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Short biography of martin luther king jr
Cultural issues that cause conflict
Short bio of martin luther king jr
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In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s autobiography Why We Can’t Wait, racial differences are exposed. In Why We Can't Wait Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is poised, prepared and confident to fight segregation in Birmingham, AL. During this time period Birmingham, Alabama, is the most racial city in The United States. This autobiography sets the stage on why the nation as a whole cannot wait for racial discrimination, nonviolence as a revolution and why the nation cannot wait on a racist justice to continue. King starts off the book with a brief introduction that compares and contrasts the lives of two African American children, a boy that liives in Harlem, New York, and a girl that lives in Birmingham, Alabama. Both children struggle through poverty …show more content…
and embrace a world of very limited opportunity. By illustrating this comparison, King expresses that racial discrimination is a national problem that is effecting the African American Community as a whole not one confined to the South. Although discrimination is not as extreme in the North, King cites, racial discrimination is more rampant and more extreme in the South. King emphasizes that racial discrimination is also destructive to white community. Using the city of Birmingham as an example, King shows the ways in which racial segregation has reduced the quality of life for the white community. For example, refusing to follow a court order to desegregate parks, the city decided to close them. One touring symphony orchestra refused a concert visit to Birmingham because they would not perform before segregated audiences. The semi-pro baseball team, which has called Birmingham home for many years before the civil rights movement occurred disbanded rather than accepting African American players. Although African Americans bore the most extreme form of racism abuse, King makes it apparent that Americans as a whole would suffer when injustice is allowed to prevail. Having acknowledgement and justification of the causes of disappointment, King proceeds to his ideals for carrying out this revolution.
Although he commends the efforts that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had achieved, he is upset that their efforts are slow and victories are few and far between. King also condemns those who call for violent revolution, claiming that blood will be shed and will only result in more hatred King advocates that a nonviolent tactic is the only alternative. King uses historical examples to illustrate nonviolent revolutions. He uses the example of the economic boycotts during the American Revolutionary war and also to Mohandas K. Gandhi’s leadership against British rule when they occupied India. These examples of nonviolence tactics was proven effective in the past. Historical evidence does not explain the reasoning for the successful nonviolent protest. King states that nonviolence works because moral authority overcomes power that brutality and physical attacks lack. King upholds that nonviolence will be effective in civil rights for African Americans because it will bring a moral understanding of the wrongs of the brutal and unjust behaviors practiced by those who opposed to racial segregation. For over three centuries, African Americans have lived a life of fear of violence. By bringing unjust practices into the streets where news cameras and newspaper reporters can see, nonviolent protesters will gain the support of other Americans who are in favor of an end to racial discrimination. Nonviolence also conveys various benefits to the community such as a union of the community with the individual who wants change. King claims that a nonviolent movement is an unstoppable
force. The heart of Why We Can’t Wait is the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” which King wrote during his duration of incarceration for violating a court’s ruling against protesting. Addressing this letter to eight clergymen, King defends his actions and expresses why a nonviolent action is needed to go against the injustices of the justice system of Birmingham. In the letter King seeks for a positive peace for which all men are equal in the judicial system asking that all people receive respect due everyone being a human being. In criticism of King, the clergymen of whom King wrote to had singled out that King had broke the law when he led his faithful protesters through the streets of Birmingham. King concludes Why We Can’t Wait with deep thinking thoughts regarding to the completion of civil rights When will the job be finished? How will the nation react to the revising of the laws that King has shown the injustices of? In conclusion, King strongly believes and stresses that the Civil Rights movement will bring a unity and a healing to all of the citizens of the United States. King states of a sense of brotherhood and peace will encompass the nation when the African American community and the white community unite. Perhaps even more important, King’s example of the ideals of a nonviolence will be an example to people across the world who are victims of unjust racial laws. Because of King, the successful use of nonviolence protest in the United States will promote others to use this effective strategy for ending abuse and discrimination. King hopes that through his strenuous efforts of nonviolent protesting a presence of unity and peace will go forth throughout the nation and that all men will be viewed as created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, being life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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.
