Matheny

2/4/13
1st
Letter from a Birmingham Jail

1. Most of the white community is blind to the justice of King's protest because they view any
disturbance of peace, even if for a just cause, as a bad thing that must be avoided at all cause. King
describes this as a willingness to live in a negative peace where there is peace only because of lack of
tension, rather than in true peace where justice prevails. By writing this letter, King hopes to awaken
passive opponents of segregation, and to win them over to his side of nonviolent direct action. King
is also using this letter to further cement his own goals and to give thanks to those who already helped,
and are still helping the cause.

2. King is committed to nonviolent direct action because, unlike negotiation, which segregationists
advocate, nonviolent direct action makes the issue not ignorable. In a way, it forces people to recognize
a problem without resorting to violence. King sees this as the most effective way to promote change in
the communities he visits, such as Birmingham.

3. An unjust law must be broken openly and lovingly because one is morally obligated to do so.
According to King, unjust laws were out of harmony with the moral law. By not breaking these laws,
one would be contributing to the negative peace that King mentions earlier, but by breaking them,
one would be acting to achieve true justice and righteousness.

4. King is confident that national opinion will expose these injustices because as the segregation
issue is brought to the forefront of the nations mind, people will begin to act against it. Like King has
said before, the tension is already there, but through his nonviolent direct action, he brings that tension

Matheny
2/4/13
1st
to the surface.

5. King finds it hard to explain racism to children because since there is no cause for it, one can only
give children meaningless reasons for their cruel treatment. And from these empty explanations,
bitterness grows in the children towards white people that only prevents an absolution of hatred in the
future,