is letter from birmingham jail an essay

A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ is Martin Luther King’s most famous written text, and rivals his most celebrated speech, ‘ I Have a Dream ’, for its political importance and rhetorical power.

King wrote this open letter in April 1963 while he was imprisoned in the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama. When he read a statement issued in the newspaper by eight of his fellow clergymen, King began to compose his response, initially writing it in the margins of the newspaper article itself.

In ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’, King answers some of the criticisms he had received from the clergymen in their statement, and makes the case for nonviolent action to bring about an end to racial segregation in the South. You can read the letter in full here if you would like to read King’s words before reading on to our summary of his argument, and analysis of the letter’s meaning and significance.

‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’: summary

The letter is dated 16 April 1963. King begins by addressing his ‘fellow clergymen’ who wrote the statement published in the newspaper. In this statement, they had criticised King’s political activities ‘unwise and untimely’. King announces that he will respond to their criticisms because he believes they are ‘men of genuine good will’.

King outlines why he is in Birmingham: as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he was invited by an affiliate group in Birmingham to engage in a non-violent direct-action program: he accepted. When the time came, he honoured his promise and came to Birmingham to support the action.

But there is a bigger reason for his travelling to Birmingham: because injustice is found there, and, in a famous line, King asserts: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ The kind of direction action King and others have engaged in around Birmingham is a last resort because negotiations have broken down and promises have been broken.

When there is no alternative, direct action – such as sit-ins and marches – can create what King calls a ‘tension’ which will mean that a community which previously refused to negotiate will be forced to come to the negotiating table. King likens this to the ‘tension’ in the individual human mind which Socrates, the great classical philosopher, fostered through his teachings.

Next, King addresses the accusation that the action he and others are taking in Birmingham is ‘untimely’. King points out that the newly elected mayor of the city, like the previous incumbent, is in favour of racial segregation and thus wishes to preserve the political status quo so far as race is concerned. As King observes, privileged people seldom give up their privileges voluntarily: hence the need for nonviolent pressure.

King now turns to the question of law-breaking. How can he and others justify breaking the law? He quotes St. Augustine, who said that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’ A just law uplifts human personality and is consistent with the moral law and God’s law. An unjust law degrades human personality and contradicts the moral law (and God’s law). Because segregation encourages one group of people to view themselves as superior to another group, it is unjust.

He also asserts that he believes the greatest stumbling-block to progress is not the far-right white supremacist but the ‘white moderate’ who are wedded to the idea of ‘order’ in the belief that order is inherently right. King points out both in the Bible (the story of Shadrach and the fiery furnace ) and in America’s own colonial history (the Boston Tea Party ) people have practised a form of ‘civil disobedience’, breaking one set of laws because a higher law was at stake.

King addresses the objection that his actions, whilst nonviolent themselves, may encourage others to commit violence in his name. He rejects this argument, pointing out that this kind of logic (if such it can be called) can be extended to all sorts of scenarios. Do we blame a man who is robbed because his possession of wealth led the robber to steal from him?

The next criticism which King addresses is the notion that he is an extremist. He contrasts his nonviolent approach with that of other African-American movements in the US, namely the black nationalist movements which view the white man as the devil. King points out that he has tried to steer a path between extremists on either side, but he is still labelled an ‘extremist’.

He decides to own the label, and points out that Jesus could be regarded as an ‘extremist’ because, out of step with the worldview of his time, he championed love of one’s enemies.

Other religious figures, as well as American political figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, might be called ‘extremists’ for their unorthodox views (for their time). Jefferson, for example, was considered an extremist for arguing, in the opening words to the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. ‘Extremism’ doesn’t have to mean one is a violent revolutionary: it can simply denote extreme views that one holds.

King expresses his disappointment with the white church for failing to stand with him and other nonviolent activists campaigning for an end to racial segregation. People in the church have made a variety of excuses for not supporting racial integration.

The early Christian church was much more prepared to fight for what it believed to be right, but it has grown weak and complacent. Rather than being disturbers of the peace, many Christians are now upholders of the status quo.

Martin Luther King concludes his letter by arguing that he and his fellow civil rights activists will achieve their freedom, because the goal of America as a nation has always been freedom, going back to the founding of the United States almost two centuries earlier. He provides several examples of the quiet courage shown by those who had engaged in nonviolent protest in the South.

‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’: analysis

Martin Luther King’s open letter written from Birmingham Jail is one of the most famous open letters in the world. It is also a well-known defence of the notion of civil disobedience, or refusing to obey laws which are immoral or unjust, often through peaceful protest and collective action.

King answers each of the clergymen’s objections in turn, laying out his argument in calm, rational, but rhetorically brilliant prose. The emphasis throughout is non nonviolent action, or peaceful protest, which King favours rather than violent acts such as rioting (which, he points out, will alienate many Americans who might otherwise support the cause for racial integration).

In this, Martin Luther King was greatly influenced by the example of Mahatma Gandhi , who had led the Indian struggle for independence earlier in the twentieth century, advocating for nonviolent resistance to British rule in India. Another inspiration for King was Henry David Thoreau, whose 1849 essay ‘ Civil Disobedience ’ called for ordinary citizens to refuse to obey laws which they consider unjust.

