MLK's Point

I think the main point of Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is to rebut the issues presented by prominent clergymen who protested his methods of activism. King very effectively explains why he is doing what he feels necessary and how his way of attempting to achieve equality is superior to violence or doing nothing at all. It seems as though this letter is a means of both enlightening and silencing his critics. King explains that it is not wrong to protest segregation; it is wrong to stand idle and let it prevail over humane and Christian ideas. It is also noteworthy that King mentions Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. He is explaining to the clergymen, and any other reader, that if his ways of nonviolent protest fail, the angst created by hundreds of years of oppression will be released in a radical and violent way. In his letter, King articulately clarifies many of the misconceptions surrounding both him and the civil rights movement.