Prior to 1963 Birmingham, Alabama had become a major civil rights activities center. These civil rights movements were led by people like Martin Luther King amongst others. Birmingham, Alabama had witnessed some of the worst kinds of racial hatred and violence and thus it had been marked as a perfect venue to start the restoration process. On the 16th of April 1963, Martin Luther King wrote a speech the letter from Birmingham jail that he addressed to his fellow clergymen, while he was being incarcerated in a Birmingham jail. In writing this letter martin Luther was addressing the issue of lack of justice, especially towards black citizens. He categorically rejected the application of a legal system that denied all citizens equal rights and privileges. The system was so corrupt that indeed if the constitution was not to be amended then indeed the American society was actually on the eve of destruction. Just like the song ‘eve of destruction’ suggested it was highly ironic that in society (referring to the Vietnam society) children below the age of 18 years could be recruited to fight in the military (a direct ticket to death and destruction) yet these same people could not be allowed to vote to elect the same representatives that were sending them to the battlefield. In the same sense, the American system had deteriorated so much that the democracy and independence the forefathers of this great nation had labored so much for and even lost their lives in its pursuit was eroding much faster than a river erodes its banks. Literally, it was like the music had died and only distant echoes could be heard by those who dared to listen. Those who could hear the echoes of those crying in distant places were the ones who were paying the price for it through lynching, incarcerations, and death in trying to advocate for a just system.
- Martin Luther King, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”
- Moral Imperatives in M. L. King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”
- “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” vs. “I Have a Dream”
- “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King
- Arguments in King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”
- King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Summary
- Injustice. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. King
- Martin Luther King Speech “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”