Letter from Birmingham Jail

The letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while he was incarcerated. The letter is Dr. King talking about a resistance to racism that does not involve violence. Dr. Kings core meaning behind his letter is that everyone is responsible for justice across the nation. He argues justice cannot be defended only by laws because the laws were also written by human beings. He states some laws aren’t necessary and get put into place that make people’s lives harder, he is in favor of breaking laws that make people suffer but he does not break the law by doing anything violent. Dr. King believes that he isn’t creating tension by following unnecessary laws he believes he is bringing tension that already exists in society to other people’s attention. Dr. King also states in his speech that he believes people who are willing to break the law and go to jail, so he can bring about awareness to how unjust the law is has the most respect for the laws than anyone. Dr. King also had a great quote in this speech “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King). Based upon the quote it really proves how hands on Dr. King really was. He believed that if you wanted change you had to demand it since you’re the one its affecting. I believe Dr. Kings messages are still relevant today. I believe that there are so many things in society that have changed because of oppression and people sticking by what they believe. An example of this would be the legalization of marijuana. 30 years ago, it never would have thought to be legal let alone used for medicine, but because people stuck by what they believed that make it a positive change in society that can not only help and make people happy but also boost the economy. If everyone who was oppressed followed how they handled their situation like Martin Luther King believed best, people’s lives would change for the better.