This question of what is a ‘just’ law and what is an ‘unjust’ law is central to King’s defence of his political approach as laid out in the letter from Birmingham Jail. He points out that everything Hitler did in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s was ‘legal’, because the Nazis changed the laws to suit their ideology and political aims. But this does not mean that what they did was moral : quite the opposite.

Similarly, it would have been ‘illegal’ to come to the aid of a Jew in Nazi Germany, but King states that he would have done so, even though, by helping and comforting a Jewish person, he would have been breaking the law. So instead of the view that ‘law’ and ‘justice’ are synonymous, ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ is a powerful argument for obeying a higher moral law rather than manmade laws which suit those in power.

But ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ is also notable for the thoughtful and often surprising things King does with his detractors’ arguments. For instance, where we might expect him to object to being called an ‘extremist’, he embraces the label, observing that some of the most pious and peaceful figures in history have been ‘extremists’ of one kind of another. But they have called for extreme love, justice, and tolerance, rather than extreme hate, division, or violence.

Similarly, King identifies white moderates as being more dangerous to progress than white nationalists, because they believe in ‘order’ rather than ‘justice’ and thus they can sound rational and sympathetic even as they stand in the way of racial integration and civil rights. As with the ‘extremist’ label, King’s position here may take us by surprise, but he backs up his argument carefully and provides clear reasons for his stance.

There are two main frames of reference in the letter. One is Christian examples: Jesus, St. Paul, and Amos, the Old Testament prophet , are all mentioned, with King drawing parallels between their actions and those of the civil rights activists participating in direct action.

The other is examples from American history: Abraham Lincoln (who issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War, a century before King was writing) and Thomas Jefferson (who drafted the words to the Declaration of Independence, including the statement that all men are created equal).

Both Christianity and America have personal significance for King, who was a reverend as well as a political campaigner and activist. But these frames of reference also establish a common ground between both him and the clergymen he addresses, and, more widely, with many other Americans who will read the open letter.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin luther king, jr., ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

"Letter from Birmingham Jail"

April 16, 1963

As the events of the  Birmingham Campaign  intensified on the city’s streets, Martin Luther King, Jr., composed a letter from his prison cell in Birmingham in response to local religious leaders’ criticisms of the campaign: “Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?” (King,  Why , 94–95).

King’s 12 April 1963 arrest for violating Alabama’s law against mass public demonstrations took place just over a week after the campaign’s commencement. In an effort to revive the campaign, King and Ralph  Abernathy   had donned work clothes and marched from Sixth Avenue Baptist Church into a waiting police wagon. The day of his arrest, eight Birmingham clergy members wrote a criticism of the campaign that was published in the  Birmingham News , calling its direct action strategy “unwise and untimely” and appealing “to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense” (“White Clergymen Urge”).

Following the initial circulation of King’s letter in Birmingham as a mimeographed copy, it was published in a variety of formats: as a pamphlet distributed by the  American Friends Service Committee  and as an article in periodicals such as  Christian Century ,  Christianity and Crisis , the  New York Post , and  Ebony  magazine. The first half of the letter was introduced into testimony before Congress by Representative William Fitts Ryan (D–NY) and published in the  Congressional Record . One year later, King revised the letter and presented it as a chapter in his 1964 memoir of the Birmingham Campaign,  Why We Can’t Wait , a book modeled after the basic themes set out in “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In  Why We Can’t Wait , King recalled in an author’s note accompanying the letter’s republication how the letter was written. It was begun on pieces of newspaper, continued on bits of paper supplied by a black trustee, and finished on paper pads left by King’s attorneys. After countering the charge that he was an “outside agitator” in the body of the letter, King sought to explain the value of a “nonviolent campaign” and its “four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (King,  Why , 79). He went on to explain that the purpose of direct action was to create a crisis situation out of which negotiation could emerge.

The body of King’s letter called into question the clergy’s charge of “impatience” on the part of the African American community and of the “extreme” level of the campaign’s actions (“White Clergymen Urge”). “For years now, I have heard the word ‘Wait!’” King wrote. “This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never’” (King,  Why , 83). He articulated the resentment felt “when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (King,  Why , 84). King justified the tactic of civil disobedience by stating that, just as the Bible’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar’s unjust laws and colonists staged the Boston Tea Party, he refused to submit to laws and injunctions that were employed to uphold segregation and deny citizens their rights to peacefully assemble and protest.

King also decried the inaction of white moderates such as the clergymen, charging that human progress “comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation” (King,  Why , 89). He prided himself as being among “extremists” such as Jesus, the prophet Amos, the apostle Paul, Martin Luther, and Abraham Lincoln, and observed that the country as a whole and the South in particular stood in need of creative men of extreme action. In closing, he hoped to meet the eight fellow clergymen who authored the first letter.

Garrow,  Bearing the Cross , 1986.

King, “A Letter from Birmingham Jail,”  Ebony  (August 1963): 23–32.

King, “From the Birmingham Jail,”  Christianity and Crisis  23 (27 May 1963): 89–91.

King, “From the Birmingham Jail,”  Christian Century  80 (12 June 1963): 767–773.

King, “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” (Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee, May 1963).

King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in  Why We Can’t Wait , 1964.

Reverend Martin Luther King Writes from Birmingham City Jail—Part I , 88th Cong., 1st sess.,  Congressional Record  (11 July 1963): A 4366–4368.

“White Clergymen Urge Local Negroes to Withdraw from Demonstrations,”  Birmingham News , 13 April 1963.

