Marcus Jones
AP English
Mr. Oakes
10/3/10
Marcus 1
The Upside of Extremism
In 1963, at the height of racial segregation in the southern United States, Martin Luther King Jr.
was arrested for a non-violent protest in Birmingham, Alabama. King’s arrest caused many of his
religious peers to examine his methods. Eight of his fellow clergymen responded to his actions in a letter
that questioned why he found it necessary to protest segregation. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail,
Martin Luther King Jr. addresses his fellow clergymen on the necessity of civil disobedience in
overcoming segregation. His primary rhetorical strategies are appeals to religion and patriotism, and
while the biblical allusions may at first appear to be his primary method, patriotism takes precedence.
Since King is writing to his fellow clergymen, the letter contains several religious allusions.
However, King’s tone throughout the letter shows he is mainly concerned about the lack of activism
against segregation throughout the country. His peers viewed him as an extremist, a label King
embraced by stating “Was not Jesus an extremist for love…Was not Amos an extremist for justice… Was
not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel?”(King 6). King is alluding to historically influential
Christian leaders and extremists in order to convey his view of acceptable extremism to his Baptist
colleagues. King goes on to mention the famed situation at Calvary’s hill, where three extremist men
were crucified, writing “Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The
other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his
environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists” (King
7). Although King is alluding to another religious event, h emphasizes patriotism by stating that the
South is in need of more patriots to champion civil rights. King is using examples from a subject his initial
readers know very well and interpreting them into persuasive arguments for his peers to take more
direct action.
Marcus Jones
AP English
Mr. Oakes
10/3/10
Marcus 2
King shows he is not emphasizing religious action when he says “Perhaps I must turn my faith to
the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world”
(King 8). The “church within the church” specifically references King’s own self morals. King has chosen
to make patriotism his emphasis because segregation is an issue that can only be solved through
political action. According to King “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of
the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action” (King 1)
and since Birmingham had failed the first 3 basic steps, King found it necessary to incite protest with the
hope that other churches followed his lead towards a more racially tolerant south. King used the letter
as a way of recruitment. King mentions that being a good Christian meant fighting the unjust laws in
Birmingham, but his letter shows precedence in his arguments for why civil disobedience is needed. King
appeals to a broader audience, beyond just Christians by writing “when you are harried by day and
haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite
knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are
forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’--then you will understand why we find it difficult
to wait” (King 3). In his letter, King purposely includes examples and quotes on why direct action against
segregation is important to the clergymen so that the letter would transcend Christians and convince all
people reading the letter to join his cause. This is also demonstrated when King references other
religions like Judaism. When King mentions “It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany.
Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish
brothers” (King 4). The letter appeals to Jews by referring to them as his “brothers” and the readers
connect to the text as if King is speaking directly to them.
Marcus Jones
AP English
Mr. Oakes
10/3/10
Marcus 3
King’s letter is not a religious document; it is a motivational speech on why patriotism is an
important part of ending discrimination. Patriotism is love and defense for one’s country, including the
people in it. Patriotism is a positive version of extremism that King uses in argument of ending
segregation; if one does not support the country’s population as a whole, they do not fully support their
country as patriots. Quotes like “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St, Augustine that
‘an unjust law is no law at all’,” (King 3) show King’s mastery of religious allusions that primarily appeal
to his immediate audience, or the eight pastors who wrote him the letter, to convert his fellow
clergymen into patriots. King does not intend to give pastors a sermon, but instead shows why being an
extremist for ending discrimination is better than waiting for the fall of racial segregation. As King says "
’All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that
you are in too great a religious hurry’…Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from
the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all
ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively” (King 5). In this
case, King’s time is being used constructively because his constant protest against segregation leads to
civil rights for blacks in his not-so-distant future.