Letter From Birmingham Jail

What is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s purpose in the 5th paragraph?

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

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King accuses the clergymen of not taking the cause of equality seriously. He says that their words ring hollow if there is no action behind them. King asserts that there must be active protest if they are ever to get their message out.

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