Essay about “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr

This essay will provide a comprehensive analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” It will dissect the letter’s argumentative structure, its historical context, and the moral and ethical appeals made by King. The piece will explore the letter’s significance in the civil rights movement and its relevance to contemporary social justice issues. PapersOwl offers a variety of free essay examples on the topic of Christianity.

How it works

Martin Luther King Jr., in “ Letter From A Birmingham Jail”(1963), responds to the eight white clergymen who criticized King’s actions in Birmingham as “unwise and untimely”. King was born on January of 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. King grew up in Atlanta, he attended Booker T. Washington High School . King in 1948, graduated at the age of 19 from Morehouse with a B.

A. in sociology. King had later enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. This conference started to conduct nonviolent protests to gain civil rights to minorities. King lead this organization until his death, he lead marches, and gave speeches. King was also part of the community that looked into the Montgomery bus boycott case in 1955. In 1963 of April King, began a campaign on the segregation happening in Birmingham, Alabama. They used the methods of peaceful protesting. In 1954, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. A strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Not only that but King made speeches such as “ I Have A Dream”, which called for equality and peace. Another role he played in the Civil Rights Movement was part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott where King was the leader and spokesman. The biggest and most important association of them all. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King appeals to the heart and minds of the clergymen by alluding to the moral authority of christian traditions, American Ideals, and the collective suffering of African Americans.

Martin Luther King compares his actions in Birmingham to important religious authorities and christian beliefs in order to show that the religious authorities have done what King is doing in the past,but have not had the same consequences as King. He believes that he should not be thrown in jail because religious authorities like Apostle Paul have also fought for equality using religion and christian beliefs. Apostle Paul was an Apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first- century world.Apostle Paul and King both had the same beliefs and both fought for christian religion and equality. King argues that if the clergymen are really religious how they claim to be, then the clergymen would understand that they made a mistake calling his actions in Birmingham jail unwise and untimely because it was fighting for civil rights. In the Letter From a Birmingham Jail, King states “I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all”. St. Augustine was an important early Christian philosopher who believed in just laws. He followed the word of Christ and spread it as much as he possibly could. King basically writes to the clergymen questioning them because they do not like what King is doing but they support these religious figures who both fought for the same thing as King, which is civil rights and equality. King fought because there was segregation occurring in the South and he believed that all humans should be treated the same. Segregation was a way to oppress the African American people . Another way that King justifies his actions in Birmingham is the way he starts off his letter. He begins with “ My Dear fellow clergymen” by doing this King puts himself to their level because King is also a believer and follower of god, Christian faith, and equality. King uses this time to remind the Clergymen of the history of injustice laws.

Not only does King compare his actions in Birmingham to religious Christian figures but he also uses the collective suffering of African Americans. King states, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed”. King brings up that African Americans had a difficult time in the U.S in the past. They had to deal with unfair treatment and unjust laws. King believes that suppressing the protest in Birmingham is unjust because all he wanted was for segregation to end and for African Americans and everyone else in the world to be treated equal. Segregation was a form of suppressing people of color and King argues that history has time and time again proven that oppression is inhumane and unjust. This belief led King to march to Birmingham to peacefully protest his rights. He also states,”Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as ‘ dirty nigger lovers”. King uses this to show that segregation was so bad they even mistreated other races who tried to help the African Americans get equal rights. They were thrown in jail and also suffered consequences for no humane reason. People of color were being racially targeted due to white supremacism. King wants people to learn from the past, he wants equality for every person.

King uses American Ideals to justify his peaceful protest in Birmingham Alabama. One American Ideal that King uses is by Thomas Jefferson. King states,”And Thomas Jefferson:’We hold these truths to be self evident , that all men are created equal’. He uses this important political figure to justify his actions because Jefferson believed every person should be treated equally. King was fighting for Civil Rights, which talks about everyone being equal. King does this because he wants to bring attention to these historical moments to remind the world to learn from their mistakes. King also uses Abraham Lincoln,” And Abraham Lincoln :’This nation cannot survive half slave and half free’. King does not want to repeat history. He does not want the people of color to remained suppressed just like before in history when they were oppressed with slavery. These are important historical figures who were great leaders and had belief in equality for every human being. Lincoln fought for slaves when they were first treated as property, he knew slavery was not equality so he fought to change that just like King is fighting for equality instead of segregation. King asks the Clergymen as to why it is fine for Lincoln to fight for equality but not King.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy was “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. He believed the segregation to be unequal,the method King used to fight back against segregation was peacefully protesting. He followed in the shoes of Gandhi and Jesus Christ because all of King’s protests were peaceful on his part and it was for Civil Rights. Kings most important achievement in life was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights act allowed minorities to vote, and eliminated segregation. After the death of King there was still people fighting for Civil Rights. Today Civil Rights has expanded and improved. New movements and organizations have been formed to fight for other rights that have been denied some of these movements are Black Lives Matter movement and the L.G.B.T.Q. Both of these organizations fight for equality. King closes his epistle with a note of hope and optimism for America.

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83 Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay Prompts, Topics, & Examples

Whether you’re writing an essay, thesis statement, or topic sentence for Letter from Birmingham Jail , you’ll need an excellent topic. With the original ideas prepared by our experts , you will surely find the best one for your paper.

