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Response to “Letter from Birmingham Jail If you were to wake up in jail tomorrow would you consider it to be your rock bottom? Do whatever it takes not to go back? Most people would say yes, but in the early morning hours of April 16th, 1963 in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was waking up in solitary confinement. But his stay was far from a waste of time or a rock bottom. He used his time to write a letter—a letter that was and still is one of the most logical and morally sound arguments against segregation. It was his legendary “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” I feel like anyone who was educated enough to know right from wrong could see exactly what King was relaying in the “Letter.” King was extremely smart. He used his mind and words, not violence, to get the right kind of attention, from the right people, at just the right time to have the greatest impact and to be the most effective in the road to desegregation. In the most segregated city in America, that road was one of the roughest ones to pave. But his faith in God was driving on that highway, keeping him alert and buckled up. No matter what, he did not swerve off that road, he stayed the course. The fact that he could keep hope and faith alive in thousands of colored citizens who were being dehumanized and brutalized for no other reason than the color of their skin was inspiring to say the least. The influence that King had over the majority was not just because he was educated, or a man of God, but he also displayed the six moral foundations that we trust and respect. One of the moral foundations that King stands on throughout the “Letter” is fairness. He believed that no matter what a person’s color of skin was or how different they were from him, they deserved to be treated fairly and with respect. King illustrates this when he states that the clergymen are “men of genuine good will and that [their] criticisms are sincerely set forth.” (pg. 1 par.1) King is being unbiased and wants them to know that he his giving them the benefit of the doubt. And because he was from Atlanta, he was an outsider, and they were unfamiliar with him in Birmingham. So because of this King in the next part of the “Letter” would go on to demonstrate an excellent example of ethos and at the same time show authority when he pointed out his credentials along with his organizational ties.(pg.1 par.2) King also displays both care and loyalty in doing so by appealing to the reader by establishing that he is there because he was asked to come there. Showing loyalty, by not breaking the promise he made by doing just that. He shows simultaneously that he cares and is not there just for himself. Exhibiting three of the six moral foundations (authority, care, and loyalty) just in the second paragraph of the “Letter” alone. But I believe that King stood most firm on the foundation of liberty. In the “Letter” he has so many examples of this moral foundation. For instance, one of the more powerful quotes in the “Letter” is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (pg.1 par.4) It was for that reason that he was there in Birmingham and standing up in the fight against the injustice of colored people. With the “were- -all- in-this-together-now” attitude, King in that statement duly displays liberty and loyalty when he goes on and then states that “Whatever affects one directly, affects us all indirectly.” (pg.1 par.4). I believe King knew that seen the connection between loyalty and trust gained from it. King was possibly starting the “Letter” stating these facts to make sure to lay the foundation to build much needed trust. How do you build trust when tensions are high, and emotions are out of control? This is where MLK used logic to calm high tensions. He was addressing one of the most racially divided cities in America and had to go about it in a way that would not cause any anarchy. Utilizing logos to do this King would ask while the situation was that he was in jail for breaking the law “How can you advocate breaking one law and not the other?” (pg.5 par.14) King went on to explain about how he would agree with St. Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.” He analyzes the difference between a just and an unjust law and how a just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. While on the other hand an unjust law is out of harmony with the moral law. I think he demonstrates this point with logic extremely well when he refers to how we should not forget about how everything Adolf Hitler did was “legal”, and everything that the Hungarian freedom fighters did was “illegal” He appeals to our sense of right and wrong. We all learned in our history books in grade school that what Hitler did and represented was immoral and evil on so many levels that was smart I feel that he incorporated it in the “Letter”, thus using both logos and pathos in that analogy. Yet another instance where King used his logical appeal was shady the voting process was in Alabama. Segregation laws were being enforced but who was electing the officials that were in office? There were some counties where not one colored citizen showed up to vote—even though they constituted much of the population in those counties. I think about how It must have been devastating to be in that situation where you were so powerless. But powerless was on thing Dr. Martin Luther King was not. How may you ask was a black man holding any power in the mist of a volatile civil rights movement? He had a secret weapon that he used to fight the resistance—and that was the use of critical thinking. He was able to demonstrate his critical thinking in the “Letter” a lot of different ways. One of the first traits I recognize that reoccurs over and over is intellectual autonomy. As he was able to think for himself. He took a stand and even though he was completely alone in a six by eight feet concrete box and isolated from the rest of the world his voice was heard. And it was louder than ever. People listened. And so, in that way I believe that he used pathos and Kairos in this aspect. Furthermore, he appeals of him not striking back and still having the voice of reason despite what was happening to him brings out a type of emotional reaction to display pathos and while simultaneously showing a prime example of Kairos. There are a lot of examples of his emotional appeal and examples of how he used pathos in the “Letter”. For instance, when he describes how he when asked by his six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to Funtown, and describes the tears in her eyes when she’s told that it is closed to colored children. Or talks about having to concoct an answer for a five-year-old who is asking “Daddy why do white people treat colored people so mean?” That would pull on anyone’s heartstrings. But yet the biggest display of pathos was definitely how he states, “We have waited 340 years for our constitutional God given rights.” (pg.4 par.13) He makes that statement to start the thirteenth paragraph t believe to make you question what that actually is; then he goes into great details about all the situations in the body of that paragraph and by the time you get to the end of it, you are connecting emotionally on a subconscious level. I believe that he had his pathos or emotional appeal down to a science and was extremely gifted with his words to get through to the majority. The gift of words and how he used them was MLK’s strong point. He had a powerful way writing that grabbed all of those who read his material. I feel his words are powerful and impactful throughout the “Letter” and as I earlier stated in this essay; King was extremely smart. He used his mind and words, not violence, to get the right kind of attention, from the right people, at just the right time to have the greatest impact and to be the most effective in the road to desegregation. So in conclusion, What did I learn from King’s “Letter?” I learned that there are so many ways to go about using critical thinking skills and how to use ethos, logos, pathos, and Kairos. And now 60 years later is that rough road to segregation wall that was demolished in the 1960’s threatening to rear its ugly head? for our country’s sake I hope not. with all the chaos in racial tensions in todays times it would be amazing if everyone could see life through the eyes of MLK, but we do have his voice. And it will be eternal.