In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. primarily relies on Pathos because he uses his personal and horrific experiences to explain the protest against the segregation and Jim Crow laws. Dr. King’s nonviolent became a model for others, such as the 13-month mass nonviolent Montgomery bus boycott that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. In the letter King is responding to the white clergymen in Alabama who criticized king and his movement because they thought it was a bad intensions to cause violence.
Dr. King’s delivery in this letter was affected by having to respond to the clergymen because he had to word every sentence in such a way that would effectively give the harsh reality of why the protest was urgently needed. King believes their response is justified because his primary claim in the letter was the urgency for nonviolent protests to solve conflicts such as discrimination, segregation and racism to name a few. To help explain, King relies on his various experiences of African Americans living through constant oppression, unlawful police brutality, and bombings; Also explaining that not being able to peacefully protest would lead to African Americans violently protesting from having pent up and anger built up inside with no way to have an outlet.
The grammatical delivery used by Dr. King in Letter from a Birmingham jail is both present and past-tense because he used his knowledge of both present day and past events to bring more attention and awareness to the situations at hand. Throughout this letter Dr. King uses strong passionate examples explaining as of why changes pertaining to just laws, desegregating the community, peace and true equality needed to be made. For instance, King stresses the fact that even some people of the black community were turning a blind eye to the problems and conflicts that were happening to them just because it was not directly effecting them.
To combat this somewhat widely shared belief he uses the phrase “ what effects one directly, effects all indirectly” with this phrase he goes in deeper illustrating to the reader that all of the African American community needed to stand together for one cause, instead of turning blind eyes to major problems that were not affecting them. He also addresses the fact of how urgent the black community needed to protest because the term “wait” has been used so many times that it gives off a false reality that true freedom and prosperity will never actually happen.
For example, King compares the success of both Asia and Africa obtaining their various goals towards independence with quick and “jet-like” speed, while the African American communities efforts to reach true equality has been far too long and overdue. One example that King uses in his letter that really pulls the heartstrings of the reader is when he portrays the situation of telling your daughter that she can’t go to the amusement park like everyone else on television. This is because she is colored and won’t be allowed or welcome; And soon after having to watch as she bawls in tears, while she unknowingly starts to develop a hatred toward white people.
Even though Dr. King primary uses pathos to form the bulk of the letter but, he also uses subtle forms of ethos to add a structural backbone to his claims and arguments responding to the clergymen. For instance, he brings up the fact that he is over the Southern Christian Leader Conference, which has different facilities all over the southern regions; Also even stating that “ one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement”. This gives king an overwhelming sense of credibility because not only is he the president, he goes on to say he runs over eighty Christian establishments. Being of the same religious group as the clergymen he is responding to, this also gives off the sense of being on level ground or equal understanding with the clergymen. It is also very notable how respectfully Dr. King addresses the clergymen. For instance, toward the introduction of his letter he uses the terms like “men of genuine good will” and “answering your statement on patient and reasonable terms”.
Instead of introducing each of his arguments in a vulgar and attacking way, which would be completely understandable given the situation, he insists on peacefully portraying the reasons for protesting throughout his letter in a calm and understanding nature; which further showcases his ethical appeal. He even goes more in depth with this strategic method by using historical references such as how “ early Christians” were not afraid of death if it meant they were standing up for what they believed was just and disobeying unjust laws. This example out of the various ones given stood out the most because he is addressing a Christian group of clergymen, which shows how even Christians once before had done the same actions of disobeying unjust laws, regardless of race. Overall, it is very evident how Dr. King gives passionate and ethical arguments to the clergymen’s questions and statements; While also addressing the hardships and struggles that African Americans go through on a daily basis, because of unjust laws that were put in place to deter the African American community.
Despite all of King’s efforts along with various other civil rights leader; injustices toward the African American community is still very much a prominent issue today. However, if we all peacefully stand together for one cause as Dr. King demonstrated by protesting to bring more light to the issues at hand, then over time we will see the positive outcomes that have been long awaited.
