Long Essay 1 Throughout the entirety of this essay, King pleads with the community and society as a whole to stand back and look at the situation he finds himself in. A society that is crutched by the injustice of segregation. Weakened by the laws that are established in places such as Birmingham. Beaten down by the commonality of police brutality to the African American man and women. A society that is far from the ideals of “all men are created equal”“. King writes this essay to persuade individuals to change their thinking, or change their actions.
He lays out what he thinks of society, and where it should go. He identifies misconceptions people have and how actions need to be taken. Martin Luther King Jr. Realizes heavily on public reason in hopes that they will understand his point of view and polarize their thinking in his direction. Only then, can a society be built on true justice and morality. Kings starts with an idea that there are four basic steps to a nonviolent campaign. “Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self purification, and direct action (King).
He does a great job in this essay pointing out the problems and determining that injustice very much does exist. King states, while in a jail cell, that the very reason he is in Birmingham is because there is a great amount of injustice, and segregation is at its worst here. He entertains his frustration with being told to wait, that surely justice will come in time. He exclaims that it is easy for one who receives no injustice to sit back and be patient. King really grabs the intended audience’s attention when he list off all of the injustices that he himself has on a daily basis.
Examples like seeing your mother and father lynched, your brothers drowned, extreme police brutality toward the negro community. Living in poverty in an affluent society, living in fear, being excluded from places and parks, feeling inferior and unwanted. Having to look your children in the eye and explain why they are treated differently than the white community. One can reason with this sense of pain, whether they feel it in their lives or not. One can understand the frustration an African American would have when told to “wait. King reasons with one that either is content with waiting or advocates waiting.
He claims there there is a big misconception of time that people hold. He says that “time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively (King). He claims that something must be done urgently, or nothing will be done at all. King states that wait has almost always meant never. Now this passage of the specific injustice that king has experienced in his own life is probably no surprise to the southern African Americans that read this essay. They may have at the time, accepted it as part of everyday life.
However, for the audience that doesn’t experience these injustices, whether that is African Americans in Northern states where segregation isn’t quite as bad, or whether it is the common white man or women who usually turns the other cheek to injustices or even promotes such behavior. Even if one was brought up to be racist or grew up in the south where segregation was simply part of the culture. Dr. King writes with such passion and fluency that he can rely on the public reason of the community to see his side and to possibly take a stand against the injustice.
The next basic step in King’s idea of a nonviolent campaign is negotiation. However, he sees this as a failing system of the society he is placed in. He agrees that negotiation is a great way to solve issues but points out that a society that is already prejudiced and racist toward African Americans are very slow to solve the issues, and unfair in their ideas of justice. So other actions besides negotiation must be taken. King claims that that in order for real notice of the injustice to take place he must over dramatize it. Make sure the community sees the issue so it can no longer be ignored.
King reasons that the best way to do this is to act in civil disobedience. Wittingly though, King makes sure that the readers understands that he is in favor of law. He reasons that some laws are meant to be followed, and some are meant to be broken. He reasons that whether a law is meant to be followed or broken is determined by whether or not the law in just, or unjust. What makes a law just? “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of god (King). ” Basically King is saying a just law is one that everyone can agree on to be morally right.
Justice Rawls states justice as “The sense of justice is continuous with the love of mankind. ” However, the more complicated question that Dr. King dissects is : What makes a law unjust. King suggests that an unjust law does not match up with morality. If a law degrades human personality it is unjust, giving the segregated a false sense of inferiority. (King). He also suggests that if the minority of a given law had no say in the democratic process of making this law, it is in no way just. King does a great job in explaining, and giving examples of what makes a law just and what makes a law unjust.
The intended audience of this essay can see these examples and reason with King’s thinking and probably agree on what a just law looks like versus what an unjust law looks like. Now, at this point the opposition of Kings view may say, “well, the law is the law. ” Yes, that is true. But as Dr. King points out. It was illegal to hold and protect Jews from being put into concentration camps during Nazi Germany’s reign. Regardless of who the reader of this essay is, or what background he comes from, it is obvious to see that what happened in Nazi Germany was wrong.
And just because it was “illegal” to hold jews for protection, doesn’t make it wrong. I think that the intended audience could agree that there is a separation between right and wrong, and illegal and legal. Sometimes they match up great, but in other cases they conflict each other very much. Dr. King persuades the reader to consider that not only is this segregation in the south unjust, and unlawful, but that actions such as civil disobedience needs to be taken in order to make changes and bring attention to the issue.
King suggests that in this case, performing civil disobedience is actually the right thing to do. It may not look like so now, but history shows that sometimes the law needs to be broken in order to make proper changes towards equality. This essay serves purpose for different reasons. The Essay is intended for multiple different audiences with different perspectives. Towards the white people living in the area in or around Birmingham, this essay serves as an intelligent, well thought of, fluent interpretation of an African American man’s perspective in the south.
I think that King uses the fundamentals of public reason to persuade and convince the white man to see where he is coming from. Perhaps to imagine living a day in a Black man’s shoes. After King has caught the attention of the white man, he can reason with the unjust laws that are put in society, he can see that the Southern African Americans really are treated unfairly, and for what? The White man can then see that something needs to be done, laws need to be change, and this Civil rights movement needs to be supported, for that is the only way to receive equality.
Dr. King relies on public reason to gain support for what he is trying to accomplish. On the other hand, I think this letter serves a very different purpose. A purpose that is focused more towards the African American man and women in the south. Simultaneously, while King is relying on public reason to connect with the white man, and people who come from very different situations and backgrounds, he is polarizing individuals who understand the prejudices as well as he does. By reiterating all of the injustices that the southern African American’s experience on a daily basis, he is fueling the fire to really take action.
King does a really great job throughout the letter of expressing his frustration with society and the injustices that are tagged along with it. He provides the audience with plenty of examples of everyday struggles that shouldn’t be accepted. He pleads with individuals who fall victim to this broken system to stand up, and take action now. When laying out the steps necessary for a nonviolent campaign the third he points out is self purification. King suggests that in order for change to happen campaigners should be willing to spend time in jail for civil disobedience.
They need to be willing to take police brutality without retaliation. After these things are done the injustices that the African American are facing will be so apparent they cannot be ignored. King is determined to polarize the readers views towards his own. He believes that he has the necessary strategy to make a change. King reaches out to the public in this letter using the ideas of both public reason and polarization. In the end, he was very successful in doing so. Although King was to later be assassinated he reached the lives of million of people.
His nonviolent campaign against segregation changed the nation in the long run. He reached out to those of different backgrounds using public reason. And influenced people to polarize their view toward his in order for actions to be taken. King used the very fundamentals of justice to show individuals of all walks of life that the current society he was in was very unjust. He explained that the injustices of segregation cannot be ignored and that segregation is a flaw in people’s way of thinking.
Dr. King wrote this letter in an effort to change the very fabric of society in the 1960’s. Delivering this message in a intelligent, convincing manner that could reach out and help the lives of people around the world. He was willing to pay the consequences of acting in, and promoting civil disobedience. He was successful in using public reason and the good in people’s heart to see what is right and wrong. He was successful in polarizing people’s view to what he believed was justice.
