In Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail he references many famous people who have often fought for the freedom of others. This gives evidence to the arguments that he makes and provides a common ground of understanding for the reader and everyone else. His assertions were bold just as he was and his Letter from Birmingham Jail is one of his greatest writings, alongside his I Have a Dream speech.
King brings up that separate but equal is unjust and unconstitutional which refers Plessy v. Ferguson. I think this specific allusion really demonstrates how even the higher of men look down upon people with a darker skin complexion that they have. Just by looking around in towns and cities you could have seen that were in fact separate, but they were no where near equal. The African Americans had worse education, drinking water, and were treated like something below man.
Abraham Lincoln was one of the first men of high power to try and end slavery, which he succeeded to do, to an extent. King quotes him, “This nation cannot survive half slave half free”. What he’s trying to convey is that if one side of the nation (whites) were free and the other segregated (blacks) then they would always be against each other and never work as one to try and unite this country into a better one. This shows the people that eventually they’ll kill off their own nation by themselves.
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One last person he used was from Socrates a great philosopher. King stated many questions that made people think and reflect on their lives and how they treated people around them. I believe this made people cautious of their actions and it made people realized that the only thing different about whites and blacks is the color of their skin. So it cleared people’s minds into how they would want to be treated if it was vice versa.
With all these allusions people really thought long and hard about how their nation was progressing and it caused many people to realize equality is for all. Some people didn’t buy into the idea of blacks with the same rights as whites, but King won most of them by using many other rhetoric devices other than allusions. Words can change anyone’s perspective, but it all depends on how it’s delivered. The way King did it changed the lives of all in America.
