King: “Letter fromBirmingham Jail”

Abstract

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written on April 16, 963, by Martin Luther King, Jr. in response to criticism by eight white Alabama clergymen about his passive, nonviolent, resistance method of protesting the injustices experienced by African Americans in Alabama. In this letter, King defended the strategy, timeliness, and propriety of the civil rights movement. He advocated as current president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, concerned citizen, fellow clergyman, black man, politician, and orator. He appealed to the patriotic, religious, moral, and legal sentiments of his intended audience. King painstakingly explained his beliefs, logically marshaled his arguments, and deliberately defended his strategy, while expressing his disappointment with the white church's distance from the movement. This entry provides an overview of the letter, while focusing on King's assessment of various criminal justice agencies.