disobedience. The letter acquitly demonstrates that Martin Luther King was quite advised of the nature of his audience or readers. Thus, he consciously stresses the Judeo-Christian tradition of the liberation of the oppressed and dispels participatory human rights (Ess). The Negroes are referred to as oppressed, segregated, robbed and suppressed. One can find King addressing his audience as my Christian and Jewish brothers. The recurrent references to the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ and Apostle Pau l are quite meaningful and he too draws parallels between the experiences of early Christian martyrs and the demonstrators. At the very outset of the letter king makes it clear that he supported the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights as he wanted to propagate the gospel of freedom beyond his own particular hometown just as St. Paul preached Christs gospel to everyone. Towards the end of the letter King expresses his disappointment toward the white church and its leadership. Even though King expected Christian brotherhood and support from them, it is quite misfortunate that many of the white Church select proved to be opponents of the movement. He exhorts the church authorities to react against the injustice shown to the blacks and to express moral concerns over the status quo. He also warns that if the Church shuts its eyes towards these injustice believers would move away from it. King also pays special attention to appeal to the logos (use of reasoning to appeal to the reader) of his audience. He vividly portrays the segregation, injustice and racial discrimination experienced by the Negro community and purports that it was reasonable for the demonstrators to engage in non-violent protests. King, in his letter, stresses on the interrelatedness of all communities and states and he postulates that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (King 2). Thus, he makes it clear that he cannot shut his eyes to any sort of injustice whether it is in Atlanta or Birmingham. While the white religious leaders of the South regarded the demonstrations in Birmingham as unfortunate King admits that the Negro community in Birmingham had no other alternatives but to fight against the white power structure in the city. He repudiates that the actions of the demonstrators would never precipitate violence. He exhorts the society to protect the robbed and punish the robber (King 3). He believes that only through tireless non-violent efforts and hard work the dr eams of the black man could be cherished. Kings coterminous focus in the letter is to convince his readers/audience of the various reasons as well as the non-violent nature of the demonstration. King goes on to explain the four basic steps of any nonviolent campaign accruement of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action