MLK Letters from Birmingham Jail

            In Martin Luther King´s Letters from Birmingham Jail, he uses a very diversified approach to appeal to the interests of two members of different faiths. Judaism and Christianity are faiths that are against the segregation and persecution of a certain race. They, unfortunately, as of late, have been reinterpreted by white ministers to denigrate their African slaves. This de-ranking of a whole culture and race is the lowest form of religious practice, yet many white men are filling the pews every Sunday. As a member of the Christian faith, Dr. Martin Luther King is very disappointed and feels betrayed.

            I have never been exposed to the utter marginalization of a human but after MLK’s essay I feel as if I have. I cannot imagine being betrayed by my fellow humans. I say this because we are all human and the only difference between us all is the way light reflects the pigment of our skin to other people. This is unacceptable. But MLK is suffering from something even more difficult than that. Humankind hasn’t only subjected him; he has been betrayed by his faith. The only thing that separates man from beast is the fact that man has something to believe in. Man has something that wakes him up in the morning and puts him to bed at night, apart from the desires of the flesh. Martin Luther King’s ministers of his faith and others have all betrayed him.

            Based on that, now let us examine the structural integrity of his argument. First his tone: MLK uses a tone consistent with the mood that he is trying to bring across to the reader. When he mentions the Church-how he expected the white ministers to agree with him, how he referred to them as brothers in the faith and how he was utterly disappointed when they did not. All of these hopes are conveyed in a hopeful and longing tone and in the end, that tone is met with a more resentful and disheartened tone. Second his ethos: MLK established sundries of ethos in this letter, considering the fact that he wrote this from a jail cell. He quotes Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, The Bible, St. Augustine, Moses, the Apostle Paul, and Amos among others. If he can quote the most influential men of faith from memory, he must then be devout in his argument. Quotes come from the heart and reason from the brain. If he can hold onto some words, then they are very meaningful to him. Lastly, lets examine his call to action. Though implied, the letter was laced with an underlying call for movement and the termination of stagnancy. He states that the majority of people living in the south are indifferent to segregation. They, in his eyes, fail in their societal roles of standing up for what they believe in. He is calling them to action. Also he is calling the Christian and Jewish ministers to not stand for segregation. He touches on the fact that, as ministers, they should preach the true word of God, suiting nobody in particular.