🏆 Best Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay Prompts & Examples

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• “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Rhetorical Analysis Essay He supports his argument in the next paragraph, where he puts it across that they have been governed by a combination of unjust and just law whereby there is a need to separate the two.
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• King’s Allusion in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Through allusion to Apostle Paul, King attempted to stress that he also wanted to spread freedom. In the same manner, King believed that people could unite to combat oppression.
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• “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by M. L. King, Jr. In conclusion, King’s letter is an example of a work that has all the elements to be convincing and meaningful to society and its history.
• King ‘s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” Despite this fact, both King and Thoreau had a common goal to expose the unjust laws that govern a society of civil resistance to unjust laws It should be stressed that both King and Thoreau […]
• Extremism in King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Initially, he dismissed the idea that he was an extremist; however, later, he redefined that label.Dr. He further noted that true extremists were the participants of the different black nationalist groups.
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail He raises the stakes in his letter by pointing out “…the intent of our peaceful, active action is to generate a crisis-filled situation that will certainly necessitate commencement of negotiations”. King’s letter reveal a man […]
• King’s ‘The letter From Birmingham Jail’ He claims that since the clergy is not willing to listen to them and give them their rights, they have to show the importance of the matter by holding non-violent demonstrations.
• Changing the Unjust Laws: “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Therefore, the main aim of the letter was to push for the changing of the unjust laws as well as upholding the Supreme Court ruling of the year 1954.
• Separate but Equal: “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. In particular, it is necessary to analyze this work in terms of ethos, pathos, and logos and the way in which King balances these three appeals in order to convince the readers.
• Martin Luther King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” This letter from Birmingham Jail analysis essay shall highlight some of the issues discussed in the historic letter including King’s reason for being in Birmingham and why he felt compelled to break the law.
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• What Is the Connection Between Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Contemporary America, and U.S. Foreign Policy?
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• How Is Influenced on the Society the Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter From Birmingham Jail”?
• What Was the Main Point of the “Letter From Birmingham Jail”?
• What Are the Strong Moral Values Portrayed in King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”?
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• How Describes White Privilege in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Letter from Birmingham Jail

By dr. martin luther king, jr..

16 April, 1963

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against “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 affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently 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. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

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.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham’s economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants—for example, to remove the stores’ humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained.

As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?” “Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?” We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham’s mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene “Bull” Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. 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.

The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: “Why didn’t you give the new city administration time to act?” The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

Justice too long delayed is justice denied

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. 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. 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 and even kill your black brothers and sisters; 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 can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county 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”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? 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 law 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. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. 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. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

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. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn’t this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn’t this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.

I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.” Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of “somebodiness” that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible “devil.”

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the “do nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.

If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as “rabble rousers” and “outside agitators” those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies—a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: “Get rid of your discontent.” Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.

The question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be

But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . .” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime—the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle—have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as “dirty nigger-lovers.” Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful “action” antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.

Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: “Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.” In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: “Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.”’ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent—and often even vocal—sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. 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. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.

I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and “preventing violence.” I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather “nonviolently” in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: “My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest.” They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience’ sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let 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 stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Behind Martin Luther King’s Searing ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’

By: Barbara Maranzani

Updated: April 16, 2024 | Original: April 16, 2013

On April 12, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and nearly 50 other protestors and civil rights leaders were arrested after leading a Good Friday demonstration as part of the Birmingham Campaign , designed to bring national attention to the brutal, racist treatment suffered by blacks in one of the most segregated cities in America—Birmingham, Alabama. For months, an organized boycott of the city’s white-owned businesses had failed to achieve any substantive results, leaving King and others convinced they had no other options but more direct actions, ignoring a recently passed ordinance that prohibited public gathering without an official permit.

For King, this arrest—his 13th—would become one of the most important of his career. Thrown into solitary confinement, King was initially denied access to his lawyers or allowed to contact his wife, until President John F. Kennedy was urged to intervene on his behalf. As previously agreed upon, King was not immediately bailed out of jail by his supporters, having instead agreed to a longer stay in jail to draw additional attention to the plight of black Americans.

Shortly after King’s arrest, a friend smuggled in a copy of an April 12 Birmingham newspaper which included an open letter, written by eight local Christian and Jewish religious leaders, which criticized both the demonstrations and King himself, whom they considered an outside agitator. Isolated in his cell, King began working on a response. Without notes or research materials, King drafted an impassioned defense of his use of nonviolent, but direct, actions.

Over the course of the letter’s 7,000 words, he turned the criticism back upon both the nation’s religious leaders and more moderate-minded white Americans, castigating them for sitting passively on the sidelines while King and others risked everything agitating for change. King drew inspiration for his words from a long line of religious and political philosophers, quoting everyone from St. Augustine and Socrates to Thomas Jefferson and then-Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren , who had overseen the Supreme Court’s landmark civil rights ruling in Brown v. Board of Education .

For those, including the Birmingham religious leaders, who urged caution and remained convinced that time would solve the country’s racial issues, King reminded them of Warren’s own words on the need for desegregation, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” And for those who thought the Atlanta-based King had no right to interfere with issues in Alabama, King argued, in one of his most famous phrases, that he could not sit “idly by in Atlanta” because “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Without writing papers, King initially began by jotting down notes in the margin of the newspaper itself, before writing out portions of the work on scraps of paper he gave his attorneys—allowing a King ally, Wyatt Walker, to begin compiling the letter, which eventually ran to 21 double-spaced, typed pages. Curiously, King never sent a copy to any of the eight Birmingham clergy to whom he had “responded,” leaving many to believe that he had intended it to have a much broader, national, audience all along.

