Question

Read this excerpt. I must close now. But before closing I am impelled to mention one other point in your statement that troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and “preventing violence.” I don’t believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don’t believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young Negro boys; if you will observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I’m sorry that I can’t join you in your praise for the police department. In his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” how does Martin Luther King, Jr. connect the public and private actions of the police? They are both meant to preserve segregation. They are both meant to avoid punishment. They are both meant to earn commendation. They are both meant to show nonviolence.

Answer 1

A) They are both meant to preserve segregation.

Answer 2

Martin Luther King, Jr. connects the public and private actions of the police by showing how they are both meant to preserve segregation.

In his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks out against police actions against the black community. He talks about how the dogs bit nonviolent black people, how they would push and curse out black women and girls, slap and kick black men and boys, and refuse to give black people food. All of these police actions, both public and private, show how the police were promoting the segregation of the black and white communities. The police did not treat black people the same as white people.