Martin Luther King writes Letter From a Birmingham Jail in response to a critical public statement released by clergymen after a nonviolent protest of his in Birmingham, Alabama turned chaotic. King is an advocate for nonviolent resistance, and in this open letter to the public, he defends the movements principles and encourages more people to participate in it. King inspires his audience to take direct action against segregation and racism by first disproving his critics remarks through redefinition, then placing his audience into another perspective through syntax, and inciting action with an intense emotional appeal to patriotism and religion.
King’s redefinition of words from his critics, specifically the clergymen’s’ letter, allow him to disprove many critiques. In one paragraph, King highlights the term “wait” in response to the criticism that his protests were “untimely”. King emphasizes that for African Americans, “the “wait” has almost always meant “never”’. In this sentence, King is able to overcome the “untimely” argument by exposing the true meaning behind the words his critics choose, and emphasizing the deceptive tactics being used to stifle progress. Additionally, King directly and clearly responds to the clergymen’s argument that he is an outsider who should not concern himself with Alabama. In his response, the author uses language such as “we readily consented” and “we were invited here” to assert that he is a wanted outsider. He is able to change the tone of the term “outsider” in his response from accusatory to helpful. Through this, King even insinuates a level of gratitude he deserves for following through on his promises to come to Birmingham.
King uses varying syntax in his essay to force his reader into an alternate perspective of hardship. In a sixteen line sentence, the author painstakingly depicts the horrors experienced by African Americans in everyday life. The frequent use of of dashes and commas used to prolong the sentence makes the words stand out from the rest of the writing and places a greater emphasis on them. King writes “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim”, he is putting the reader into the African American struggle by using the pronoun you and forcing them to imagine these tragedies being inflicted upon themselves. The author does this to emphasize how dire the segregation struggle is and remove the idea that patience is an acceptable response to these injustices. King uses this to encourage action and a sense of urgency within his readers.
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King further encourages and incites action with his audience through consistent emotional appeals to both patriotism and religion. Most notably, the author asserts that he has faith in the African American resistance movement “because the sacred heritage of [the] nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in [his] echoing demands.” By confidently stating that he has the support of both God and America behind his actions, King appeals to his audience’s core values. He establishes these as common ideals throughout the essay with various religious illusions and mention of America’s founding fathers. The author is then able to question his audience members’ ability to be both strongly connected with their faith and patriotism and in opposition a movement that is clearly supported by those things. King is able to redirect the passion automatically linked behind these core beliefs towards his topic of the nonviolent resistance movement. Then, he employs his reader to exercise this passion with support for his protests and push for desegregation. This call to action is made much more effective through King’s increasingly emotional arguments.
The nonviolent resistance movement led by King was often met with criticisms similar to those established in the clergymen’s letter that he responded to. Most commonly, his beliefs were plagued with extremist labels that framed his desires as unreasonable and hasty. King’s ability to redirect the language used against him in regard to patience and restraint allowed him to change the tone of the conversation. He did not let his opposition present his argument as extreme and instead reassigned the blame to them with claims that the time will never be right for those who do not want to see the progress achieved. Just as King needed to amplify the emotion of his audience in order to inspire action within them, somewhat extremist beliefs can be necessary to jump start conversation and change on issues that society refuses to address.