King was finally released from jail on April 20, four days after penning the letter. Despite the harsh treatment he and his fellow protestors had received, King continued his work in Birmingham. Just two weeks later, more than 1,000 schoolchildren took part in the famed “Children’s Crusade,” skipping school to march through the city streets advocating for integration and racial equality. Birmingham’s Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene “Bull” Connor, who King had repeatedly criticized in his letter for his harsh treatment, ordered fire hoses and police dogs to be turned on the young protestors; more than 600 of them were jailed on the first day alone. The brutal and cruel police tactics on display in Alabama were broadcast on televisions around the world, horrifying many Americans.

With Birmingham in chaos and businesses shuttered, local officials were forced to meet with King and agree to some, but not all, of his demands. On June 11, with the horrific events in Birmingham still seared on the American consciousness, and following Governor George Wallace’s refusal to integrate the University of Alabama until the arrival of the U.S. National Guard, President Kennedy addressed the nation, announcing his plans to present sweeping civil rights legislation to the U.S. Congress. Kennedy’s announcement, however, did little to quell the unrest in Birmingham and on September 15, 1963, a Ku Klux Klan bombing at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church left four young African American girls dead.

By this time, King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail had begun to appear in publications across the country. Months earlier, Harvey Shapiro, an editor at The New York Times , had urged King to use his frequent jailing as an opportunity to write a longer defense of his use of nonviolent tactics, and though King did so, The New York Times chose not to publish it. Others did, including The Atlantic Monthly and The Christian Century , one of the most prominent Protestant magazines in the nation. In the weeks leading up to the March on Washington, King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference used the letter as part of its fundraising efforts, and King himself used it as a basis for a book, Why We Can’t Wait , which looked back upon the successes and failures of the Birmingham Campaign. The book was released in July 1964, the same month President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act into law.

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• Martin Luther King Essays

Martin Luther King. Jr. Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay

The Letter from Birmingham Jail, written by Martin Luther King, Jr. from the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama, was a response letter to a dictating statement made by eight Clergymen belonging to the majority white sections. Even while responding to each and every charge of the clergyman, King tries to persuade both the Clergymen as well as the moderate sections of the White population to understand the African-American point of view. From earlier times, the social activists in order to actualize and promote social justice will normally use rhetorical and at the same time persuasive strategies to persuade theirs’ opponents. On those same lines, King in his letter tries to persuade certain sections of the population by adopting Aristotle’s rhetoric devices or three modes of persuasion, Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

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Martin Luther King exhibits clear and at the same high sense of Ethos in the letter, starting from the first paragraph itself. Ethos in a written or spoken content is related to the characteristics including the morality of the person. He/she would always take moral and fair decisions, without compromising ethics. Although, he states that he and his secretaries may not read and reply to all the criticism letters, he had made attempt to give a reply to this letter by the Clergymen, whom he views as good people and also as he wants to answer in a patient and reasonable mindset. “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” (King 1). Through these words, King gives importance to the Clergymen, and this valuing will surely make these Clergymen favourably consider King’s response letter. The other aspect of Ethos is to represent himself/herself as an equivalent to their counterparts and importantly to prove that he/she has the power to handle the affairs and the authority to represent his/her people. King puts forward this aspect by stating how he has served as the President of the Southern Christian Leadership conference, and how that tenure proves that he has apt authority to represent the African-Americans in any level of talks. (King 2). Furthermore, King likens him as a prophet of freedom like Paul, who has been given the authority by his people to represent and talk for them. “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” (King 3). This elevation of himself, again shows that he is better endowed and understanding person, who can exhibit the mindset and views of the African Americans effectively.

To further impress upon the Clergymen and also the moderate sections about their suppression and plight, and how they have to be understood and treated fairly, King uses Pathos. King tries to evoke Pathos by pointing out in vivid details how the daily lives of the African Americans is becoming living hell due to the brutalities, carried out by the majority sections. “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.” (King 14). By pointing out how even a small child has not remained unaffected by the oppression carried out by the Whites, he further evokes sympathy. “…when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your sex-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television” (King 14). Through these lines, King wants to showcase to the Clergymen, who criticised him, how his fellow men and woman are struggling to live a life with respect. Pathos was again used as a mode of persuasion in the latter part of the letter, when he talks about how the Police gravely assaulted and repressed the harmless African-Americans. “…if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes…if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys” (King 45). King wrote about these grave incidents as part of Pathos, as he wanted the Clergymen and the moderate sections to believe that injustice is maximally happening to the African-Americans.

To convince and persuade the Clergymen, King uses the rhetoric mode of Logos at the starting of the letter itself. While countering the charge of the Clergymen that he and his people are involving in aggressive actions to fulfil their wants, King points out how they had to take the harsher route after exhausting all the peaceful options. He explains that all the non-violent steps, which have been taken before the protests were started, including collection of facts, negotiation, self purification and direct action, did not provide expected results. They even tried to negotiate with the pertinent authorities, but of no avail. “Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.” (King 6). On the lines of the persuasion mode, Logos, King provides more facts of how negotiations did not yield any positive result, as there were no follow-up actions on the part of the White population. “In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants–for example, to remove the stores humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises…moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise.” (King 7). Thus, it is clear that King aptly used Logos to send across the message that the African-Americans did not indulged in aggressive actions at the first instance itself, but were provoked to do, as there were no follow-up actions after the negotiations.