MLK once said "We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice."(The Biography.com website). MLK knew that if we used force it would be a disaster and they would never get freedom. While MLK was at Birmingham Jail he wrote about nonviolence for all people to read. He said"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."(The Biography.com website) So many thought MLK would come and be this guy who would see violence as a tool to use, but when he didn’t people were very supprised that nonviolence was his choice of action. MLK has a family too and it was not only but his family too. They probably wondered all the time if their father would be home that night. Many suffered from these movement acts and wondered if they would be able to kiss their kids goodnight, or see their wifes. Would you be able to not see your dad for weeks or maybe even months? This is why many had patience. They knew what they were fighting for all of them had a purpose. MKL knew one day there would be freedom everywhere. He also knew it wasn’t going to come easily. He never gave up though and he always believed in
The author, Dr. Martian Luther King Jr., makes a statement “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.” He uses this concept to convey the point of the Negros hard work to negotiate the issue has failed, but now they must confront it. The March on Good Friday, 1963, 53 blacks, led by Reverend Martian Luther King, Jr., was his first physical protest to segregation laws that had taken place after several efforts to simply negotiate. The author uses several phrases that describe his nonviolent efforts and his devotion to the issue of segregation that makes the reader believe his how seriously King takes this issue. “Conversely, one has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Dr. Martian Luther King, Jr. explains with this that an “unjust law is no law at all.” King does not feel like he has broken any laws in his protest against segregation. In his eyes, laws are made to protect the people, not degrade and punish. “The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him March.” As far as King is concerned, the Negros will continue to do whatever is necessary, preferably non-violently, to obtain the moral and legal right that is theirs. If they are not allowe...
Everyone that has been through the American school system within the past 20 years knows exactly who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, and exactly what he did to help shape the United States to what it is today. In the beginning of the book, Martin Luther King Jr. Apostle of Militant Nonviolence, by James A. Colaiaco, he states that “this book is not a biography of King, [but] a study of King’s contribution to the black freedom struggle through an analysis and assessment of his nonviolent protest campaigns” (2). Colaiaco discusses the successful protests, rallies, and marches that King put together. . Many students generally only learn of Dr. King’s success, and rarely ever of his failures, but Colaiaco shows of the failures of Dr. King once he started moving farther North.
Non-violent direct action and respectful disagreement are a form of civil disobedience. Martin Luther King, Jr. defines “civil disobedience” as a way to show others what to do when a law is unjust and unreasonable. King is most famous for his role in leading the African American Civil Rights Movement and using non-violent civil disobedience to promote his beliefs. King also firmly believed that civil disobedience was the way to defeat racial segregation against African Americans. While leading a protest march on the streets, King was arrested and sent to jail. In response to his imprisonment and an article he read while there, King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail, explaining that an injustice affects everyone and listed his own criteria for
Historians offer different perceptions of the significance of Martin Luther King and the 1963 March on Washington. Without examining this event within its historical context the media publicity and iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech can easily overshadow progress that was already underway in America. It was insisted by prominent civil rights activist Ella Baker, ‘the movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement.’ What is important not to overlook is the significant change that took place in the United States during the previous 100 years. Such that, many influential figures in support of racial equality opposed the March. The Civil Rights Act proposed by President Kennedy in 1963 was already in the legislative process. Furthermore the Federal Government was now reasserting power over the entire of the United States by enforcing a policy of desegregation. It is important to note that these changes all took place less than one hundred years after the Thirteenth Amendment in 1965 abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth amendment in 1968 acknowledged the rights of former slaves to be acknowledged as U.S citizens. With this level of progress Kennedy was against the March going ahead due to the argument that it was limited in what it could achieve. Today, King’s 1963 Speech is viewed as one of the most iconic speeches in history. However, was it a key turning point in African Americans achieving racial equality? Federal endorsement would suggest yes after decades of southern states being able to subvert the Federal law designed to break down segregation. This support built upon the corner stones of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments in the nineteenth century. Therefore looking at the national status of black Americans fro...
