Letter From a Birmingham Jail - Essay Example

Argumentative Essay: Letter From a Birmingham Jail In the Letter From a Birmingham Jail written by Martin Luther King, Jr. while incarcerated in 1963, as a civil rights advocate, he was promulgating a supposed nonviolent direct action to fight injustices sustained by the African Americans during his time. The author actually directed the letter to the members of the clergy and since it was deemed published in totality, the target audience for this particular discourse is the white moderate population, who were deemed indifferent.

The white moderate segment of society was noted to have preferred the status quo or retaining order and keeping their stance as observers rather than stir the social condition to attain justice for the blacks. One is firmly convinced that his nonviolent strategies should therefore be directed to the white moderate segment of society through the creation of tension and intervention that would force this segment to move and openly profess that his advocacies are better than just being mere spectators and preserving order.

The letter should have been directly addressed to the white moderate segment of the population to entice them to change their indifferent stance and enjoin them to support the elimination of prejudice and discrimination that has long been directed to the African Americans. The letter was addressed to fellow clergymen and was written in response to a supposed remark that classified Martin Luther King’s (MLK) activities as allegedly untimely and unwise. Through rhetorical elements that effectively integrated logos, pathos and ethos, MLK achieved his goal of convincing the clergymen that his nonviolent actions were actually appropriate in time and are validly just.

However, directing the letter to the clergymen leaves them little to promote the ideals being advocated by MLK due to their movements and behaviors likewise being restricted by the theological vows and doctrines they are expected to abide. As such, clergymen could not be expected to directly be involved in MLK’s movement towards emancipation from slavery to freedom, even through the proposed nonviolent direct actions. The letter, is written directly to the white moderate community through publication in the newspaper would create a widespread stir and tension that could have enjoined more African Americans to join nonviolent direct action through sit ins in public areas where movements and daily activities of white moderate citizens would be distracted: in public offices or in major roads.

As noted from MLK’s letter, “I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate…who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season”” (par. 19). At this point, MLK has identified the appropriate target audience that must be moved and enjoined towards their cause.

In addition, creation of tension, still a form of nonviolent direct action, deemed a strongest category for interrupting ongoing activities of the supposed opponents would be the solution to stir this group into movement. It would first not only call their attention but make them understand that taking action to allow African Americans in public areas just as much as the whites could access and to avail of the same equal rights as they could is the only solution to enable African Americans to stop disrupting their daily activities.

The movement would enable these moderate whites to realize that adhering to the proposals is the most viable course of action to retain order and at the same time justice for all. By initially disrupting the status quo and stirring the sense of order that was previously enjoyed by the white moderates, MLK would have been able to achieve what he originally intended. Finally, the white moderate segments of the American society are wider in scope that the clergymen, who were the initial recipients of the letter.

These clergymen’s action (or inaction) regarding this matter was actually already expected by MLK to be conservative and traditional. This group could not be enjoined to the cause of stirring the status quo. As MLK admitted, “the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are” (par. 32). Therefore, the clergymen, though the addressee in MLK’s letter, was not the effective target audience to promote his advocacies for drastic and imminent change.

Directing an open letter to the white moderate segment of society would definitely create the needed tension that would stir them into movement and recognize the validity of supporting their cause towards freedom from discrimination.