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Heidi Rosas
STACC English 1A
#32475
February 17, 2015
Summary of Letter from Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail to address his
fellow clergymen on how they have criticize the actions he has taken in Birmingham. First he
addresses how he has been called an outsider and makes it clear that he was invited by the
affiliate in Birmingham to be involved in nonviolent direct action programs. Then he provides us
with the argument of why he is in Birmingham, for the reason that there is injustice. He believes
that he cannot just sit down without justice in parts of the world, he feels the need to work for
justice.
The way he work for justice is by organizing nonviolent actions and for these actions
there are steps they need to take. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference tried to
negotiate with the whites but they dont put in the effort to come up with an agreement. The
whites then ended up promising many things to the blacks. When the blacks saw that the
promises had been broken they had no choice but to protest through direct action. Although
they had to hold back the protest because of the mayoral elections they also thought that taking
actions would get them in jail. After the elections they felt that their direct action could no longer
be held back they began to protest.
Although Dr. King understands that the clergymen benefit from negotiation over
protesting, he tells them that negotiations cannot dont happen unless they protest. This leads to
causing crisis and tension that does not let the parties negotiate. He gives the example of

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Socrates by saying that when tension is build they might change things in this case end
segregation. They took action because they have not gained not one single right and they are
tired of waiting for their rights to be gained. He also mentions how the clergymen had criticize
that the SCLC action in untimely.
Then he argues how they have waited long enough for rights that any person living in
America should have. He insist how they have waited 340 years for justice they shouldve had,
and goes into talking how people have suffered abuse over time and in his present time. He then
goes into his personal experiences like why his daughter cannot attend an amusement park. He
wants us to know how exhausting is it that people have to wait for their rights and keep getting
abused. He also hopes that the clergymen will understand why his people and he have been so
impatient.
However, he then goes to talk about the just and unjust laws and how they are
distinguish. He insists that people have the right and reasonability to break unjust laws because
unjust laws are disrespect human personality. When he speaks about these unjust laws he is
mostly talking about segregation because it is a law that only applies to certain type of race. Dr.
King lets us know that this is a law worth to break because prohibits black to participate in
democracy. He also provides us with how some just laws can be turned in unjust laws because
they are being misused. He understands that disobeying the law can lead to anarchy so he
accepts the penalty.
He also argues how many whites have disappointed him because they cannot distinguish
the nonviolent action and violence of the oppressors. He also shocked how the clergymen blamed
the black victims for the violence of segregation. The moderates believe that time will get better
if the blacks have patience but Dr. King believes change happens when they take action. His

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second disappointment is with the white church because they have oppose his cause and
remained silent, therefore being injustice. He has also found hope in some whites that have
joined the mission.
Before he ended his letter he addresses the clergymens commendation of the
Birmingham police, who say they went nonviolent when confronting the protestors. He is upset
that the clergymen did not see the brave black people who fought injustice nonviolently. He
hopes that his fellow clergymen will eventually realize what was actually happening. He finally
apologizes for the length of the letter and hopes they understand why he had to write such a
lengthy letter.