Cervantes 1

Cynthia Cervantes
Susie Huerta
Puente- English
February 10, 2017

Chains cant hold us

Martin Luther King Jr. was a young pastor and was the president of the Southern

Christian Leadership Conference. He was a big influence in moving the civil rights movement

forward, and advocated for social justice and equality. King headed to Birmingham, to help

solve the issues that had transpired. Issues pertaining to social and civil injustice and racial

discrimination. Due to kings methods, him and a few of his followers were arrested and sent to

jail for disrupting the peace and breaking the law. While King was in jail he wrote a letter in

response to eight clergymen who had questioned his methods, purpose, and reasoning for being

in Birmingham. In King's Letter he talks about the injustice and the hardships that people of

color have had to face. Kings purpose was to try and come to an agreement with the clergymen,

and eventually negotiate about the problems that have been ongoing in birmingham, such as the

discrimination and segregation of people of color. King used various rhetorical devices such as

biblical allusions to connect with the clergymen, historical allusions to uses past references as a

way to make the reader empathetic to their cause, and current events in order to persuade the

reader of their harmful actions and connecting it back to our past.

By using Biblical Allusions as a strategy in his argument, King causes the eight

clergymen to question their own beliefs and start to see his point of view. This helps the eight

clergymen relate to what King is speaking upon and to understand his point of view. King

continues on to use multiple biblical references to make a connection with the clergymen, even
 Cervantes 2

going so far as to say that if they consider him an extremist then Jesus himself was an extremist

as well. King states that, 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(LBJ). King continues to explain how, as jesus himself did, he was going to different

towns and states to preach upon acceptance and the end of segregation. He causes

discussions through peaceful protests to reach negotiations. Since king himself was a preacher

he is able to connect to the clergymen in a way that someone who was causing the exact same

commotions as Mr.King couldn't do. King is able to use his teachings and is able to properly

make biblical references due to his experience and his background. Mr. King uses his teachings

and his influence in order to help reach the negotiations that he needs with people of power in

the community of Birmingham Alabama. Aside from Biblical references, King also uses

Historical allusions to help with his purpose.

By using Historical allusions as a strategy in his argument, King forces the reader to feel

guilty in their actions and to feel empathy and sympathizes with community of people of color in

birmingham alabama. King wanted the eight clergymen to understand where his people were

coming from. That to them they didn't feel safe or wanted and that what the white community

was doing is the very thing they tried to fight during world war II. We should never forget that

everything Adolf 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.

Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted

my Jewish brothers,(LBJ). King talks about how even though there are laws in place, that

doesn't mean that they are reasonable or acceptable. To stand by is the real crime, to watch as
 Cervantes 3

you see people abuse their power and target others who have no control. King used these

quotes as a way to cause the eight clergymen to feel empathetic towards the cause. King uses

historical allusions in order to prove a point that even now things haven't changed. That people

are still being killed and treated inhumanely for nothing more than the color of their skin. In order

to show that things still haven't changed.

King begins to use current event allusions in order show the reader the harmful actions

that are taking place in the present. During this time many racial injustice have arose against

people of color. White people using their position of authority and power to instill fear among the

communities of color. When you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your

black brothers and sisters, having to see this and go through all this causes anger and hate

among a community. Instead of having us hate one another, we need to come together because

at the end of the day we are all people; The color of one's skin should not determine the way

that we should be treated. King brings this to light, showing that all that him and his people are

doing is fighting for the justice that people deserve. That to stand by would be the real crime and

injustice. King uses the imagery to make the reader feel as though they are responsible for what

is happening. To cause them to feel guilt and realize that the damage they are causing is

inhumane. The use for this allusion is to not only just talk about what happened in the past but

also to realize that there are issues transpiring in the present.

King was a man who did what most people of color feared to do. He willingly and

knowingly walked in the lion's den ready to face whatever came his way. He risked his life in

order to help his fellow brothers. When he was arrested he didn't let the bars hold him from still

speaking his mind and writing his response to everything that eight men were saying. He proved

his points by using different rhetorical devices and allusions; Current events, Historical, and

Biblical allusions. King wanted to accomplish a goal in trying to reach negotiations with higher
 Cervantes 4

authorities in birmingham and by using this letter.