Essay on “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
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document in english
history 1789 to present history 1789 to present
 
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date published 27/09/2007
 
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section Summary
 
 
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King, raises an interesting point about the civil right’s movement. He notes those who rallied for the government to enforce the landmark decision of 1954, in which the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of the school system, were often found to be in violation of other laws. Dr. King explains that while the behavior of civil rights activists may seem contradictory, the activists were actually obeying moral law, though they were often jailed for disobeying the laws of the land. It is through this example that King explains the concept of just and unjust laws (King 361). This same concept can also be applied to the female characters in “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell and “Antigone” by Sophocles. While the women characters in “Trifles” and “Antigone” are guilty of breaking the law, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would probably agree that the laws that they have disobeyed are unjust laws and that the women are indeed abiding by just, moral law.
 
 
section Table of Contents
 
  1. In 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' Dr. Martin Luther King, raises an interesting point about the civil right's movement.
  2. According to King, 'A just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or the law of God.
  3. Dr. King also describes a just law as one that uplifts human personality, while and unjust law degrades human personality.
  4. Another way that King defines unjust law is one that is inflicted on a minority that had no part in enacting or devising the law (King 361).
  5. The women in 'Trifles' illustrate King's description of a just law as one that uplifts one's personality.
 
 
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