Name:
Interpreting Logical Appeals (Logos) – “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
During non-violent demonstrations for racial equality in Birmingham,
Alabama, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and jailed for eight days.
During this time, white clergymen (i.e. ministers, priests, rabbis) wrote an
open letter in The Birmingham News calling for the end of civil rights
protests and demonstrations. In their letter, they argued:
What is “logical appeal”
(aka “logos”)?

Civil Rights protests were “unwise” and “untimely”

Civil Rights activists should not demonstrate in the streets but rather go
to the courts to have their rights restored

African Americans should be “patient” if their rights are slow to come

Dr. King is an “outsider” to Birmingham; the negotiations for rights
should be led by local Birmingham citizens

Civil Rights activists should not break laws, even if they disagree with those laws.
Dr. King responded to their letter with his own open letter, published first in The Christian
Century and reprinted in The Atlantic Monthly. Read a selection from the letter below:
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This
is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey
the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public
schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to
break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws
and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types
of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws.
One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
legitimate: valid,
reasonable
paradoxical:
contradictory
advocate:
recommend or
support
just: right, fair
I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”
Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine
whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that
squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that
is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas
Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and
natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that
degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust
because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives
the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense
of inferiority. … Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and
sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.
unjust: wrong,
unfair
degrades: treats
with hate or
disrespect
statute: law
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Name:
Interpreting Logical Appeals (Logos) – “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Logical Reasoning
A concession is an expression of concern for the feelings of those who may disagree with the
writer’s argument (the “opposition”). Using concession is a good way to overcome the reader’s
resistance to a controversial position (for example, breaking the law). The concession shows the
writer to be a logical and fair-minded person who realizes that every issue has two sides.
1. Which sentences in King’s speech make his concession?
After his concession, King offers a rebuttal. A rebuttal argues against the opposition’s position.
2. Which sentences make up King’s rebuttal?
King also uses deductive reasoning, in which a general conclusion leads to a specific conclusion.
He uses a three-part statement called a syllogism. Here is a historical example:
1) The declaration of Independence proclaims that all people have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
2) African Americans are people.
3) Therefore, white people should not enslave African Americans.
3. King develops a syllogism in the 2nd paragraph. Write out the parts:
a. “Laws that degrade the human personality are unjust.”
b. Particular example: ________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
c. Conclusion: Therefore, ______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
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Name:
Interpreting Logical Appeals (Logos) – “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Reliance on Authority
King also relies on authority figures to help support his argument. He refers to two men that
are highly respected by educated and moral people:
o St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD) was a philosopher and writer who was critical to
the development of Christianity as a religion.
o St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274 AD) was a Catholic priest and legal scholar who
is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologian and philosopher.
4. King quotes St. Augustine, who said, “an unjust law is no law at all.” What does this
mean, and how does this support King’s argument?
5. Consider this quote by St. Thomas Aquinas: “…he who acts against his conscience always
sins.” What does this mean, and how does this relate to King’s argument?
6. Why would King make reference to these two important men? Consider his audience:
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Name:
Interpreting Logical Appeals (Logos) – “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Facts as Evidence
Dr. King also uses facts to support his argument. Read the paragraph below. Highlight the facts
he presents in this paragraph.
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in
Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom
fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” 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.
Notes
Adolf Hitler created laws that
segregated, oppressed, imprisoned,
and murdered Jews and other
minorities.
The Hungarian freedom fighters
started an uprising against the Soviet
Union, which had taken over the
country.
7. How do these facts support Dr. King’s argument?
8. How does this historical example of Nazi Germany relate to Dr. King’s topic –
segregation laws?
King argues that there are two types of laws: just and unjust.
9. Give an example of a law that you believe is just and explain why you believe that law is
just:
10. Give an example of a law – historic or current – that you believe is unjust and explain
why you believe that law is unjust:
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