Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)

Background to The Letter from Birmingham Jail

• During the 1950s and the 1960s the U.S. experienced the Civil Rights Era

• In May 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court had issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson’s“separate but equal” ruling

• In December 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested during the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• In early 1960 the Greensboro, N.C. sit-ins took place

• From May to December 1961 Freedom Riders rode interstate buses into the South to protest against segregation laws

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)• King was the son of an important Baptist

clergyman from Atlanta• He entered Morehouse College in Atlanta at

the age of 15 and graduated with a BA in Sociology several years later

• He was then educated at Crozer Theological Seminary (in Pennsylvania) and Boston University

• After marrying Coretta Scott King in 1953, King became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954

• In 1957 he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (or SCLC)

On 12 April 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and spent 8 days in jail in Birmingham, Alabama

• King had gone to Birmingham with Southern Christian Leadership Conference colleagues Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and others as part of a non-violent campaign of protest against racism and segregation

• On 10 April, Circuit Court judge W.A. Jenkins had issued a court order prohibiting “parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing”

• King and others disobeyed the order and on April 12 they were arrested as a result

• Irony: In 1963, April 12 was Good Friday

While in jail, King was given a local newspaper in which he read a statement, “A Call to Unity,” by eight white clergymen from Alabama, including Earl Stallings, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Birmingham, criticizing King and the other protesters

• Provoked by this article, King decided to draft a reply. He wrote down some comments first in the margin of the newspaper, and later on writing paper provided to him by his attorneys.

• The clergymen had not only criticized his methods but also asked why King, an outsider to Birmingham, was even there in the first place

Martin Luther King will respond to his critics in a lengthy letter

• He recognizes that they are not unsympathetic to his cause

• But he does take issue with the clergymen’s claims that: 1) he, Shuttlesworth, Abernathy and others are meddling in something that does not concern them; 2) he and his followers should negotiate for change rather than conduct protests, etc.; 3) their actions are “untimely”; and 4) there is no justification for their breaking the law

What was King’s purpose?• To persuade the clergymen that

his cause was just and that his methods were not only appropriate but also needed

• To help unite the African-American community and give coherence to their protests

• To reach out to others, particularly white moderates and other clergymen

Length and Structure of the Letter?

• Letter is very long (in your textbook, 45 paragraphs totaling approx. 7,000 words)

• Introduction = first paragraph

• Body of letter:

a. King responds to questions asked by the clergymen in

their open letter in The Birmingham News (paragraphs

2-20); e.g., they ask why he resorted to demonstrations rather than

negotiations?

b. King defends his actions while expressing disappointment with white

moderates and white churches (paragraphs 21-39)

c. King takes issue with the clergymen commending the Birmingham police for

restraint when in fact it was, he says, the protestors who should be

commended (paragraphs 40-42)

‘ Conclusion = King makes conciliatory gestures and appeals for

support (last 3 paragraphs)

Influence of The Letter on subsequent people and events?

• On 28 August 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.

• In the 1970s and 1980s, Poland’s Solidarity movement and Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77 initiative are inspired by King

• Likewise, during the 1980s in South Africa, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are motivated by Dr. King