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From the above analysis of King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail, it is clear that he has aptly used Ethos, Pathos and Logos to persuade his critics or Clergyman, and make them understand his point of view. For that, he first shows and implies to the Clergyman that he is a man of reputation, then secondly, he arouses the sympathy of the readers regarding the oppression and struggles of the African Americans and finally, he aptly uses logic by pointing out how they started indulging in protests as the last resort.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from Brimingham Jail.” Frequently requested document. 
 Standford University, 18 Dec. 2000. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. 
 .

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Letter from a Birmingham Jail essay

The United States of America has a rich history wherein they have dealt with various challenges and hardships during their past experiences. The issue of slavery is regarded as one of the most controversial issue that the United States has to face. Slavery was able to affect a many people at the time when the country especially the southern states are using slaves in order to increase their production and propagate their plantation businesses.

The attention that it captured is dependent upon the fact that slavery involves inequality especially in terms of the discrimination and inhuman treatment that African slaves have to go through. In relation to this, there are people who are fighting against this kind of discrimination against African slaves and are advocating for their equality in the society. One of the most prominent personalities who substantially contributed towards the betterment of the situation of the African slaves is Martin Luther King Jr.

The Letter from a Birmingham Jail exemplified some of his efforts in order to fight for the rights of African Americans. The Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a clear example of the Martin Luther King Jr. way of showing his disagreement against people and even institutions that foster the continuous adherence to such kind of discrimination. The effectiveness of Martin Luther King, Jr. writing is not merely dependent upon his good intentions to free the African Americans’ from being discriminated because of their racial background but it also has a lot to do with his exceptional skills in rhetoric writing.

In relation to these, it the main objective of this paper to prove how Martin Luther King Jr. used rhetoric elements in order to get through the readers of his letter. In doing so, this paper will discuss three specific paragraphs from the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In connection to this, it will also analyze the rhetoric elements that Martin Luther King Jr. used and how this help in making other people see the injustice that the African Americans are experiencing. “I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states.

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I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds” (King Jr.

, 1963). The Letter from a Birmingham Jail is his answer to the statements sent by the clergymen who criticizes the demonstration made by Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters. One of the criticisms of the clergymen against him is that he is an outsider who is starting tension and conflict in Birmingham. He was able to counter-argue this accusation in his letter wherein he was able to defend himself and at the same time emphasize the important purpose that he has in Birmingham.

The previous paragraph shows how he used the logos in asserting that he is not an outside agitator. He exemplifies the principle of logos wherein he used reason in order to explain that every community in the United States is interconnected, which means that if injustice is existing in one place like Birmingham it is not unlikely that other communities will also follow it. In this sense, he asserted that as long as he is live in the boundaries of the United States he could never be an outsider.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait! ” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never. ” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied” (King Jr.

, 1963). Another comment that the clergymen have with the demonstrations done by Martin Luther King Jr. together with his supporters is that they regarded this as untimely. These clergymen asserted that the demonstration was not “well timed” and that the African Americans in Birmingham should have waited for the right time in order to achieve the equality that they are fighting for. On the Other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. disagreed with such claim and he pointed this out in his letter specifically with the paragraph above.

He used the rhetoric element of pathos to prove his point wherein he pleaded through the hearts of the readers by showing the untoward situation of the African Americans. Due to this, he asserted that the clergymen’s claim of waiting is not easy especially for a group of people who have waited all their lives for justice that is still not achieve. Moreover, he also highlighted that justice should not be delayed because if such is done then this justice is also denied to the people. The rhetoric of equality is what Martin Luther King Jr. wants to prove in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail.

His main purpose might indeed be to answer the criticisms of the clergymen but in doing so, he was also able to point out the very reasons as to why they are fighting against the injustices that are happening in Birmingham. He was able to clearly make his message across by using the elements of persuasive speech like logos and pathos. The paragraphs that were discussed above show how Martin Luther King Jr. used both logic and emotion in order to see why discrimination that is rooted way back during the time of slavery in the United States is indeed a form of injustice that must be immediately addressed.

In this sense, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to use the power of the pen through rhetoric writing in order to defend himself and his causes against the scrutiny of the clergymen as well as to make the greater public aware of the real reasons behind their advocacy and the demonstration that they did in Birmingham. This only goes to show that persuasive speech has the power to enlightened minds and change hearts.

Reference King Jr. , M. L. (1963). Letter from a Birmingham Jail. African Studies Center-University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www. africa. upenn. edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham. html.

What's the history of 'outside agitators'? Here's what to know about the label and campus protests

Many college and city leaders have blamed outside organizers for recent protests at universities around the country against U.S. support of Israel’s war in Gaza

Historically, when students at American universities and colleges protest — from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter — there’s a common refrain that “outside agitators” are to blame. College administrators and elected officials have often pointed to community members joining protests to dismiss the demands of student protesters.

