Analysis Of Black Boy By Martin Luther King

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will,” Martin Luther King Junior. When King refers to shallow understanding from people of good will he is speaking of people that notice a problem or bad situation in society but chose to do nothing about it. Absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will is referring to people who see no issue is society. He believes the shallow people are more frustrating because although they do see that there is an immoral law in place they chose to not take action against it. . This is a paradox because Luther is explaining that the most frustrating people are not the ones who don’t think the same way as him but the ones who do.

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In Black Boy, Richard can no longer sit back and allow the injustices. He like Luther is a go getter; he takes action and doesn’t just wait. When it comes time for Richard to read his Valedictorian speech the principal demands him to read the one she wrote. She wants him to read hers because there were going to be whites in the audience. Richard refuses, and the principal threatens to not allow him to graduate. To Richard the principal is shallow for trying to make him read a different speech just because a white would be in the audience. Richard is not the kind to sit back and allow his life to be affected just because a white person is in the room. Richard decides he must leave. Richard cannot stand to live in the south where he is constantly looking behind his back for problems. He doesn’t respect his family who continues to allow segregation to happen to them and they do nothing about it. His Uncle Tom scolds his cousin to stay away from Richard because he is “no good.” Uncle Tom is shallow because he just accepts the white man’s opinion of blackness and lives up to it, nothing else. Richard, like king, is going to act like himself, not what others believe he should be. This is a main contributor to why Richard is fired from so many jobs. He continually opens his mouth and spouts off to bosses. When told by Griggs he must “think before he acts, think before he speaks,” he attempts to do this

and around the world we witness humans like Luther who believe in and fight for what is right; although, we also witness the shallow bystanders that Luther speaks of. In Cleveland a young 12 year old black boy, Tamir Rice was shot by a policeman. The justice system then found this cop clear of all charges involving excessive force. In this case many groups can be found shallow; the police department, the justice system, and the general public. The police department is shallow and wanton because this policeman shot a 12 year old within 2 seconds of him coming onto the scene. He shot him because he felt threatened, by his race. The justice system is shallow because they allowed this cop to escape punishment for the crime he committed. Was this because the young boy had a pellet gun? Was this because the officer was white? Was this because the young boy was black? As the general public accepted the pardon of the law they were shallow. They didn’t stand up for what was right and moral, but instead stood back and allow this injustice to occur Currently in Saudi Arabia one of the most prominent human rights activists has been arrested. She like Luther has been dedicated to her cause for years. Her sister is a human rights activist and is married to a human rights lawyer. Luther’s statement applies to this situation too. Badawi is willing to spend her whole life in prison to stand up for what she believes in but other people around her country and around the world