Preview

A more perfect union

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1319 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A more perfect union
How “Letter from Birmingham Jail” addresses the issue of racism more effectively than “A More Perfect Union”
Racism is an important issue that should not be ignored during any time period and can affect any race. It still plays a role in society today but it is not seen as a main issue. Martin Luther King Junior and President Barack Obama are two individuals that both had a passion to liberate the black community from the discrimination that they were subjected to for many years. In Martin Luther King Junior’s letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he discusses why racism is a problem and how he is going to take action to stop it. Then in, Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, Obama briefly focuses on racism but then moves towards other issues that the nation faces. Although King and Obama focus on racism and its effects on individuals and society as a whole I believe that King more fully addresses the issue because he seems to be more passionate about the problem with racism. He speaks on the issue of racism freely even though the people in his community do not agree with his beliefs. Obama briefly focuses on racism but he steers away from that important issue and focuses on his plan to make a better America by fixing class, economic and inequality because he believes that it is no longer a major problem.
In King’s letter he shows that he believes that racism/segregation is a major problem and he discuss the action he is going to take action to stop it. Segregation was something that hurt all types of blacks; old black women and men, young black girls and boys. They felt humiliated when they saw signs reading ‘“white’ and ‘colored”’ (345). King states that fathers did not know what to say when they were asked questions by their kids. One question fathers were asked is “‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’” (345). Fathers were unable to answer their child because they did not want them to know about segregation. I believe they felt it was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While King was giving the speech he included himself as being discriminating against. He stated some as simple as being on the bus and how he was thrown to the back because he was African American. King knew that if a person that has gone through the struggle of being treated differently, there would someone else just like him with the same struggle that would have his back. And gain supporters to stop racism, and make racism something people hate to see not join in. Martin Luther King Jr knew that non-violent protests is the way to go if you’re trying to make a…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    was the view King had on white people who supported racial equality but initiated no action…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As inevitable as the U.S. Constitution feels today as the foundation on which the United States of America and its political system are built, it was not the first document ratified by the former British colonies to establish a union. During the years of the American Revolutionary War and the years directly following it, the newly formed United States of America were essentially a collection of thirteen more or less sovereign states loosely held together in an alliance by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (Articles of Confederation). However, as a foundation for a functioning government, the Articles of Confederation were lacking, leaving the federal government essential powerless and unable to effectively execute the few powers explicitly bestowed upon it by the Articles. Fiscal issues and rebellion threaten to tear the young nation…

    • 2487 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    King wanted to ensure his audience understood why he was doing what he was doing as well as why he was using his chosen plan of action. King made his audience sympathize with is cause by using his words to bring about strong emotions in his readers. King does this by demonstrating what the African American community had to endure. King uses imagery and parallelism to accomplish this. The line, “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown you sisters and brothers at whim…” (King 3) is an example of his use of these devices. His using these devices, as well as how this particular entire passage is structured, compels the reader to put themselves in the shoes of King and envision how he along with other African Americans must have felt during this time. This is arguably one of the most emotional passages in the entire letter. The goal here is to ensure that the reader remains engaged with the text as well as sympathetic to his…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    King stated in his letter that, “‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never’”(par. 11), so they must begin to take action in a lickety-split manner. This means that African Americans must demand their freedom now instead of waiting for it to be given voluntarily because ultimately, if they continue to wait, they will have to wait forever. This is evident because King stated, “It is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, ‘"Wait’"(par.11). This means that the whites have never been “Humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’... Living constantly at tiptoe stance, knowing what to expect next, plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; Fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodyness’”(par. 11), meaning that the whites had never…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This quote exemplifies that if you would have seen what really happened that you would see differently. The purpose of this quote is to make you think something or feels something different than before you read the Letter from Birmingham City Jail. He directs the statement at you, which now makes you connected to this letter. The overall purpose of this letter is to give people an insight about segregation and to justify the rights of African Americans across the country. King’s tone moves the audience to see that the freedom and rights of the African Americans indeed…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The letter is an appeal to all people, whites and blacks in the American society. He wants equality among the social, political, and religious community and the whole of American society. He finds it incredible to encourage desegregation and integration. King’s letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the society, particularly the political and religious community of American society. Dr. King just wanted to world to be equal and have better communication. He is reaching out to whomever he can to make a difference and made big…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King states that he broke the law because he believed that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” as stated in paragraph 12. King later adds that “any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” The laws that King protested were just that; they separated and degraded all African-Americans. While I cannot relate directly to this, I can imagine the anger sparked in all of the African-Americans. They knew the term “separate but equal” was a flat-out lie to make the white people feel better about themselves. I believe King and his followers had every right to be angry and disobey the laws posed against…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The letter you have received from Mr. King well informs you of his views and position on the subject of segregation. Seeing as Birmingham Alabama is by far one of the most segregated cities in the United States it only makes sense that Mr. King and his followers would stage a demonstration here. Mr. King, in his letter to you, compares the…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main issues talked about in the letter is why not wait some more time to see what the Whites will do. Martin Luther King Jr. had a great response to this, something many people still use today. After hundreds of years of suffering, it is time to act and end this racism. Instead of waiting for liberation, Martin Luther King Jr. says to start liberation now and not wait another hundred years. This response is one many found inspiring. It shows what hundreds of years of oppression can do to a person. If there is a problem at hand, act now or wait for the problem to get worse.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King. The discontent from the African Americans was to be channeled in changing segregation laws in a non-violent form. He used past presidents, presidents that society looked up too, in order to help him make his point that men and women, no matter what race or ethnicity, were all created equally and it was time for the white Americans to rise up and accept this. I found his letter to be very powerful in that he made it known to the people that we was disappointed with white church and its leadership in that Christians once stood up to their beliefs and yet they were faulting African Americans in their quest to accomplish the same thing. He was trying not to be a negative critic because they can always find something wrong, but he criticized it as an individual that loves the church and that he hoped they would understand and comply with desegregation because it was the law. I found it interesting when the church came back saying it was a social issue with which the gospel has no concern. The ultimate goal was freedom in Birmingham and in other parts of the nation because the goal of America was freedom and that they would eventually win because they had God on their side. It wasn’t up to the church, the community, or the federal courts to forgive him, it was up to…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. King rhetoric essay

