Martin Luther King s Civil Rights Movement - 1367 Words

In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama became a main focus for the civil rights movement. As a city, Birmingham had made its mark on the civil rights movement for years. The activities of Bull Conner and the bombed church which killed four school girls are only a few contributing occurrences that made Birmingham known to many Americans. The KKK thrived in the city and Martin Luther King described it as America’s worst city for racism. Everything was segregated, from businesses and churches to libraries. Blacks faced constant discrimination and the threat of violence. Civil Rights groups were inactive other than the SCLC, but many African Americans did not like like the leader and demonstrations were poorly attended. Martin Luther King was†¦show more content†¦Peter, the scene on Calvary, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and even Jesus Christ to compare their actions to his own. By alluding such powerful figures, King is connecting the whole of America, making them real ize that they are committing the same crimes their ancestors committed against Jesus Christ. Kings analogies between the Apostle Paul leaving his village to carry the gospel to the four corners of the world, to himself carrying the gospel of freedom to others around the globe are effective to his argument because he correlates his teachings of civil rights to those of the Holy Gospel, impacting the religious leaders own beliefs. King’s letter is a rhetorical masterpiece. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to change the clergymen’s opinions and persuades them that his ideas are logical and valid. King uses ethos to make himself appear superior to the clergymen, he establishes his authority from the beginning of the letter. King states that he serves as president of SCLC, including that the organization is operating in every Southern state, and has headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. King also creates himself the ethos of a spiritual leader by quoting religious leaders such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. He further develops this ethos by demonstrating his knowledge of the conditions of early Christian leaders, St. Paul in particular. In his letter, King makes himself appear caring, honest, and fair by expressing hisShow MoreRelatedDr. Martin Luther King Jr s The Civil Rights Movement Essay1126 Words   |  5 PagesAs Dr. Martin Luther King Jr sit in a jail cell writing a letter to clergymen, there is civil unrest in the nation. In 1963, the Civil Rights Movement is well underway. Alabama is one of the most segregated states in the union and being in the Deep South, is prone to more racial injustices than others. Dr. King points out his feelings of telling his daughter she can’t go to a new place as it is whites only, the pain of his children and their unconscious feelings of being inferior while not understandingRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement, By Martin Luther King s Assassination And The Poor People s March1522 Words    |  7 Pageshe African Civil rights movement is a period of time where sequences of events caused changes in attitudes and social operations, which spread across America and in turn also caused other sequences of events that proliferated their rebellion of the past attitudes. The movement rebelled against the overt racism that plagued ‘The Land of the Free,’ which has caused suffering for countless. 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Martin Luther King was a social activist and Baptist minister who led the civil rights movement from the mid-1950s to 1960s. According to the website called Martin Luther King Jr.-Biography, Martin Luther king was graduated from high school when he was fifteen. After getting his B. A. Degree from Morehouse, the B. D. from Crozer and then he got his doctor’s degree from Boston University. This shows that Martin Luther KingRead MoreThe Civil Rights Movement And The American Civil Movement958 Words   |  4 Pages The Civil Rights Movement, also known as the American Civil Rights Movement and other names, is a term that encompasses the strategies, groups, and social movements in the United States whose goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the Constitution and federal law. The movement was characterized by major campaigns of civil resistance. Between 1955 and 1968