Bayard Rustin Pacifism

1843 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Civil rights movement in the USA

Bayard Rustin was a nonviolent activist who advocated for societal change during his life that spanned over 75 years from 1912 until 1987. While history primarily knows Rustin as a leader in the African American civil rights movement, Rustin was prominently involved in pacifist movements against war and militarization. While he took many roles throughout his 75 year life, history best know him as the chief organizer for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom––one of the largest protests and most important protests in United States history. But his legacy goes far beyond organizing one event: Rustin brought a heightened sense of pacifism to the civil rights movement. Through enacting his Quaker values, Rustin infused his pacifism into the American civil rights movement, advising Martin Luther King, Jr. to became a promoter and symbol of peace and nonviolence that he is known as today. Rustin’s accomplishments were not without opposition: he was persecuted, threatened, beaten, imprisoned and silenced by a wide range of people, from segregationists to black militants. Rustin’s openly gay identity caused much hardship during an era that was extraordinarily homophobic, but he chose to not live in “the closet” and hide who we was, and rather, he embraced his homosexuality. Rustin’s pacifism and acceptance of his gay identity was rooted in his Quaker roots. Rustin found motivation and strength within his Quaker upbringing, motivating him to be an out-and-proud gay man of color, rallying for social change on all fronts until his death. This paper analyses Rustin’s upbringing in relation to his Quaker values and how his life-long conviction to promote pacifism and egalitarianism shaped his views and actions, and the outcome of...

... middle of paper ...

...
Rustin’s Quaker values and his arrest for engaging in homosexuality in Pasadena would have a major impact on the civil rights movement and in particular, the work of King. Throughout his entire live Quakerism was a unifying force and a strong pillar in his personal and professional ventures. Rustin incorporated Quaker beliefs and values that were central to many of the success of the civil rights movement. Through enacting his Quaker values, Rustin infused his pacifism into the American civil rights movement, shaping the movement to become peaceful and nonviolent. This paper has investigated Rustin’s early years in life in relation to his Quaker values and how his life-long conviction to promote pacifism and egalitarianism shaped his views and actions. Through Bayard Rustin we can better discern the role religious values and ideals play in shaping who we are.

Show More
Related

  • Indifference to War in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, characters such as Paul and his friends become indifferent to shocking elements of war through constant exposure to them. For example, the characters are unconcerned about the dangers of the front because they are accustomed to being on the front. In another instance, Paul’s friends show no emotions when they witness snipers killing enemy soldiers. Also, Kat finds the unusual effects of mortar shells amusing. These examples prove that through war, characters of the book have become indifferent to things that they would normally find shocking.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Stone Of Hope: Prophetic Religion And The Death Of Dam Crow

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow, David L. Chappell sheds new light on the components of the civil rights movement, concretely adding prophetic religion to the mix of ingredients of those tumultuous times from 1940s-1960s. Chappell’s thesis states “that faith drove black southern protesters to their extraordinary victories in the mid-1960s, grew out of a realistic understanding of the typically dim prospects for social justice in the world.” The protester’s prophetic content of their speeches, diaries, and other paraphernalia related to the civil rights movement, illuminates this great divide. With an eye for detail, Chappell points to the factors of religion that have been overlooked by

    Read More

  • My Soul Is Rested Summary

    155 Words  | 1 Pages

    The book, “My Soul Is Rested” by Howell Raines is a remarkable history of the civil rights movement. It details the story of sacrifice and audacity that led to the changes needed. The book described many immeasurable moments of the leaders that drove the civil rights movement. This book is a wonderful compilation of first-hand accounts of the struggles to desegregate the American South from 1955 through 1968. In the civil rights movement, there are the leaders and followers who became astonishing in the face of chaos and violence. The people who struggled for the movement are as follows: Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and others; both black and white people, who contributed in demonstrations for freedom rides, voter drives, and

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    504 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.

    Read More

  • Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow

    2031 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1955, C. Vann Woodward published the first edition of his book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow. The book garnered immediate recognition and success with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eventually calling it, “the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.” An endorsement like this one from such a prominent and respect figure in American history makes one wonder if they will find anything in the book to criticize or any faults to point out. However, with two subsequent editions of the book, one in August 1965 and another in October 1973—each adding new chapters as the Civil Rights movement progressed—one wonders if Dr. King’s assessment still holds up, if indeed The Strange Career of Jim Crow is still the historical bible of the civil rights movement. In addition, one questions the objectivity of the book considering that it gained endorsements from figures who were promoting a cause and because Woodward had also promoted that same cause.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Letter From Birmingham Jail

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.

    Read More

  • Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    The forceful subjugation of a people has been a common stain on history; Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was written during the cusp of the civil rights movement in the US on finding a good life above oppressive racism. Birmingham “is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known,” and King’s overall goal is to find equality for all people under this brutality (King). King states “I cannot sit idly… and not be concerned about what happens,” when people object to his means to garner attention and focus on his cause; justifying his search for the good life with “a law is just on its face and unjust in its application,” (King). Through King’s peaceful protest, he works to find his definition of good life in equality, where p...