Experts say it’s a convenient way for officials to delegitimize the motivations of some political movements and justify calling in law enforcement to stop direct actions that are largely nonviolent and engaging in constitutionally protected speech.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail

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Published: Dec 12, 2018

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What one thing do you remember most about Donald Trump’s presidency?

In April as part of the New York Times/Siena College survey, we called about 1,000 voters across the country and asked for their most prominent memory of the Trump years. Here’s what they said, in their own words.

“ His honesty ”

Trump supporter in 2024

“ His lies ”

Biden supporter

“ He had the country headed in the right direction ”

Trump supporter

“ America was going in the wrong direction ”

“ He was a crook ”

“ He couldn’t be bought ”

“ Efficient ”

“ Incompetent ”

“ Less division ”

“ Divided the country ”

The One Thing Voters Remember About Trump

By Christine Zhang ,  Sean Catangui and Alex Lemonides

The 2024 election will be in part a battle over memories, perhaps more than in previous presidential races because it’s a rare rematch. And memories aren’t necessarily static — what is happening today can influence those memories.

Two of the biggest U.S. news events in decades, the Covid pandemic and the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, are seldom the first thing on people’s minds when it comes to their memories of the Trump administration, for example, according to an April Times/Siena survey of registered voters nationwide .

When asked to describe the one thing they remembered most from Donald J. Trump’s presidency, only 5 percent of respondents referred to Jan. 6, and only 4 percent to Covid.

“It’s the salience of issues today that color the memories that people have of Trump,” said John Sides, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt.

The importance of issues of the moment may explain the large number of responses about the economy as opposed to Covid or Jan. 6, which have largely receded from the headlines.

Thinking back to when Donald Trump was president, what one thing do you remember most about Donald Trump’s presidency?

Trump’s behavior

The economy

Immigration

Foreign policy

Based on a New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,059 registered voters conducted April 7 to 11, 2024.

Top six categories shown.

Because of recency bias — a tendency to focus on recent events instead of past ones — people typically feel their current problems most sharply. And they tend to have a warmer recall of past experiences, which can lead to a sense of nostalgia. Like past presidents, Mr. Trump has enjoyed a higher approval rating of his time in office in retrospect.

Voters who shared negative memories of the Trump years overwhelmingly mentioned aspects of his behavior and personality, while the bulk of positive memories were about the economy.

Over a third of voters shared a positive memory. The same percentage shared a negative one. (Some memories could not be clearly categorized.) The Trump and Biden campaigns are sure to try to emphasize and remind voters of the memories favorable to them.

Here’s a closer look at some of the respondents’ most common memories of Mr. Trump’s years in office.

Comments from voters who said what they remembered most was Trump’s behavior

“ He was the biggest liar ever ”

Biden supporter in 2024

“ His dislike for Black people ”

“ The terrible things he did to women ”

“ Chaos and corruption ”

“ The disgrace he brought to this country ”

“ His direct way of doing business ”

“ I remember him using Twitter a lot ”

“ He got things done and fulfilled campaign promises ”

Selected responses from a New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,059 registered voters conducted April 7 to 11, 2024.

About two-thirds of the comments about Mr. Trump’s behavior and personality came from voters who said they would support President Biden in November.

Voters tended to speak about Mr. Trump’s personality traits in general terms, rather than recalling specific memories. These respondents were most likely using the question as a vehicle to express their views of Mr. Trump, in addition to or instead of calling to mind a specific memory, Mr. Sides said. Their answers are “a mixture of opinion and, maybe, memory,” he said.

For example, some referred to him as a liar. Others said they remembered him as sexist or racist. Dozens of voters simply replied “chaos.”

Biden supporters were far more likely to cite Mr. Trump’s behavior and personality than any specific issue. Some of them may have spoken about Mr. Trump generally because of the multitude of controversies during his time in office, Mr. Sides said. “If you don’t like Trump and your memory of Trump is essentially a negatively colored memory, it’s easier to sum it up in this fairly broad way by just critiquing him as a person,” he said.

Relatively few voters cited positive memories of Mr. Trump’s behavior and personality. Those who did typically used a common refrain: that he “got things done” or “did what he set out to do.”

This could, again, be a way for voters to express an opinion without a specific memory.

It could also reflect a persona that Mr. Trump has honed at rallies and in campaign communications, said Seth Masket, a professor of political science at the University of Denver. These recollections are not necessarily “bound by reality,” he said. “They’re images. They’re reputations.”

Comments from voters who said what they remembered most was the economy

“ The economy ”

“ The economy was a little better than it is now ”

“ The economy was in a lot better shape than it is now ”

“ Gas was cheap and we were using our own oil ”

“ That he gave out the stimulus checks ”

“ Tax cuts for the rich ”

“ The tax cuts ”

“ Good economy, no wars ”

Voters who cited the economy as their top memory largely looked back on the Trump years as a time of prosperity. A large share of these comments came from Trump supporters, many of whom said, generically, “the economy.”

“A lot of that is kind of a response to what people perceive as a not good economy now,” Mr. Masket said. Memories of a thriving Trump-era economy could reflect the salience of lingering inflation as an issue faced by President Biden today.

Presidents don’t have as much influence over the economy as many voters assume. For example, most rich countries like the U.S. experienced inflation spikes and then declines in inflation as the pandemic wound down, and economists have generally praised the U.S. recovery . But many voters are typically worried about economic signals right in front of them in the moment.

