King compares his mission in Birmingham to that of the Apostle Paul, aware that, as clergymen, his audience cannot dispute the righteousness of an apostle's mission.
King's aphoristic contention that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" is his first hint of the potentially far-reaching ramifications of segregation. This statement and the following one that "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny" express that the Negro
• populace of the South will not be alone in suffering from the effects of society's injustices; instead, the negative effects will inevitably spread to everyone. King argues that together we stand, divided we fall.
Saying "I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes," King shames the clergymen into a position wherein they are unable to disagree without looking foolish, as if they were children taunted with the accusation of being "chicken." Placing things into perspective with his statement that "It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative," King illustrates that the Negroes were demonstrating for a reason.
From the third through the fifth paragraph, King employs emotional appeal to build the pace, but in the sixth paragraph, he backs away from the emotional tone, and reverts to logic: "there are four basic steps." This is a strategic and effective use of pace and structure, because although King wishes to criticize the clergymen, he is well aware that if he angers them overmuch, they will simply stop reading. If the clergymen do not read King's letter, he will be unable to show them the truth and the errors of their ways.