Just And Unjust Laws Research Paper

“…There are two types of laws: just and unjust” (King 598). Martin Luther King Jr. perspective of these two types of law heavily in influences his participation in the non-violent campaign for civil rights. In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King defines the both types of laws and gives examples of each. He also explains how the two type of laws play apart in his actions as a civil rights activist. The concept of just and unjust law are a major key in King’s role as a civil rights leader and activist. “One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust” (King 598) King states in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that a “just law”

The activist would break these laws to fight the injustice that colored people were subjected to. It was easy for them to break the unjust laws because the laws were ethically and morally wrong and degrading to a specific portion of the population. Also, the unjust laws should not be considered as laws because they were established on negative principles that intentionally makes colored people subordinates of the white majority and aids in the mindset that colored people were less than human. The laws of South in particularly forbid colored people of doing simple things as walking on the same side of the sidewalk as a white person or drinking from the same public water fountain. An activist would initially break the segregation laws in order to draw attention to the morally wrong laws that were in place. Drawing the unwanted attention to the unjust laws that were in placed was a way to attempt to bring equality. The non-violent acts that were performed by the activist created a lot of tension because the acts were almost always counteracted with violent acts from the oppressors and these action were seen