Letter from Birmingham Jail

Running head: Letter from Birmingham Jail

Letter from Birmingham Jail

A Summary and Response

Sheila Edwards

Capella University

Letter from Birmingham Jail

The Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963, was a letter written while King was incarcerated for a non-violent protest against segregation. The letter is in response to the Birmingham clergy, which called the protest “untimely,” and insinuating that King did not give the new administration “time to act.” King explained that even though the new Mayor, Albert Boutwell, was elected, and he along with the previous Mayor Connor are both segregationists. He further explained, it would be a mistake to underestimate that Boutwell and the administration had an immediate interest in their plight. King asserted, “The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act (pg. 305).” King declared, there is never a “well-timed” call for action in the campaign against segregation, and that “Wait,” almost always means “Never.”

King’s letter is a moral appeal for reasoning and human decency in a time when moral standards were immoral for African Americans. In his appeal, King remained respectful, polite and objective in the mist of all the criticism he faced toward desegregation. He responded to the clergy as “My friends,” and “sirs,” as he explains the reasons why they must continue to protest. He displays passion as he wrote his response against segregation. He emphasized, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. . . . Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait (p. 306).”

In an emotional attempt to open the eyes, minds and hearts of the clergy; King cataloged scenarios of daily events that occur daily for African Americans. He used the words “you” and “your” to create a personal...