Racial justice and equality are two main goals that Martin Luther King Jr. wants to achieve using the “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” He focuses on the inefficiency of passive methods of facing racial segregation and social injustice based on the discrimination of the African American minority. He uses the three appeals to persuade his audience in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” to convey the idea that passive resistance does not give satisfactory results to his target audience. Using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos allows Martin L. King to appeal to all critical points that make the speech credible to the audience. It is an effective way to address human logic, appeal to authority, and include emotional elements that make the narration more vivid. Using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” allows Martin L. King to persuade the readers of the need to fight for equality and change the existing situation of racial injustice in the United States using more active methods.
Pathos is the first rhetorical device that King uses in his letter. The appeal to emotions allows the author to make the speech persuasive and engaging for the audience. It is possible to assume that the appeal to Ethos triggers the audience because the author chooses those examples that most individuals can apply to their lives. Therefore, they can quickly draw parallels between their personal experience and what King discusses in the letter about inequality and injustice.
King starts the letter with an appeal to the readers’ emotions because the entire situation is striking, and most readers feel it is an extraordinary case. The author writes: “Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (King 1). This statement emphasizes the serious social problem that divides American society and does not allow it to develop as a genuinely democratic community. King parallels injustice in the Birmingham jail and injustice in American society because the penitentiary system is the most vivid representation of justice. King is accused of active participation in the revolt even though he did not harm anyone significantly. This situation shows that an African American cannot demonstrate dissatisfaction with the existing racial discrimination and inequality according to the legal views. King finds this situation unacceptable in a society that defines itself as equal and just because it illustrates deep segregation and racism. When the readers see these parallels in the text and imagine the situation in general, they feel worried about the problems King writes about.
Another example of appealing to Pathos is emphasizing the unity of all African American people in the text. King writes: “We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights” (King 2). These lines show that all African Americans are connected with the common goal of living in society as equals, without feeling that they are the minority and the vulnerable population with no opportunity to speak about their needs and rights. This appeal to Pathos unites all people of color who read the letter from the Birmingham jail and emphasize that they are not alone in this fight for justice and equality.
In addition, King appeals to all African Americans as Christian people, which emphasizes another unity that is essential in understanding the essence of this protest and the impact of these words. It is vital to remember that the Biblical doctrine supposes that all people are created in the image of God, and therefore all Christians are initially equal in his eyes (Whitaker 131-132). For instance, King writes: “If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws” (King 3). The existing situation in the United States infringes on the basic principles of the Christian faith, which is unacceptable. This appeal to the emotions of Christian Americans who are not black is another effective way to make the speech more persuasive for a more significant number of individuals from the rhetorical point of view.
The appeals to Logos or logic make the text of the letter valid from the rational perspective, which is an effective means of persuading the skeptical audience. For example, King describes the situation with the legal injustice in American society using Logos as the primary means of persuasion: “These are just a few examples of unjust and just laws. There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust” (King 3).
The author describes the legal basis that is connected with the civil rights of all Americans and appeals to the Constitution, which adds validity and logic to his words. The fact that the laws are not applied to him because he is an African American man destroys the logical narration in this passage. As a result, most readers of the letter understand that significant injustice and inequality in American society are connected with racial discrimination. The fact that the rights of white and black Americans are not the same as objective and logical, but this information triggers most people from King’s audience. Therefore, the use of logic is the essential component of rhetorical techniques in the letter from Birmingham Jail.
The use of Ethos or appeal to authority allows King to show his audience that he is not the only person who disagrees with racial discrimination and injustice. As a Christian, King appeals to the Holy Scripture and the moral law that all believers share, which makes his speech persuasive from a rhetorical point of view. King uses examples from recent history to illustrate his claims, which adds significance to his words. He writes:
“We can never forget that everything 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. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal” (King 3).
This excerpt shows that secular laws can be erroneous and sinful from the perspective of morality. Therefore, people need to think about the authority of the state and officials when they do not doubt the discriminatory laws they ratify.
Therefore, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by King is an example of a persuasive text from a rhetorical perspective. The author uses Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to appeal to all types of thoughts and emotions of his audience. As a result, the speech is balanced from the rhetorical point of view, and the author successfully achieves the goals he sets. After reading this letter, most people start thinking about the validity of the discriminatory laws against African Americans and their social position.
Works Cited
King, Jr, Martin L. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. n.p., 1963. Web.
Whitaker, Roy. “Martin Luther King Jr. and Mormonism: Dialogue, Race, and Pluralism.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 51, no. 3, 2018, pp. 131–54.