Letter From Birmingham Jail – Flashcards
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For whom did Martin Luther King Jr. craft his letter titled Letter from Birmingham Jail?
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Eight clergymen
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What persuasive elements does Martin Luther King Jr. use in his letter?
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Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
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Why did Martin Luther King Jr. take the time to write a letter to the clergymen?
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He felt they were men of genuine good will.
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How does Martin Luther King Jr. address their concern that he is an outsider and does not belong in Birmingham?
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1. He was invited there 2. He is a U.S. citizen and no U.S. citizen is an outsider anywhere within the U.S. 3. His organization has ties in Birmingham 4. The injustices that happen in Birmingham effect other places.
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What are the four basic steps to a direct action non-violent campaign?
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1. collection of facts 2. negotiation 3. self-purification 4. direct action
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What kind of peace does Martin Luther King Jr. say too many people are striving for?
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A superficial peace that ignores the problem and only deals with the symptoms
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What evidence did Martin Luther King Jr. give to show that they did collect facts?
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Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation.
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What happened when the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights negotiated with the white merchants?
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The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights ended their demonstrations, like they agreed, but the merchants did not take down their humiliating signs (or took them down but put them right back up), breaking their end of the agreement.
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What question was continually asked in the self-purification process?
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"Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?"
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When was the protest originally scheduled and why?
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The Easter season because it was the second most busy shopping season.
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Why did Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference postpone the demonstrations?
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They mayoral election was upon them and they did not want the demonstrations to take cloud the issues.
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What is the purpose of direct action?
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To create such a crisis that the merchants would be forced to negotiate in good faith.
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What historical fact did Martin Luther King Jr. quote when discussing an oppressed people trying to get their rights?
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That privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
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What has "wait" meant when used to discuss civil rights?
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Never
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What brought Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter to tears?
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She could not go to the amusement park because it was for whites only.
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What question did Martin Luther King Jr.'s son ask him?
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Why do white people treat colored people so mean?
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What would happen when Martin Luther King Jr. would take his family on a cross country trip?
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They would have to sleep in their car because no motel would accept them.
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What are the two types of laws?
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Just and Unjust.
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What is the difference between the two types of laws?
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A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.
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True or False: A law may appear to be just, but is applied in an unjust manner.
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True
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Which laws does Martin Luther King Jr. advocate obeying and which laws does he advocate disobeying?
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Obey the just laws. Disobey the unjust laws.
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If you are to intentionally break an unjust law, what is the requirement?
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That you do so with a willingness to accept the penalties and with the intent on changing things for the better.
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What example does Martin Luther King Jr. give that supports the argument that not all laws are moral?
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Adolf Hitler
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What example does Martin Luther King Jr. give that supports the argument that sometimes people who break laws are being moral?
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The Hungarian Freedom Fighters
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What does Martin Luther King Jr. say may be the negro's greatest stumbling block toward achieving freedom?
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The white moderate that says "I agree with what you are doing, but not how you are going about doing it."
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What examples does Martin Luther King Jr. give to combat the clergymen's criticism that he his to blame for the violent reactions to the protests?
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condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion
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What will happen to people who want to end segregation but do not have a nonviolent way of doing so?
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They will turn to the black-nationalist ideologies and turn violent.
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How does Martin Luther King Jr. feel about the white churches' stance on civil rights?
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He is frustrated because they are watching (and sometimes supporting the oppressors) and doing little to help the movement.
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How did Martin Luther King Jr.'s view of being called an extremist evolve?
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At first he was unhappy about it, then he thought about other men called extremists (Jesus, prophet Amos, Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson) and welcomed the name.
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Describe the thermometer and thermostat metaphor.
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The early church was proactive and helped change the world for the better, like the way a thermostat changes the temperature of a room. The current church is sitting by and witnessing what is happening and does nothing to change it, like the way a thermometer acknowledges the temperature but does nothing to make the room warmer or colder.
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What statement does Martin Luther King Jr. adamantly disagree with?
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The clergymen commending the police for their restraint - he has witnessed them abusing elderly men and women as well as children and he has seen them refuse to give the jailed demonstrators food because they wanted to say a prayer together.
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How does Martin Luther King Jr. hope to see the eight clergymen in the future?
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As fellow clergymen and not as a civil rights leader.
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What technique does Martin Luther King Jr. use to establish his ethos?
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He uses the words and actions of people the clergymen would have studied and admired and compares them to what he is doing.
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Be able to identify whether a sentence uses ethos, pathos, or logos.
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[passages from the letter]
