Verified Document

Coatesville" John Jay Chapman "The Letter Birmingham Essay

¶ … Coatesville" John Jay Chapman "The Letter Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther Deeply Disillusioned

The United States of America has meant a wide variety of things to several different people, particularly to those who have had to call its shores home. The initial promise of this land -- as one of redemption, as a place where the lofty ideas engraved within such documents as the Bill of Rights and the Constitution have never been fully realized by a widening number of people who have never been treated with the degree of parity and ideals within them -- wasted little time in going sour. Virtually any Native American can tell you: there can never be justice on stolen land. In spite of this fact, men such as Martin Luther King, Jr. have written their own documents (such as "Letter From A Birmingham Jail," a discourse about the need for public non-violent protest) attempting to change this fact and change the country. Similarly, John Jay Chapman's piece entitled "Coatesville," which laments the public burning of an African-American man, was also written as a cry to incite decisive action within this country to bring about a perceived change in the racial disparities that have always threatened it. Yet closer examination of these texts indicates the authors' respective sense of disillusionment with America's promise and the idea that there will never be justice within its borders.

The principle cause for the growing sense of disillusionment within the United States is evinced in Chapman's "Coatesville" as a direct result of the racially motivated violent actions propagated against African-Americans. The public burning of an African-American was the inspiration for the author's writing of "Coatesville," and shows his disillusionment with a society that would largely tolerate and condone such action, as the following quotation indicates. "As I read the newspaper accounts of the scene enacted here in Coatesville a year ago, I seemed to get a glimpse into the unconscious soul of this country… I said to myself…I have seen death in the heart of this people." The newspaper accounts which the author refers...

Chapman's disillusionment is evident by the fact that he refers to this incident as revealing the "soul" of American people, and that that soul, and the heart which encases it, is death. It is due to the racial violence that the author has become so disillusioned with American society that he sees its "death."
Moreover, this same tendency to incite racial violence against African-Americans is the primary cause for King's disillusionment with the United States, and is fairly demonstrative in "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." The following quotation, in which King explains to a group of clergymen in Birmingham why he felt the need to pursue non-violent action that would eventually get him jailed, readily attests to this fact. "Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatments in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case." In understanding how this quotation illustrates King's disillusionment with the United States, it becomes important to understand his reason for writing this document. King was jailed for leading non-violent protests against unfair racial treatment in Birmingham. The recipients of this letter were clergymen who criticized his need to wage such a campaign within the streets of this city. Yet the very fact that King felt the need to take such an overt action as a protest indicates his disillusionment with this country, and its "grossly unjust" dealings with African-Americans within the court system.

The degree of culpability with which these authors regard the surrounding society of the United States that allows such racial violence to take place is another, more poignant source of disillusionment in this country. Chapman, for his part, widely indicts all residents of the country as being guilty for the burning of the African-American man in…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Chapman, John Jay. "Coatesville." Wake Forest University. 28. Oct. 2011. http://www.wfu.edu/%7Ezulick/index.html

King Jr., Martin Luther. "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." University or Pennsylvania Africana Studies. 28 Oct. 2011. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Letter From Birmingham Jail
Words: 590 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Letter Birmingham Response to the Letter from Birmingham Jail It is difficult to imagine being in the position Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in when he wrote this letter. Though it was far from the only time he was arrested during his campaigning for civil rights, the "Birmingham Campaign" that led to this arrest was one of the larger movements of civil disobedience that King helped to lead, and the weight

Letter From Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Words: 638 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dear Sir: My name is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am currently imprisoned in a Birmingham Jail as a result of accusations of inciting a riot. On the eve of October 14th of this year, 1958 I lead a peaceful demonstration protesting unfair wages and poor working conditions of the poor people in the city of Birmingham. I would like to

Letter From Birmingham Jail
Words: 1284 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in

Letter from Birmingham Jail Analysis
Words: 3390 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

Abstract This paper serves as a letter from Birmingham jail analysis essay.  It first gives background information on the Birmingham Campaign and why King was there in the first place.  Then it proceeds to discuss the reason he wrote his letter, which was a public response to public criticism he received from eight white Southern preachers.  The analysis examines the letter itself and shows how King used various arguments and persuasive

MLK'S Letter From Birmingham Jail
Words: 1704 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

He clarifies his status i.e. A spiritual leader and a learned person by using well chosen ethos of St. Aquinas, Jesus and Paul therefore puts him forth as a trustworthy person. Also being an African-American makes him the right person to participate in this event because he understands the situation properly. By use of logos he explains the reason behind the actions of the black persons of which the

Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail
Words: 324 Length: 1 Document Type: Term Paper

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail." It uses M.Gandhi as an example of extremism to match King's example of Jesus Christ. It includes a quote by King on Gandhi. It distinguishes King's form of extreme behavior from the extreme action of those who mailed the anthrax-contaminated letters. LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL Martin Luther King Jr. knew the same discontent and yearning for freedom that eventually manifests in oppressed people

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now