Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

Summary of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In 1963, eight Alabama clergymen that wrote a letter deeming Martin Luther King Jr.’s actions, “unwise and untimely” and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, is Kings response to the Clergymen. King opens by explaining the intent of his letter; answering questions and concerns expressed by the clergymen. King claims that now was the time for change and it needed to be done without violence because as he states, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and that he hopes to open the door to negotiation (800). King speaks of his presidential role with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference a widely spread organization in the South. King attempts to reach an understanding with the clergymen by connecting through their shared faith. King tells of how he and others that also want change had workshops on nonviolence and that they are always asking themselves, “‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliating’ ‘Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?’”. King shines light on the clergymen’s question of why he chose nonviolent actions, such as direct action, sit-ins, …show more content…
For King, the word “Wait!” has mostly meant never and as he quotes William Gladstone, “‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’” and King gives a personal example in why the change is so important especially when dealing the youth (803). King goes into a retelling about his daughter and of situations such as a public amusement park being advertised was closed to colored children, and his daughter asks, “‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean’” King uses this to transition to the laws separating the whites and colored and how the laws are unjust (803). He explains an unjust law as one that a majority group makes the minority obey but does not make binding for themselves

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Letters From Birmingham Jail Summary