Through out history there have been both violent and nonviolent bids to change the course of human history. The two sides of this argument are liberals who believe in non-violence and radicals who believe this is achieved through violence have backed these bids. Violence tends to be the route that many take in order to shape and control the course of history, however there are some who use non-violent means to make their mark. According to Thomas Merton “Nonviolence differs from violence by arising from humility rather than arrogance and by approaching opponents with respect; it is a victory over hatred in situations where hatred ordinarily is dominate.” (Tinder 222). People like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi are two of the …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. who led a civil rights movement in the United States in order to bring rights to minorities. Dr. King was a minister, inspired by Jesus, who believed in non-violent ways to bring around change. King used techniques such as speeches, marches, boycotts, and sit-ins in order to make his intentions clear to those who he was going against. Dr. King also taught non-resistance to his followers which means that they were told not to fight back even when attacked. His techniques were meant to show that the people who were fighting for rights deserved these rights. He wanted to show that no matter the color of your skin or your ethnicity we are all equal and capable of carrying out peaceful and civil protest. However, King’s nonviolent efforts were shadowed by violence from his own people such as Malcolm X and the Black Panthers who believed the only way to gain justice was to fight for it. Equality was gained by these groups though one cannot say which group most influenced the government but it is known that both groups made impressions that have lasted and changed history. King was assinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee for his …show more content…
Gandhi believed “Non-violence is the greatest force man has been endowed with. Truth is the only goal he has. For God is none other but truth. But Truth cannot be, never will be, reached except through non-violence.”(‘Non-Violence- The Greatest Gift). One of Gandhi’s best-known non-violent protest was the Salt Satyagrah, that took place from 1930-1931, a 241 mile march to the coast to protest British rule and the salt taxes. Gandhi used techniques such as formal statements, prayer, boycotts, and honoring of the men and women killed or wounded by the British especially for those who were killed at Amritsar in 1919. Indian gained its independence from Britain on August 15, 1947 and Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu extremist who did not share the same beliefs as Gandhi ("Gandhi begins fast in protest of caste
The Civil Rights movement was a movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern States that became nationally recognized in the middle of the 1950s. Though American slaves were given basic civil rights through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of the Constitution, African Americans still had a hard time trying to get federal protection of their newly found rights. A man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the American Civil rights Leaders who used nonviolence in order to reach a social change. He used nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice against African Americans like segregation laws. He wasn’t just fighting for the equality of all African American but was also fighting for the equality of all men and women. Malcolm X is another great leader who fought for what he believed in. He was a black activist who, unlike King, promoted a little violence. Malcolm X wanted the nation (African Americans) to become more active in the civil rights protests. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had different methods for gaining civil rights. I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. method was more effective thanMalcolm X methods. In King “’Letter from Birmingham Jail” King defends himself on writing about why he is using nonviolent resistance to racism. Throughout the letter he shows his reasoning using logic, emotion, and ethics. Throughout his life King used this same method to reach how to hundred of thousands of African Americans.
Martin Luther King believed in justice and equality for everyone. As a minister he believed and preached that all men are created equally in the image of God , he says “ we hold these truths to be self-evident , that all men are created equal”( I have a dream speech). He believed in making peace without violence , spreading love instead of hate and changing illegal, injustice and unethical behaviors. He was willing to fight for the rights of many people from different races , cultures , gender or religion. As a result of his christian beliefs , he fought for equality for everybody through non violence protests. He believed that it was never right to use violence because it spread hate instead of the love of God. He wanted everyone to unite as one and also be able to work with one another without being judged by skin color , ethnicity or background.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most widely known civil rights activist of the 1960s. Although most famous for his I Have a Dream speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote several more influential speeches for the Civil Rights Movement – an American movement that sought to extend equal rights to all U.S. citizens. During his lifetime, he was known for practicing nonviolence in the hopes to obtain social and economic equality of all African Americans. While equality exists amongst the races today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not get to see the fulfillment of his dream. On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee.
On April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, an event that would change history forever occurred. That was the day James Earl Ray assassinated the driving force of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. It shook the nation, as the man who was planning on bringing peace and racial harmony in the United States was killed in an instant. He was probably the most influential scapegoat in American history, setting out to create equality for all races in America. There were many extremist white-based groups which detested the idea of equality, believing that whites were superior over all, groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Martin Luther King did not back down when groups like the KKK harassed him; he used their hate against them and allowed it to thrust him forward for the sake of bettering his cause and pushing towards racial equality. In the end, Martin Luther King was assassinated for his passion and beliefs; his hard work paid off because after his death, there was at least legal racial equality in the U.S. His bravery and strength
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was an excellent speaker and activist during the civil rights movement throughout 1954-1968. The civil rights movement was a time of racial injustice and unfair treatment towards people of different races. During that time many African Americans boycotted and protested against the unfair treatment in America at that point in time. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of these people who protested to create a difference in the community. The goal of these marches and protests that he led were to change the feelings of the government and the people’s feelings about racial injustice. However, Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 because he stood up for what was right. He was though able to do many
Despite this is it important to remember there was still disagreement and tension on what would be the most effective philosophy in driving the movement forward; Armed resistance or Non-violent protest. While Rev. Martin Luther King advocated for non-violent protest and peaceful resistance it is important to remember that participants in the movement were ordinary people.