The many responses mentioning lower gas prices under Mr. Trump, for example, were a way for voters to draw a contrast between the two candidates. “In 2020, when no one could travel, gas prices were very low,” Mr. Masket said. Higher gas prices were “one of the most notable features of inflation” during the pandemic recovery, he added.

Comments from voters who said what they remembered most was immigration

“ He saved our country and closed the border ”

“ The wall ”

“ Started the wall on the border ”

“ His promise to build a wall ”

“ He did attempt to start building the wall ”

“ He did something about the border ”

“ Putting children in cages ”

The Biden administration has grappled with the surge in illegal crossings along the border with Mexico, making it an issue with higher salience. Trump supporters who remembered Mr. Trump’s immigration politics tended to cite his promises to build a wall along the border and his hard-line approach to border security, things they saw as standing in contrast with Mr. Biden’s approach.

The small number of Biden supporters in the survey whose main memory of Mr. Trump was about immigration almost all mentioned Trump-era policies that led to family separations at the border.

Comments from voters who said what they remembered most was Covid or Jan. 6

“ When he refused to turn over power ”

“ He should be in jail for the Jan. 6 incident ”

“ Involvement with the Jan. 6 riot attack on the capital ”

“ Jan. 6 and his unwillingness to accept the election results ”

“ His anti-science views; he called Covid a liberal hoax ”

“ He called Covid-19 a hoax and was a constant liar ”

“ Total incompetence in handling the Covid-19 crisis ”

“ Negligence in providing accurate Covid information ”

The fading of Covid and Jan. 6 from people’s memories about Mr. Trump — less than 10 percent of survey respondents mentioned them — is still surprising, Mr. Masket said. “In many ways, the most recent things about his presidency are not the things that people remember about him,” he said.

Voters may be loath to revisit unpleasant memories of the pandemic, he said. This helps Mr. Trump in some ways. “Trump almost gets a pass,” he said, adding, “He just gets, ‘Well, the first three years were good and the fourth year wasn’t his fault.’”

Thoughts of Covid and Jan. 6 could have informed other answers, even if voters didn’t cite them specifically, Mr. Sides said. For instance, voters could have been thinking of these events when giving responses mentioning Mr. Trump’s lies or chaos and division during his time in office.

Comments from voters who said what they remembered most was foreign policy

“ No new wars ”

“ Knew how to talk to foreign people and keep peace with everyone ”

“ Peace in the Middle East ”

“ World peace ”

“ Stability among nations ”

“ Opening up communication with North Korea ”

“ Threatening nuclear war against North Korea ”

“ Probably when he made peace with North Korea and he was the first president to step foot on Korean soil ”

A handful of voters in the survey, mostly Trump supporters, looked back on the Trump years as a time of peace. This may be because of the two major international conflicts — the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war — that are dominant in the public consciousness today. As with responses about the economy and immigration, these responses may reflect an implicit critique of Mr. Biden’s handling of foreign policy.

A few voters — both Biden and Trump supporters — specifically mentioned North Korea in their top memory of Mr. Trump as president, in particular his meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, at the Demilitarized Zone.

More About the Times/Siena Poll

You Ask, We Answer: How The Times/Siena Poll Is Conducted

The New York Times/Siena College Poll has earned a reputation for accuracy and transparency. But as with any poll, there are limits to just how much you can derive.

By The New York Times

There is time for perceptions to shift before November, and for other issues to take hold. (The survey was conducted before the start of Mr. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial.)

In the battle over memories, the Biden campaign will be trying to remind voters of some older ones that reflect poorly on Mr. Trump.

In April, Mr. Biden shared a video on social media of Mr. Trump’s suggestion to inject disinfectant during the early days of the pandemic. And on Tuesday, the Biden campaign released a digital ad that interspersed Mr. Trump’s criticism of immigrants along with images of crying women and children.

“If people are mostly thinking about the economy, that seems to be helping Trump right now, and what the Biden team is going to try and do is keep raising other issues, keep raising, you know, Jan. 6 as an issue or chaos and Covid as an issue,” Mr. Masket said.

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Our Coverage of the 2024 Election

Presidential Race

A partisan battle in Ohio has stalled an effort by state lawmakers to ensure that President Biden is on the ballot  in the state this November, teeing up what could be an expensive and protracted legal battle ahead of this year’s election.

Donald Trump told a group of oil executives and lobbyists that they should donate $1 billion to his presidential campaign  because, if elected, he would roll back environmental rules that he said hampered their industry.

Biden announced the creation of an A.I. data center in Wisconsin , highlighting one of his administration’s biggest economic accomplishments in a battleground state — and pointing to a significant failure by former President Donald Trump.

Mexico Prepares for a Trump Win:  Behind the scenes, the Mexican government is talking to people close  to the Trump campaign about proposals such as a threat of a “universal tariff” on imported goods, and working to resolve trade disagreements before the U.S. election.

R.F.K. Jr. Signature Gatherers:  More than half a dozen New York City residents described encounters with people seeking  their signature who did not make clear that their aim was to place the independent 2024 candidate on the ballot.

Sensing Shift on Abortion:  Are Latinas — once considered too religious or too socially conservative to support abortion rights — changing their views on the issue? Demorcats are optimistic .

A Wild Card in Texas:  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, expects to be on the ballot in Texas. His addition could lend a hand to the Democratic challenger seeking to unseat Senator Ted Cruz .

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