April 17th

"A Letter from Birmingham Jail", written by Martin Luther King Jr., heavily appeals to the readers intellect, reason, and rationality. Most of King's argument is him putting things in perspective for the opposition, where the opposition often feels King is acting extremely and unwisely. He encourages the reader to put themselves in the shoes of an African American during the times of civil rights movements. He invites the opposition into the hardships that African Americans faced everyday, hardships that the opposition never had to face, and hardships that the opposition may have not known existed. He appeals to intellect, reason, and rationality by saying, if you were in this position, would you act how you expect me to act, or would you act how I am currently acting? Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Nonviolence as Compliance" attacks the same issue of black oppression, but at a different angle. King's arguments were based solely on a nonviolent approach to peace and mutual respect with the opposition. Coates' argument relies heavily on emotions, feelings, and empathy, and does not necessarily advocate a violent approach for African American equality, but he argues that there is no other option left for blacks. He compares using nonviolent approaches to black equality in this day and age to using non violent approaches in the middle of a war. He uses examples of several horrible incidents where innocent blacks were unjustly hurt or persecuted to appeal to the readers emotions. He asks rhetorical questions to the readers, asking if it is just that the african american people are mistreated with no proper representation. Both authors have valid arguments that help shine light on an issue that is misunderstood by outsiders. Both authors allowed outsiders to see the inside perspective more clearly and argue their cause reasonably and with dignity.