Appeals in King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”

 

Racial justice and equality are two main goals that Martin Luther King Jr. wants to achieve using the “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” He focuses on the inefficiency of passive methods of facing racial segregation and social injustice based on the discrimination of the African American minority. He uses the three appeals to persuade his audience in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” to convey the idea that passive resistance does not give satisfactory results to his target audience. Using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos allows Martin L. King to appeal to all critical points that make the speech credible to the audience. It is an effective way to address human logic, appeal to authority, and include emotional elements that make the narration more vivid. Using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” allows Martin L. King to persuade the readers of the need to fight for equality and change the existing situation of racial injustice in the United States using more active methods.


Pathos is the first rhetorical device that King uses in his letter. The appeal to emotions allows the author to make the speech persuasive and engaging for the audience. It is possible to assume that the appeal to Ethos triggers the audience because the author chooses those examples that most individuals can apply to their lives. Therefore, they can quickly draw parallels between their personal experience and what King discusses in the letter about inequality and injustice.

King starts the letter with an appeal to the readers’ emotions because the entire situation is striking, and most readers feel it is an extraordinary case. The author writes: “Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (King 1). This statement emphasizes the serious social problem that divides American society and does not allow it to develop as a genuinely democratic community. King parallels injustice in the Birmingham jail and injustice in American society because the penitentiary system is the most vivid representation of justice. King is accused of active participation in the revolt even though he did not harm anyone significantly. This situation shows that an African American cannot demonstrate dissatisfaction with the existing racial discrimination and inequality according to the legal views. King finds this situation unacceptable in a society that defines itself as equal and just because it illustrates deep segregation and racism. When the readers see these parallels in the text and imagine the situation in general, they feel worried about the problems King writes about.

Another example of appealing to Pathos is emphasizing the unity of all African American people in the text. King writes: “We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights” (King 2). These lines show that all African Americans are connected with the common goal of living in society as equals, without feeling that they are the minority and the vulnerable population with no opportunity to speak about their needs and rights. This appeal to Pathos unites all people of color who read the letter from the Birmingham jail and emphasize that they are not alone in this fight for justice and equality.

In addition, King appeals to all African Americans as Christian people, which emphasizes another unity that is essential in understanding the essence of this protest and the impact of these words. It is vital to remember that the Biblical doctrine supposes that all people are created in the image of God, and therefore all Christians are initially equal in his eyes (Whitaker 131-132). For instance, King writes: “If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws” (King 3). The existing situation in the United States infringes on the basic principles of the Christian faith, which is unacceptable. This appeal to the emotions of Christian Americans who are not black is another effective way to make the speech more persuasive for a more significant number of individuals from the rhetorical point of view.