“We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say “wait.” But ………………………….when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “n*****” and your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a N****, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobody-ness”—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience”.
The very first sentence demonstrates King’s employment of a historical perspective to current political events. Here, the reference to “three hundred and forty years” is in reference to the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. Such references give an aura of authenticity and credibility to the point being illustrated. Martin Luther King was a master of this technique.
Another recognizable aspect of King’s individual style of narration lies in the allusion to the suffering of close family members. For instance, “hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters”. The usage of “brothers and sisters” is a particularly powerful rhetorical tool. This was a time when many African Americans were adopting Islam as their religion, which is founded on the principles of universal brotherhood. Hence, it has appeal to that section of the black community as well. In the same vein is the mention of the difficulties facing young black Americans.
Take another example, “your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. Here too the inside out depiction of the ordeals in the microcosm of an African American family is used to illustrate the general sufferings of the rest of the black community. Moreover, the clever juxtaposition of “tears welling up” and “Funtown” makes a poignant impression on the listeners.
Many political commentators have pointed to King’s charisma manifesting in his public discourse. A prime example where his persona stamps itself on the message as in “when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “n*****” and your middle name becomes “boy””. Here King employs his own personal experiences of humiliation and discrimination in portraying the broader issue.
While King was a devoted Christian in his day, most of his public expressions have been secular. Although there might be an odd reference to Biblical precedents, his speeches and writings are not based on a theological framework. In other words, most of his discourse falls under the philosophy of humanism. This is a salient aspect of King’s rhetoric, and it consequently had a profound impact on the ethnically and religiously diverse American population. Moreover, King’s oratory was usually exceptional in nature and many listeners him as a divinely inspired leader, but without affiliating with any particular school of religious thought. While there is evidence for usage of Christian idiom, it is intricately woven into the letter in such a way as to look secular. This aspect of a lack of theological leaning is evident throughout the Birmingham letter and the passage chosen for discussion as well.
While the feminist movement did not reach its peak until the mid seventies, King was a forerunner in the concept of equality of sexes. Martin Luther King was a leader ahead of his time and a large part of his appeal to women followers is due to his reverence of them. For instance, when he writes “your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.””, King was expressing a honest sentiment felt by him and his fellow African American gentlemen.
A key element in the passage being discussed is the subtle provocation and profundity that is a hallmark of all of King’s public utterances. The provocative nature of some of the sentences in the letter must not be seen as a sign of the author’s aggressiveness. To the contrary, King had always adhered to non-violent approach to black emancipation. The farthest that King will ever go is as in “when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobody-ness””. Reverend King, in his long public life had never advocated physical violence as a means to black freedom and equality. Even in the most trying of circumstances, he always projects the principle of nonviolent civil resistance, as originally demonstrated by Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle against the British colonialists. In this regard, both these leaders were masters at organizing civil resistance at the foundations of which is a clever but morally lofty rhetoric of non-violence.
The other appealing element of Reverend King’s rhetoric that made it so effective in garnering public support for his cause was the ingenuous use of metaphors and lyrical constructs in his writings and speeches. For example, in the passage in question, King writes, “when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a N**** such a powerful public” and “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair”. Both these examples beautifully illustrate this point.
Works Cited:
Garrow, D.J., Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, published in 2004.
King Jr, Martin Luther, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Liberating Faith: Religious Voices for Justice and Peace, 2003
King Jr. Martin Luther, Letter from the Birmingham City Jail, A Turbulent Voyage: Readings in African American Studies, 2000
Fairclough, A., Martin Luther King, Jr., published in 1995.
Lee, R.E., The Rhetorical Construction of Time in Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Communication Journal, 1991.