Power Analysis: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail “Letter from Birmingham Prison”. This statement criticized King's nonviolent protest actions against racial segregation and the injustice of unequal civil rights in America (Carpenter et al.). The eight clergymen considered Birmingham "their" city and King was disrupting the "law, order, and common sense" established to deal with racial problems in Alabama at that time (Carpenter et al. par 1). These clergy considered King an “outsider” and called his actions “reckless and untimely” (Carpenter elt al. par 3). This statement suggests that there is an appropriate time to create equality among all Americans. To analyze the power strategies of Martin Luther King's letter, we must understand that this letter was written from a prison cell, where King, a black man, was being held for protesting for racial equality. Additionally, King began writing his letter in the margins of the newspaper article that contained the clergymen's statement (King Institute). The statement written by the clergy and addressed to Martin Luther King Jr. was a direct action to manage the “game” and “regulate the action,” as Michael Schwalbe theorized (163). By arresting King for "parading without a permit," the Birmingham police attempted to punish King's actions (King, para. 14). By denying King the “First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (14), the Birmingham Police Department protects its “identity stakes” (Schwalbe, 165), white privilege. The white power structure described in King's letter was intended to "preserve the evil system of segregation...... middle of paper ......., LL.D., CCJ, JOSEPH A. DURICK, DD , HILTON J. GRAFMAN, PAUL HARDIN, HOLAN B. HARMON, GEORGE M. MURRAY, EDWARD V. RAMSAGE and EARL STALLINGS. “Statement from Alabama Clergy” Letter to Birmingham News. April 12, 1963. Web. October 26, 2011. King Institute. Web. October 26, 2011. .King, Jr., Martin Luther. April 16, 1963. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Stanford: Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Stanford University Web. .Lukes, Steven. "Power: A Radical Vision." 25. Print. Schwalbe, Michael. “Regulating the Action,” 1st ed., Oxford University Press, USA., 163-99..