In Dr. King’s “The Ways of Meeting Oppression”, King reveals his argument for the path that he chose in confronting oppression of African American’s during the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s in the United States. The first path King talks about is that of the oppressed accepting their fate, or potentially worse, fighting against change that would improve their lives. King likened this path to the oppressed and the oppressor being equally at fault for the oppression. The second path King describes is the extreme opposite of the first, and that is change through violence. King argues that change through violence is a temporary change and that it doesn’t get to the core of the issue, the enlightenment of the oppressor.…
As can be seen, Dr. King rather uses non-violent direct action. It created a crisis which created a tension among the white people. It made them force to approach an issue even after refusing to negotiate. This action lead to many success at the end which granted “freedom”. As of now, it seems like we are heading into a similar situation in the near future. I would follow Dr. Kings steps to persuade the audience to create friendly environment where quality, diversity, and generosity exist throughout the whole…
In Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he shows that nonviolence is the way to get the positive attention that his plight deserved. He believed that to use violence was negative on a couple of points. First, violence always gets negative attention. Second, violence was the way the Klu Klux Klan went about their business. He wanted to expose unjust laws and do it in a fashion that conveyed his beliefs without causing other problems. In Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he is trying to convince his “fellow clergymen” (566) that his fight for the civil liberties is a just one, and that the march was a nonviolent one and one that was surely needed. Dr. King stated, “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny” (566). King is saying that it’s something that can no longer be ignored, that he can no longer sit on the sideline and be an idle observer. The black man has to take it to the streets. In this letter, Dr. King showed that nonviolence, direct action, and the ability to stand by one’s convictions are the right path.…
In the pursuit of social justice and civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael, sought to amend a flawed system. To accomplish this task, these men entered the armory and chose to wield nonviolence as their weapon. Their goal: to combat violence with nonviolence, to fight hate with love, and to spread equality through peace. In the end they succeeded. Violence breeds violence, hate breeds hate, it is an ineffective approach and an archaic mean to resolving societies issues. Malcolm X and Carmichael were both extreme individuals but that does not make them violent. They attacked social justice and civil rights passionately and assertively, not violently. The methods used and arguments made by Martin Luther King Jr. in Letter from Birmingham Jail, Malcolm X in The Ballot or the Bullet, and Stokely Carmichael in Black Power, demonstrate the potency of nonviolence. These men address three separate issues in each of their works. King discusses social issues in regards to the nation as a whole in his letter. Malcolm X speaks to the political equality of black individuals in African American communities. Carmichael discusses white supremacy and its oppression of African American citizens in their own community. Fighting with peace, protesting with nonviolence, is the most effective measure when pursuing social justice and civil rights. I will show how Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael used passive methods and nonviolent means in conquering the issues they had at hand.…
I feel Dr. Martin Luther King’s use of facts and history was an effective argument because it not only gave reason to why he would be in Birmingham but also gave also made a convincing argument of why his cause was justified throughout history by giving examples of times in history where actions like his were necessary and actions of wrongdoing was justified through law.…
What I believe King is trying to say in this article is that violence will get you nowhere in life. We feel like we have fight or get aggressive to get our points across to people. Violence will put us in the same spot we are already in. Nonviolent resistance is the best thing to do because there is no fighting involved. Martin Luther king Jr. states, “Through nonviolent resistance the Negros will be able to rise to the noble heights of opposing the unjust system while loving the perpetrators of the system” (79 King)That just means, that we should fight with the unjust system and still love the enemy.…
As Martin Luther King led his followers, he taught them protest with respect and dignity. Martin Luther King once said, in regard to his nonviolent approach, “Violence, as a way of achieving racial justice, is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.”(Cassutto, 2008). Martin Luther King grew up in a religious family. He comes from educated parents that taught him to be…
50 years ago, many places in the United States had laws called Jim Crow laws that were unfair to black Americans. Some of those laws made it hard for them to vote in elections, or get good jobs, or even eat in the same restaurants as white people. Martin Luther King Jr. spent his life working to change those laws and help black Americans get the same civil rights as white Americans.…
Kings starts with an idea that there are four basic steps to a nonviolent campaign. “Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, self purification, and direct action (King).” He does a great job in this essay pointing out the problems and determining that injustice very much does exist. King states, while in a jail cell, that the very reason he is…
Martin Luther King Jr, a man made famous by his use of civil disobedience throughout the civil rights movement, displays his viewpoints on the method in Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In the fourth paragraph of the letter, he claims that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", heightening the importance of civil disobedience when it comes to unjust and unfair laws. Later in the letter, he states: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored". King's powerful statements accompanied by the severity of the issues of his time reflect the dire need for civil disobedience when it comes to the evolution of a country and its government. His message and actions exist as a perfect example of how actions such as boycotts, sit-ins. and all other forms of peaceful protest can correlate towards positive…
Throughout history there has always been oppression, oppression of a certain subset of people, and through…
Summary: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “The Ways of Meeting Oppressions”, clearly states his beliefs on how African American’s should rise against oppression in the South. Mr. King believed that people could become so overcome with oppression that they give up fighting their oppressor. He did not believe that giving in to oppression was the answer to solving civil rights issues in the south. King also believed physical violence was not the answer either, stating “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral” in paragraph 4 of his writing. King believed that non-violent resistance was the way to fight for justice. By using non-violent resistance as a way to fight oppression, King believed it would be possible for African Americans to remain living in the South as they fought for their rights.…
Since Dr. Martin Luther King was heavily influenced by Gandhi’s philosophies, many similarities exist between their theories concerning nonviolence. Gandhi claimed that violence rarely achieved lasting results and that, if used, people would become convinced this was the only way to solve their issues 1. King agreed in his own context, saying that if African Americans used violent means as a way of bringing forth social change, they would eventually be misled to believe that there was no alternative to violence 2. Instead, both Gandhi and Dr. King passionately advocated for nonviolence in their respective countries. In his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” King stated that “nonviolence seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” 3 He echoed the attitude of Gandhi by rhetorically asking, “Are you able to accept blows without retaliating? Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?” 4.…
Dr. King strategically breaks down and characterizes acquiescence as a form of dealing with oppression. Through his analysis, King explains how people surrender to oppression and become accustomed to it as a way of living. Creating an atmosphere where the oppressed person learns to live in with oppression and never fully understands what self respect is. ?Religion reminds everyman that he is his brother?s keeper . . .To accept injustice or segregation passively is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right.? (King). Therefore, King believes that this lets the oppressor know that their actions are right influencing the oppressor to continue. Dr. King takes into consideration that this is not the best way to deal with oppression. In fact, he criticizes the people who utilize this method. ?To accept passively and in just system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor.?(King) Violence, as a method of dealing with oppression that Dr. King strongly diverges with. King assumes that people who resort to violence also influence hatred at the same time. He explains how violence only creates temporary results. Although at times it may be seen as the best way out but he believes that no one should ever degrade themselves to that level of understanding and standard. According to King, violence only creates problems instead of…
Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his work in desegregation and the end of of the most well known racial equality activists ever, and he lived during a period of time that had many unjust laws that created many problems for African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed with St. Augustine that a law that is unjust is actually not a law after all. Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief in this idea was seen in his letter from a Birmingham Jail when he says, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned multiple times in his letter that these unjust laws were extremely degrading, and denied African Americans basic human…