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Interpreting Logical Appeals –
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Foundation Lesson – High School
During non-violent demonstrations for racial equality in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther
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King, Jr. was arrested and jailed for eight days. He wrote this letter to white clergymen to explain his actions
and to answer those people who urged him to call off the demonstrations he had called for. He responds to
his critics who claim that he and other African-Americans should wait for the federal, state, and local
governments to make changes.
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King’s letter uses all three persuasive appeals – logical, emotional, and ethical. Logos
loosely translates to “logic.” A logical appeal depends on reasoning and evidence,
appealing more to the audience’s intellect than their emotions. Logical reasoning
depends on the following:
• deductive reasoning • tradition (precedent)
• reliance on authority • cause/effect
• facts as evidence • effective and accurate metaphors
• research
King writes the following using a logical appeal:
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. 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