Upon reading “A Call for Unity” the first thing I notice is the title of the letter. With the conditions of that period the last thing I would expect would be White people wanting to unify the community. It’s also interesting that the authors of the letter claim that the “outsiders” should take their problems to the courts. This could never happen because Blacks had no rights possible to defend in the court system, and the authors of the letter obviously knew this. They were trying to make themselves look completely peaceful and innocent and make the Blacks seem like obnoxious savages. It is true that Martin Luther does the same thing in his letter but at least he’s a little more discreet about it.
King defends his actions with his letter and does a good job of justifying them. One of the most important things he does is claim that he has to see to the injustices because it is what any person in his situation would do. He also compares his actions to those in the Bible which is a hard move for the opposing side to counteract. King also uses a resource which the White authors failed to use in their letter and that resource is facts. King backs up his claims with information such as that which included the four basic steps to a nonviolent campaign. This makes his argument seem legitimate and the opposing side’s seem unbelievable.
King also answers to the complaints in “A Call for Unity.” He explains why he and his followers have resorted to direct action and he has solid evidence to back it up. He successfully turns the blame around on the White people and that is what makes his letter seem a lot more truthful than their letter.
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