Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote this letter to address the biggest issue of that time, in Birmingham and the United States at the time. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” addresses the great injustices that were happening to the Black community in Birmingham that time. In order to rationalize his desire for racial justice and equality, Martin Luther King, Jr. uses ethical appeals as well as logical appeals. The king’s arguments were rogerian, his words express a “you win- I win too” situation. The thesis, of the letter states that although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
is not from Birmingham, he should be there because of the many injustices whites do toward Blacks. By helping the people of Birmingham he helps people from everywhere because “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. King describes all the dreadful things that the whites had done to the Negroes. King was not a violent person that is why his style of writing is so simple and polite. It depicts from his statement, like King says that “It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew even so, I am sure that, if I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers”.
King points out the great dictator Adolf Hitler and the evil things he would do to the Jews of Germany. This letter did a good job of convincing the opposing side that there are many other ways to deal with the problems of racial injustice. The letter gives better reasons for the Negroes desire of having equal rights. One way that King supports his statements is by using appeals to emotion. Parents with children or even an ordinary sensitive person can feel the pain that was in his statements for the difficulties of Negroes that they went through every day.
King does an emotional appeal to the high officials of religious affairs and to everyone living in that era. He includes some arguments supported by biblical evidences. “In the beginning God created the earth. ” Man came a little bit later, quickly followed by woman. Unfortunately God forgot to create all men equal; it was up to our founding fathers to do that. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”. This statement shows the emotional appeal that he did to people. King takes a rational approach to convince his readers of his opinions.
He starts his letter by identifying reasons that most of the people criticize him for, and then shows the erroneous belief in their accusation. King’s speech and letter from the Birmingham jail are very much similar because they have an emotional appeal to the people who are addressed. His ideas and art of supporting them is very much appreciated even today. Most of the arguments which he delivers are supported by bible. Kings words were very effective, people at that time used to gather in thousands to hear him or to read his writings. It’s his impact on the history that after so many decades king is still alive in the hearts of people.
People like king live for an aim, they have something to achieve for their fellow people. These people live to facilitate others and also die for the purpose. It was half a century ago when Malcolm X delivered his speech but it is remembered today by each and every American who has a rational approach. Not many of the speeches get so much honor and prestige in history as the speech by Malcolm X has got. The “Ballot or Bullet” speech by Malcolm X, even today is renowned as one of the best speeches ever given. He gave it more than 40 years ago, in the April of 1964. Malcolm X thrilled America with his momentous “Ballot or Bullet” speech.
It was dramatically delivered and had an emotional as well as logical appeal in it. His soaring expression demanding racial justice and an integrated society became a hymn for the black community. His words proved to be a benchmark for understanding the social and political turmoil of the time. His speech gave the nation words to express what was happening wrong. The message in the speech was that all the people are created equal and, although not the case in America at the time, Malcolm X felt it must be the case for the future. His arguments were passionately and powerfully conveyed.
No doubt the speech that Malcolm X delivered was well researched. The first part depicts the justification of why exactly is he giving a speech like that, he told everyone that he is a Muslim but the common cause that they were together there was the discrimination of black people in America. He started the speech with the grave politeness which attracted people‘s attention. His first remarks from the start of the speech were: “Mr. Moderator, Brother Lomax, brothers and sisters, friends and enemies: I just can’t believe everyone in here is a friend, and I don’t want to leave anybody out”.
These words clearly show the love that he had for the people over there who were discriminated like him. He exposes the picture of a terrible America and how they were victimized by the whites. The theme of the speech was focusing on the inequality between white and black people. He asked for a racial harmony between all the people of America. His speech possesses the dream of a better, fairer future of racial harmony and integration. The address given by Malcolm has a very strong message for white people and hints at revolution, his Words are mostly about peace, offering a vision everyone could buy into.
He made it clear that he was not against the whites of America by saying that: “Now in speaking like this, it doesn’t mean that we’re anti-white, but it does mean we’re anti-exploitation, we’re anti-degradation, and we’re anti-oppression”. Through these words Malcolm tries to convey a message that the movement he was trying for was not against the whites but it was for the rights of black people who have been racially discriminated and oppressed in every aspect of life in America. His politeness in speech is the best part which impresses the audience.
In the middle of the speech he gets a little bit emotional when he points out the fact that in 1964 election those whites will come again to the black community and through promises and lies they will again force blacks to vote for them and again they will be gone back until the next elections. There is a time when a person feels helpless and the time Malcolm had made the speech was the time of total disappointment and helplessness for blacks. Malcolm didn’t protest in a bad way but it was due to the fact that he was looking at the government which was not doing anything for them.
He was a man of vision and he had a close look at all the things happening there. He expresses his disappointment by saying that: “Those Honkies that just got off the boat, they’re already Americans; Polacks are already Americans; the Italian refugees are already Americans. Everything that came out of Europe, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. And as long as you and I have been over here, we aren’t Americans yet’. These arguments are not as harsh as the psychological effects that black were facing at that time.
It is a kind of protest that Malcolm is using to open up the eyes of his black community and as well as higher authorities. His point is very valid that every one who got in America is not considered as American but not the blacks who are the natives of America. “I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner”. He was not ready to compromise on what was happening in the country but he chose to protest in a better way which was not a violent one but a way that was adapted by Martin Luther king Jr. Conclusion:
Every one has to accept the true spirit that Malcolm and kings had in their arguments. Their words are not for them but for their community, in fact these words are for all the people who think they are discriminated and oppressed in any society. Their arguments are much welfare oriented not self-oriented. King and Malcolm were self-less persons, they opted for things which were in favor of society not for them. They wanted America to be a place where no “king” and “Malcolm” was imprisoned again. Today’s America somewhat matches King and Malcolm’s ideology of America.