"There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts."

"angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes."

"So I am here, along with several members of my staff, because we were invited here. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here."

2. He then addresses the issue of his willingness to break laws and makes the distinction between just and unjust laws.

King introduced his Thesis in the beginning of the third paragraph after he wrote his purpose, "But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here"

"The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter."

Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama

Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (strongly believed in non-violence protests)

Delivered a speech ("I Have a Dream") on the steps of Lincoln Memorial On august 28, 1963

To help his readers understand it he draws a distinction between laws and unjust laws

King establishes a common ground by referring to them as 'fellow clergymen'

He wishes that the clergymen had supported his actions instead of criticising them

Lets us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant starts of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all they scintillating beauty (50)

King's main concern: Racial Segregation in Alabama

King also troubled by the indifference of white moderates who have urged him to call off his protests

King explains his actions of engaging in non-violence protests

King answers his critics as well as his central question by saying that because the people of the United States are interconnected, the injustice in one state will eventually affect the entire country

Luther wrote an open letter to eight white clergymen in which he defended his protests against racial segregation

HIs campaign was a continuation of the push for equal rights that had been gaining momentum in the United States for decades

King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has dispatched hundreds of people to Birmingham to engage in nonviolent demonstrations against those who were determined to keep African Americans from gaining their full rights as citizens

3. After chiding white moderates for not supporting his cause, he address their claims that he is extreme. According to King, this charge is false: if he had not embraced a philosophy of non-violent protest, the streets of the South would "be flowing with blood" (29).

1. King begins his argument by addressing the charge that his actions are untimely. If anything, says King, his actions are not timely enough: after all, Africans Americans have waited more than 340 years for their "constitutional and God-given rights" (14).

4. King then makes the point that the contemporary church must recapture the "sacrificial spirit of the early church" (42). He does this by linking his struggle for freedom with the "sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God" (44).

5. King ends his argument by asserting both his humility and his unity with the white clergy.

“Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust?”

"How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" (15)

“Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal…”

“But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom.”

“...when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’...”

“For years now I have heard the word ‘wait.’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity.”

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 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."

Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, 'How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?' The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws."

Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'Wait.'"

But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society..."

...when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky."

I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of 'outsiders coming in.' I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South, one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Whenever necessary and possible, we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates."

Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise."

"I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."
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."

Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

"Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals."

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I it" relationship for an "I thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.