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Impasse in Race Relations is a speech that confronts the audience of the past, present, and future aspects of race relations. The speech addressed by King refers to an impasse as a situation in which there is no escapes or progresses. In the speech, King reveals the different feelings and reasoning’s as to what Negroes have experienced and dealt with. He also shares and interprets various violent and non-violent approaches to racial problems. In this essay, I will present my thoughts and opinions based on King’s ideas introduced in his speech.
The injustice of segregation laws is leading to a violent impact throughout the African American community, as they strive to have equal rights. In the essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. describes the many struggles the African American community is going through. Dr. King effectively uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust and must end. Dr. King exemplifies his credibility as an advocate for the ending of segregation laws. He gives an example of how society should realize that there is no need for violence by comparing both Socrates’ and his techniques.
the segregationists, resulting in the injury and deaths of many of King’s followers. With these points in mind, King came to the conclusion that the best strategy in gaining the rights of African American was the use of non-violent protest. He believed that violence only “intensifies evil,';
Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated nonviolence to suppress oppression in his essay, “The Power of Nonviolent Action.” King's factual and reasoned approach is intended to win his adversaries over by appealing to their consciences. King realized that the best strategy to liberate African-Americans and gain them justice was to use nonviolent forms of resistance. He wanted to eliminate the use of violence as a means to manage and establish cooperative ways of interacting. Moreover, King states that the “oppressed people must organize themselves into a militant and nonviolent mass movement” in order to achieve the goal of integration. The oppressed must “convince the oppressors that all he seeks is justice, for both himself and the white man” (King, 345). Furthermore, King agreed with Gandhi that if a law is unjust, it is the duty of the oppressed to break the law, and do what they believe to be right. Once a law is broken, the person must be willing to accept the ...
This letter addressed the criticism he received while peacefully protesting. It was also a response to the injustices he witnessed and experienced while visiting the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Birmingham branch. He explains how he and the SCLC organized their plans of nonviolent action for change in not only the segregated schools in Alabama, but for the discriminated people of America. Dr. King declares, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied” (344). He states that African American people have waited more than 340 years for constitutional and God-given rights (King 344). His pleas for recognition of the mass injustices and his assemblies of nonviolent actions caused a wave of changes to occur across the country. His teachings and actions paved the way for African Americans and other minorities to be given the opportunity to exceed expectations and not to be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. One such person became our 44th President.
Now that it’s been concluded that racial equality has not been reached the question must be asked of what steps society should take to fight for it. Recently violent race riots have broken out all over cities in America, like the one in Charlottesville, Virginia. White supremacists and anti-racist protesters broke out into fist fights. These riots are exactly what Martin Luther King Jr advocated against. He believed that the solution to improving race relations was to love and respect all people not fight them in the streets.
Gandhi was known first for his nonviolence behavior and would condemn his own party opposing violence. Gandhi made use of nonviolent and passive resistance through non-cooperation as his weapon of choice in the conflict against the British. The butchery of civilians by British military personnel resulted in increased public anger and acts of violence. Mahatma Gandhi criticized both the activities of British Government and the revenge of the butchery from the Indians. He extended consolation to the British victims and denounced the riots. Initially his party was opposed to his declaration. Later, however, they accepted Gandhi’s principal stating that any retaliation or violence was hurtful and could not be justified. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi success with nonviolent activism, Martin Luther King Jr. pushed forward his Civil Rights Movement with nonviolent activism as well. Although the two have personally never had contact, Dr. King learned of Gandhi 's discipline while in the seminary. His first application of the nonviolent campaign came in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Here, he had a witnessed firsthand the power of a peaceful
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...
Throughout his education, Martin Luther King Jr. tried to find a way to demonstrate his belief of racial equality with the most effective means possible. He quickly realized that the best strategy to end segregation was to use nonviolent forms of protest. At Crozer, Morehouse and Boston University, he studied the teaching of Mohandas Gandhi, who used nonviolent methods to help India claim its independence from Britain. King read several books on the ideas of Gandhi, and eventually became convinced that his methods could be employed by African Americans to obtain equality in America. King knew that any violence on the part of African Americans would lead to violent responses from segregationists, which would lead to injury or maybe even death for his followers. He had to teach his followers not to respond violently to cruel attacks from segregationists. King decided to sponsor workshops to train African Americans in nonviolent beh...