    • 750 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail he is responding to a letter from the clergymen. The clergymen called his plea for change untimely, they explained how they didn’t want violent outbursts to happen which would be caused by their protests. They wanted him to wait, Dr. King was tired of waiting for nothing to happen. “We have waited for more than 340 years for out Constitutional and God-given rights” (pg. 264). In this letter a lot of biblical allusion was used, he referenced the Bible or the name of God directly in his writing. He states how the colored people were like “outsiders coming in” (pg.262) Jesus was an outsider and not many people accepted him in the beginning of his ministry. The Civil Rights activists were not accepted by the Caucasian community during their journey to integration. The Letter from Birmingham Jail, was just the first step to make a difference in the world, he stated the problems that he observed in the community and had it set in his mind that he was going to be the one to solve them.…

    • 750 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism is a topic that has faced out of most politicians debate. In the 1960s, the delegations for most politicians are Civil Rights. It was a topic that was affecting America’s society. African Americans were tired and frustrated waiting for a leader to do justice. Dr. King was a man very involved with politics. Dr. King was recognized for his nonviolent movement and relationship with political leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Dr. King’s movement was not criticized as much as Malcolm X’s opposition. In contrary, Dr. King was not pleased with the political leaders actions toward the civil rights. According David Hamberstam, he wrote, “King felt that the Kennedys were dragging their feet on civil rights, which was correct-they…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King serves as an inspiration to countless citizens, including me as he seized on a ginormous problem in his life and tackles this dilemma. Today, racial discrimination is it’s known name; Dr. King didn’t admire the unfair inequality some people received even after the Civil War that was fought for no slaves and equality to everyone. “To that end, he traveled the world proclaiming his vision of the "beloved community," and defining racism as a worldwide evil.” (Martin Luther King’s Dream of Racial Equality) Dr. King knew the importance of the matter at hand and with his infinitely powerful speeches, he motivates the entire world to undertake some change about the inequality. Wars today in other countries are often fought for religious freedom or other troubles that are about church. Racism, a worldwide problem, is a matter we can start solving little by little if we just choose to glance beyond skin color, religious beliefs, and other attributes that some people judge separate us to choose how we treat them based on their personality and overall how they are as a person. Dr. King’s inspirations also changed what others thought concerning equality, which shows he’s just as easily going to be an inspirational man to several people now and in the future of the…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. talks about how African Americans should be treated the same way as the white people. Martin Luther King Jr. choose to protest about the effort he believed, in that African Americans where not being treated the same way as the white people where being treaded in America. He ends up getting arrested for the protest that he planed out, where he later writes a letter about the point he is trying to bring to the world, he wrote, "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"(pg10). During the time, when Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the letter all of the African Americans where not being treated fairly and did not have the same rights as white people had. King ended up fighting for the rights for all of the African Americans, even if it meant to put himself in danger or getting arrested. He ends up seeing the bright future for African Americans in America, eve do it doesn’t look like when he wrote the…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays