Question

Read the excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. What is the author’s purpose for including this sentence?

Answer 1

Answer:

To explain his unwillingness to postpone his efforts.

Explanation:

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King wrote an open letter "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to rant out but more importantly to explain his purpose. He had been jailed, and the people of Birmingham had criticized him for his actions of going against the government.

King was jailed for his opposition and call for people to oppose unjust laws like that of racism. In his letter, a response for the criticism from the Birmingham clergymen, he said that "Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation". He included this line to explain his unwillingness to postpone his efforts. For in postponing it, he will only be extending the suffering of his fellow black men, and also the fight against racism. To delay justice is to be cowardly and unjust for the people suffering. So, he is implying that instead of asking him to delay, they (the clergymen) should be joining him in his fight for equality.