    Read More

  • Comparing Stokely Carmichael And Martin Luther King Jr.

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world as we know it today, is one very different to the world even 50 years ago. Technology has advanced, frontiers have been reached and surpassed, and people are more free than ever. The catalyst for a large percentage of human freedom in particular was the African-American Civil Rights movement, from the mid 1950’s, to the late 1960’s. Headed by multiple prominent figures throughout its duration, the following essay will be comparing and contrasting Martin Luther King Jr., and Stokely Carmichael, and then determining which of the two was a more effective leader. If the definition used were to be “The act of leading, or the ability to be a leader”, (Webster 2003, p.264) then both Carmichael and King would finish in a similar position,

    Read More

  • Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X rejected the idea that the main goal of the civil rights movement should be based on an aspiration to gain rights “equal” to those of white men and to assimilate into white culture. They instead emphasized a need to empower Black Americans.1 Their ideas were considered radical at a time when Martin Luther King Jr. preached the potential of white and black americans to overcome “the race issue” together and in a gradual manner. Malcolm X’s attempt to achieve his goals through revolutionary top-down methods and Fannie Lou Hamer’s focus on the need for grassroots movements contributed to the Civil Rights movement significantly by encouraging and assisting Black Americans.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of At The Dark End Of The Street

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thesis: McGuire argues that the Civil Rights movement was not led just by the strong male leaders presented to society such as Martin Luther King Jr., but is "also rooted in African-American women 's long struggle against sexual violence (xx)." McGuire argues for the "retelling and reinterpreting (xx)" of the Civil Rights movement because of the resistance of the women presented in her text.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders will come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.

    Read More

  • Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of a peaceful movement to end segregation in the United States this mission led him in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama where officials and leaders in the community actively fought against desegregation. While performing sit-ins, marches and other nonviolent protests, King was imprisoned by authorities for violating the strict segregation laws. While imprisoned King wrote a letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he expresses his disappointment in the clergy, officials, and people of Birmingham. This letter employed pathos to argue that the leaders and ‘heroes’ in Birmingham during the struggle were at fault or went against their beliefs.

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks And Martin Luther King Jr.

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    The civil rights movement was a popular historical movement that worked to allow African Americans to have equal rights and privileges as U.S. citizens. The movement can be defined as a struggle against racial segregation and discrimination that began in the 1950s. Although the origins of the civil rights movement go back to the 1800s, the movement peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. African American men and women, along with whites, organized and led the movement from local to national levels. Many actions of the civil rights movement were concentrated through legal means such as negotiations, appeals, and nonviolent protests. When we think of leaders or icons of the movement we usually think of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Even though Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. are important figures, their participation in the movement was minimal compared to other unknown or forgotten figures. Howell Raines’s, My Soul Is Rested, contains recollections of voices from followers of the civil rights movement. These voices include students, lawyers, news reporters, and civil right activists. Although the followers of the movement were lesser known, the impact they made shaped the society we live in today.

    Read More

  • Racism in America - Past and Present

    2883 Words  | 6 Pages

    Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King's Leadership

    4987 Words  | 10 Pages

    One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), synthesized ideals drawn from many different cultural traditions. Recent studies of him emphasize the extent to which his ideals were rooted in African-American religious traditions which were then shaped by his education. The image of a social activist and leader was the result of extensive formal education, strong personal values and licit ethics. This excellence in leadership can be traced to his character which is shaped by his moral values and personality. We look at MLK and these traits to reveal the rationalization of his rise to transracial leadership in our society. Through studying the life and example of Martin Luther King, Jr., we learn that his moral values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, achievement and peace were what motivated him. King is not great because he is well known, he is great because he served as the cause of peace and justice for all humans. King is remembered for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of skin color. This presence of strong moral values developed King’s character which enabled him to become one of the most influential leaders of our time. Integrity is a central value in a leader’s character and it is through integrity that King had vision of the truth. The truth that one day this nation would live up to the creed, "all men are created equal". No man contributed more to the great progress of blacks during the 1950’s and 1960’s than Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought up believing "one man can make a difference", and this is just what he did. Integrity has a large effect on what we think, say and do, it is through King’s thoughts and actions that enabled so many people to have trust and faith in him. Through King’s integrity he believed that America, the most powerful and richest nation in the world will lead the way to a revolution of values. This revolution will change the way society views itself, shifting from a "thing-orientated" society to a "person-orientated" society. When this occurs, King believed that racism will be capable of being conquered and this nation will be "Free at last." King’s unconditional love for all humans was another value that strongly influenced his character and allowed him to have such excellent leadership ability.

    Read More

More about Bayard Rustin Pacifism

Open Document