Martin Luther King was a major activist and leader during the civil rights movement. He referred back to the scripture and God as an important component in his speeches and allowed the Bible to help lead him and the people towards equality for all races. The movement brought on grave brutality towards the African Americans people, they were publicly abused and harassed because of their skin color. Throughout his leadership Martin Luther King maintained a "nonviolence" slogan which the activists took seriously due to the trust they had in King's word. King's life revolved around his Christian faith, it gave him the courage, language and the sense of community to intensify the activists to gain justice and equality for all.
The Civil Rights Movement brought many accomplishments to African Americans such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The key issues that African Americans fought for were voting rights, integration and racial equality. They were tired of the discrimination and humiliation they received as a result of the segregation laws imposed on them. “State laws mandated racial separation in schools, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, theaters, restrooms and so on” (Blumberg 40). Lawsuits had been tried to gain rights such as the unsuccessful Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and the successful Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Although, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka declared the “separate but equal” clause unconstitutional, de facto segregation continued in the South. During the 1960s, two methods were used: nonviolence and violence. Violence proved to be ineffective since it perpetuated social tensions among Whites and Blacks. Nonviolence was the most effective method in bringing social change in America during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement because it attracted sympathy towards Black people, provoked positive media attention, and promoted unity among African Americans.
For many, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement, campaigning for conversion and sought to impact race relations. However, further triumphs for the Civil Rights Movement, reduced following the year 1965. These crusades led to, vain progress, hostility and King was a constant target for segregationists, ultimately resulting in his assassination. With increasing opposition towards his methods of nonviolence, other civil rights leaders criticised King for the slow progression and deprived undertakings.
gave his first speech as leader of the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, and said “ we have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have given our white brothers the feeling that we like the way we were being treated. But we come here to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice,” (King, 1955,p.4). Throughout the time of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. was always encouraging nonviolent protests to help make colored people equal to whites.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and he was the the second of three children. He was an activist and outstanding leader of the African-American civil right movement. He led nonviolent protests to fight for the rights of all people, including African Americans. He hoped that America would become a diverse society, where race would not impact a person’s civil rights. After delivering his “I have a dream” speech, he was considered to be one of the great public speakers of modern times, and is referred to as a human rights icon today. Martin Luther King Jr. had the idea of using nonviolent defiance to overcome injustice, and he never got tired of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest civil rights leaders to ever live. Through his empowering speeches, he made a huge impact on the world for the equality of all races. Throughout King’s life, he showed everyone how he believed equality should be acquired. With his peaceful protests and amazing speeches, he influenced people both during his time and after he passed. Many believe that King’s work in the Civil Rights Movement was the final push that America needed to finally respect people no matter their skin color.
During a freedom march on May 29, 1964 in Canton, Mississippi a boy by the name of McKinley Hamilton was brutally beaten by police to the point of unconsciousness. One of the witnesses of this event, and the author of the autobiography which this paper is written in response to, was Anne (Essie Mae) Moody. This event was just one of a long line of violent experiences of Moody’s life; experiences that ranged from her own physical domestic abuse to emotional and psychological damage encountered daily in a racist, divided South. In her autobiography Moody not only discusses in detail the abuses in her life, but also her responses and actions to resist them. The reader can track her progression in these strategies throughout the various stages of her life; from innocent childhood, to adolescence at which time her views from a sheltered childhood began to unravel and finally in adulthood when she took it upon herself to fight back against racial prejudice.
Martin Luther King saw how bad black people were treated, and during the 1950s he became involved in the Civil Rights movement. He was also the president of the boycott in (Rosmanitz, N.D.) 1955. In (Rosmanitz, N.D.) 1963 Martin Luther King gathered hundreds of thousands of Americans, black and white designed a march protest for equal rights in Washington D.C. The Lincoln Memorial is where Martin Luther king also gave his speech “I have a dream”. He is best known for his role in the of civil rights act using nonviolent in the civil rights act based on his Christian beliefs.
His powerful speeches and nonviolent protest caught the eyes of many natives in Gujarat. When Gandhi became a leader, his passion for independence and interest in the hardships of local Indian communities made him one of the most talked about man in India. He wanted better for his community, so he took measures into his own hands. He wanted a cleaner and more sanitary living conditions, plus new schools installed. Gandhi was later arrested by British landlords, but was able to talk and negotiate his way out of jail. The movements for independence went on for over 20 years, starting in the 1920s. It started out as just boycotting British goods and traditions in order to seem more self-ruling. By the 1930s, Gandhi made himself much more known. He led a 241 mile march, starting March 12, 1930, with 78 followers. His plan was to defy British policy by making salt from seawater. This sparked the interest of many individuals in passing communities, causing more to join, increasing the size of the group everyday. By the time they reached Dandi, almost a month later, thousands of people stood with Gandhi. On May 9th, Gandhi was arrested, but his movement continued. Gandhi was released in January 1931, where he agreed to stop the movement in exchange for a role in London’s conference on India's future. His many efforts failed until 1947 when India finally gained its independence. The impact he left on the Indian nation changed