How does King begin the letter? What is the impact of King's choices?

Dr. King begins the letter with a marked lack of emotion and a pronounced focus on legalistic logic. In Gospel of Freedom, a book-length study of the “Letter,” professor Jonathan Rieder describes the first half of the “Letter” as the “Diplomat” portion, suggesting that Dr. King was deliberately controlling his tone so as to achieve his desired ends of changing hearts and minds. The phrase “diplomat” is useful because it reminds us that this letter is not a personal expression of inner demons, but rather a deliberately constructed epistle designed for a purpose. That it so successfully manages its tone is all the more impressive when we recall that Dr. King indeed began writing it while locked in solitary confinement, on scraps of paper smuggled to him.

The means by which he addresses the clergymen confirms this deliberate purpose. The first paragraph of the letter refuses to take the high ground, and stipulates the goodwill of the clergymen who wrote the initial attack on King and the SCLC. With a deferential address of “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” Dr. King suggests at first that he writes the letter because these men deserve an answer to their “sincerely” stated criticisms. In other words, he traipses in niceties rather than confrontation, at least in this portion of the letter. To have begun the letter as a tirade would perhaps have been honest and justifiable, but it also would have worked against his attempt to change minds. He does not want to frighten or upset an audience that might be inclined to listen to arguments they have not previously considered. Of course, this is not to suggest that Dr. King did not actually want white allies or that this is only a rhetorical tactic, but his restraint over a topic that clearly moved him is undeniable.