How does King's rhetoric in paragraph 15 advance his purpose in the letter? Provide an explanation of how this paragraph contributes to the development of ideas in the text as a whole.

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Josie Erickson

20 November, 23:45

How does King's rhetoric in paragraph 15 advance his purpose in the letter? Provide an explanation of how this paragraph contributes to the development of ideas in the text as a whole.

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Janet Pena · Answer 1

Paragraph 15 contributes to the development of the text by introducing just and unjust laws.

Explanation:

Paragraphs 15 to 22 " Letter from Birmingham Jail" introduce a number of rethorical questions that disaprove the charges agains King. In paragraph 15, he mainly talks about just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a man-made code that modifies the moral law or the law of God, so that a majority compells minority to follow it. On the other hand, a just law is a code that is created out of harmony with the moral law, and every man should just follow it. After explaining this, he continues to explain that segregation law is an unjust law since it couldn't have been chosen by democratic means of election, because African-American people were not allowed to vote.

In the light of this explanation, he explains that he simply must disobey any law that is unjust and immoral, even though it might be legal.

Paragraph 15 "Letter from Birmingham Jail":

"Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. 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. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. 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. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? 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. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?"