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In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” which he appropriately
wrote inside a Birmingham jail, he confronted the assertions from southern white pastors that he
should tone down his activism. This open letter to his reluctant white peers put forth arguments
in support of non-violent tension in order to push society in the direction of progressivism.
The first and one of the most interesting points he made in the document was to disprove
the idea that he was an “outsider coming in.” He explained that as the president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference he had organizational ties all across the southern states, and
that one of these affiliate organizations invited him to the area to help in a nonviolent display. Dr.
King further stated that he had a duty to go to Birmingham. He cited the story of Apostle Paul
who left his village to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, drawing a direct parallel to King leaving
his hometown to spread the gospel of freedom. This line of thought is supported by Dr. King
stating that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He stated that he couldn’t ignore
Birmingham even if he wanted to, because everywhere is connected. According to King, every
location in the United States of America is tied together, so no American can be considered an
“outside agitator” when they step forth to combat injustice in any part of the United States. I find
this particular argument interesting, because in the 2020’s white moderates would be far less
likely to use an “outside agitator” type of argument in our much more interconnected society.
Having to argue why he should be allowed to protest in that specific part of the U.S. feels like a
unique feature of the time.
One the other hand, one of the most important points that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
made is that the moderate white population will always get upset at resistance by black activists,
despite them claiming that they would be okay with black activism if it was “done at the right
time” or if the black population tried to negotiate first. Dr. King explained how the black leaders
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of the area did in fact participate in negotiations, and that the merchants of the area promised to
open up their businesses to customers of color as long as the leaders stopped further displays of
disobedience. The merchants however failed to keep up the promise to let black individuals into
their stores. He then described how the black leaders of the area waited months to retaliate,
waiting for the election to be completed among other concerns. Even though this coalition of
black activists did exactly what the white moderates demanded of them, the white moderates still
decried the actions of the black community as untimely, disruptive, and rash. Dr. King identified
this discrepancy and went on to claim that the white moderate population was just as harmful as
the Ku Klux Klan, as the white moderate population let the black population be discriminated
against and only acted to condemn any kind of black resistance. This is a very important point
because even today you can look at examples of moderates being detrimental to progressive
causes.
Finally, I realized his communication used concepts and ideas that existed in public
communication ever since the days of the Greeks and the Romans. As an example, the way that
Dr. King supported non-violent tension as a way to help society sounded much like what
Socrates said in his final speech. This is not the only way that his communication evoked great
Greek minds, as within his communication he used Aristotle’s ethos, logos, and pathos. For
example, his biblical arguments where Dr. King used the Christian Bible to support his stance
was based on ethos; by using the Bible to support his actions, he gains credibility in the eyes of
his Christian audience. There are also many examples of pathos (argument from passion) and
logos (argument from logic). One could also argue that Dr. King’s strong stance on social issues
and never-ending fight for the rights of minorities and the lower-class is following in the
footsteps of the several Greek minds that said public speakers should have high ethical and moral
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standards, and should use their public speech to improve society. In the end, it is clear that Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. had inspirations from the ancient world when he wrote and delivered his
public speech.