America proclaimed the idea of, "all men are equal," in the Constitution. "All men," however did not include African Americans. Ever since the Civil War, they were strongly discriminated against and had limited freedoms compared to white people. Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist leader leading the Civil Rights Movement. His well-known letter, "The Letter From Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963," was written to inform the clergyman regarding the issue of discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. He used the three persuasive techniques, logo, patho, and etho to vindicated his views on racial discrimination, which has inspired many African Americans to fight for their autonomy with non- violent protest. .
Martin Luther King Jr. used etho, an ethical appeal, to expressed his ideas to concern the injustice in America. He was arrested for protesting the treatment that African Americans received in Birmingham. "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself a law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law," (King, p 1307). A law becomes injustice when a specific group of people were denied voting rights. The Constitution states that "all men are equal," therefore the words, "all men," should include all races. The 15th Amendment prohibits the government from rejecting any American citizen from participation in government activities regardless of his or her race. "Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered," (King, 1307). Martin Luther King Jr. illustrated the corruption in society, wherein white people used atrocious methods to prevent African Americans from voting, violating the 15th Amendment.
