Segregation In Birmingham Jail

The fact that he said that he would fight wherever necessary for justice is very heart warming. It shows that Dr. King believes in what he is fighting for and that he would do whatever is needed of him. By helping the people of Birmingham he helps people from everywhere because he believed “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

     The march on Washington D.C. was a turning point in the passionate battle for civil rights. Years of segregations and mistreatment of the African-Americans had pushed them to the edge. King knew that he had to say something to calm his people and make sure that their demonstration did not turn into a violent one. He said a hundred years ago, or as King affectionately referred to it, five score ago, Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address in a war to free the African-Americans from the tyranny of slavery. But despite the bloodshed they were still not free. King too touches on the fact that the fore fathers some one hundred and eighty seven years ago said that all men are created equal and entitled to liberty. King went on to say his people would not just go away and were not just blowing off steam. That these changes

King was very hurt by what they said but King didn’t have any paper to reply so he collected toliet paper, bags, and margins of newspapers. When he was able to reply he said, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here, and injustice is a universal thing--nothing to do with ‘insiders’ or ‘outsiders.”’ (Schloredt and Brown 40). King started to write down everything he believed in and these writings became known as “Letters from the Birmingham Jail.” On April 20, 1963 King was released on bail. King wasn’t done protesting yet, as soon as he got out of jail he was planning the next march. The march was called the Birmingham Children's Crusade. Leaders thought that if they got the children involved, they would be at a less risk. King stated, “The children would gain “a sense of their own stake in freedom and justice.” (Jakoubek 88). On May 2, 1963 about 1,000 girls and boys gathered at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where they would march down the center of the

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

Segregation emerged and it wasn’t until a century after that segregation was starting to be dealt with. Segregation prohibited African Americans to enter specific facilities, public places, and restaurants. Segregation caused an immense amount of violence towards African Americans, where African Americans were lynched the night prior to voting day in Mississippi, so that they wouldn’t be able to vote. Segregation made a significant mental change on African American individuals. There were African Americans who had given up on the removal of segregation and accepted that they lived in a society where they were to be belittled and treated as unequal. There were those whom were in the middle class that saw segregation as an opportunity to profit because of economical and educational security. Finally, there were those who grew tired of oppression and advocated towards violence due to their hatred and bitterness of the white race. In my opinion none of these were the right ways to approach segregation. The African American race should have always looked for ways to demolish segregation. A way that would catch people’s attention and yet keep them safe. Direct Action was the correct way to approach segregation. It caught the public’s attention, as well as made the government deal with the issue and still kept people

In recent discussion of the Letter from Birmingham Jail, a controversial issue has been whether segregation is over or still exists. On the other hand some argue that work still needs to be done. From this perspective, every man should be treated the same across the table regardless of their background or/and color of the skin.

King, Jr. was a strong believer in the fact that every race should be treated equally to one another. As Edward Berry stated in his own Rhetorical Analysis, “Doing Time: King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail””, King dreamed of a time where whites and blacks could be equal (111). Some of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s largest achievements through this movement where the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and obviously the Birmingham Campaign. He gave his all into this movement and on April 4, 1969, at the young age of 39, was assassinated because of his belief in racial equality and gave his life for the Civil Rights Campaign. Like Martin Luther King said in his piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, “I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom far beyond my own hometown (1). And that he did. Which is one of the biggest reasons that he is so widely remembered in the United States of America and

While I was reading Dr. King’s letter his main thesis to me was the fact that he was trying to protest peacefully and make amends with the clergyman. He was taken into jail where he had to explain himself writing this letter so that they will understand why he decided to take such actions. The worst part is that he was trying to make his point across to this man when he was doing nothing wrong just expressing his concerns as any other citizen, but not even a peaceful protest was allowed back then. Dr. King was trying to make society understand that black people are human too who have values and deserve to be treated like every other person.

King believed in peaceful protest and said that peace is the only weapon they have. For example it started with his peaceful boycott on all Montgomery public transportation in 1955-1956 .Which proved to be successful considering blacks made up the majority of the transits systems paying customers. This protest paved the way for the Birmingham Campaign in 1963 which was a strategic plan created by Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. These throughout protest included boycotting businesses that only hired whites or that had segregated facilities. King proved to others around him that this cause they were fighting for was serious and that he would do whatever it took to achieve equality. Dr. King became known for his concern to make people equal and to ensure that everyone is safe and

Martin Luther King Jr. knew of the constant racism and cruelty in Birmingham, Alabama and decided to lead a march in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, treasurer of the SCLC, led a group of fifty marchers toward city hall in Birmingham (Boerst, 12). Martin Luther King Jr. and the protestors wanted to stand up

The aims of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was to end racial discrimination and segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the leaders of this movement and an advocate for non-violent protests and peaceful resistance. Starting with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, MLK lead a series of non-violent protests, inspired by Thoreau’s essay. Blacks marched, boycotted, and protested for their rights and were arrested in the process. In 1963, the March on Birmingham occurred, to encourage integration and desegregation in Birmingham. Children as young as six years old marched and were arrested. It captured the attention of the nation and employed real social and legal change, as the city was required to integrate and hire African Americans downtown. MLK was a part of the Birmingham Campaign and was arrested and imprisoned, writing his famed “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. In this letter, MLK expresses his reasons for the protest and his desire for equality. MLK stated “in no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law … I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law” (King). In this passage, he states his willingness to accept his punishment for breaking the law, a small price to pay for the possible change he could make in

When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the people of Birmingham and asked them to get arrested, he never expected children to be the ones to step up and take part in the act. The children saw people being abused and mistreated just because of their race and knew it was time for a change.They continued their protest until, after more than five thousand arrests, it was declared that black and white people should have equal rights and opportunities.

To start, it is a known fact that segregation was a huge battle for both black and white Americans. Segregation being that white and black people had to eat at separate restaurants go to separate schools, use separate public restrooms and water fountains. Many people believed in separate but equal; in fact it was, “a legal doctrine in the United States constitution that justified and permitted segregation (Reporting Civil

King led nonviolent protests throughout the streets of Birmingham. The protests had to remain peaceful. King felt that they would make more of a difference if they remained harmless to the community. In king’s letter to from Birmingham jail he stated, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis

Birmingham was the United States’ worst city for racial segregation. In Birmingham, the white folk walked on their side of the road and the black folk walked on theirs. The white folk had shops labelled with the words “WHITE ONLY”, which were a barrier to those who had coloured skin. If a white person was ever seen on the black side of the road it was perfectly fine, but if a black person was ever seen on the white side of the road or near a “WHITE ONLY” shop, they would be taken away by the KKK, a group with the belief that the white race is superior, and never seen again until their bruised and bloodied bodies were found by police. All of this was written in a letter sent by a small local Christian group in Alabama. I had heard of many racially segregated cities across the United States but they were nothing compared to Birmingham and as I read, I could hear their plea for help come off the page and fill the living room. All of this was upsetting, but also a motivation for my civil rights movement. At the time that I had received the letter, I was living in Atlanta and working as a co – pastor with my father, at the local Baptist Church. We did not have many white folk attend our services, but many coloured people filled the Church and showed their compassion. Our church was a place where both white and black people could cohort, in an effort to unify the two races and break the barriers of racial segregation in Atlanta. While working as a co – pastor, I continued my civil