More handpicked essays just for you.
The different opinions about civil disobedience
Write an essay on the philosphy of civil disobedience
Aspects of civil disobedience
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King professes his disappointment with the white moderates for calling him an extremist for his schemes. At first, in paragraph 27, King does not deny the fact-by using anaphora- that there are some Negros who “advocate violence”, but he also asserts that there are even more for “nonviolent protest”(King 28). In making this comment, King urges for people to look at his acts of nonviolent protesting . Indeed the insignificant amount of violence will be more looked upon than the nonviolence; however, there are numerous acts nonvilence that should surpass this. Additionally, in paragraph 31, King states how at first he despised the label but then “gained [...] satisfaction” from it.
Nonviolent resistance is one strategy that can be used in any movement or retaliation. In the 1960s, one man, named Martin Luther King, Jr. very much supported that idea. In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King writes back to the eight clergymen as a response to their criticism towards his nonviolent movement and actions. Throughout his letter, King discusses how necessary his movement is, especially by using credibility, emotion, reasoning and various figurative language, and the effectiveness it can have towards social reform. Although all that content contained in the essay proved to be valuable to his argument, King’s three concluding paragraphs appeared to be more effectual because of how he ends the letter with a satirical
When the world is engulfed in injustice, it calls for brave men and women to fight back, but the question is how should one fight? Most would resort to violence to kill off injustice, but this leads to even more violence and chaos in most cases than intended. If someone is going to be shot the first reaction is to fight off the killer. However, Cesar Chavez implies in his powerful essay the weakness of violence in a unjust situation and instead the power of nonviolence.
Letter from Birmingham Jail Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has long been the symbol of racial equality, much impart from the message in this letter. In this letter Dr. King illustrates the methods he became famous for using and the reasons for these methods. He also addressed the concerns about his timing and methods. Dr. King described the process he and his fellow advocates took in addressing the racial injustices as beginning with first defining the injustice and having indisputable evidence of its existence. The next step was confronting law makers and officials about the changes that needed to be made to eradicate the injustice.
In his letter, King argues that justice can only be established through continuous nonviolent action meant to create unignorable tension. To begin,
After reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” I was able to realise Dr. King’s stance on issues of peace, direct action, oppression and working class rights. In Dr. King’s letter he explicitly explains that peace can be a powerful weapon and should be a right. This is shown when Dr. King writes, “Such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest” (4). The topic of direct action is also mentioned when Dr. King states the most important aspects of campaigning. This is shown when he states, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps… determine whether injustice exist, negotiation, self purification,
By organizing the boycott and leading the nonviolent resistance against segregated buses, Dr. King embodied the principles of the social contract, asserting that every citizen should enjoy the same rights and privileges, regardless of race. This section provides a deep analysis of Dr. King's unwavering commitment to nonviolent resistance as a powerful tool for social and political change. By consistently advocating for peaceful means to achieve racial equality, he emphasized the persuasive and critical aspects of his philosophy. His unwavering belief in nonviolence aligned with the social contract's emphasis on peaceful democratic processes as the path to
In his letter from Birmingham city jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses aphorism to directly express the necessity of nonviolent resistance in order to encourage moral means to achieve the moral end of racial justice. King first quotes T.S. Eliot in noting that, “…there is no greater treason than to do the right deed for the wrong reason….” Here, King is criticizing the disciplined and nonviolent handling of public demonstrators as a moral means to preserve the immoral end of racial segregation. He argues that the police force deserves no commendation in maintaining “order” and “preventing violence” as such efforts are only done to fortify racial injustice in face of resistance. King declares that, “…nonviolence demands that the means we use
King States that “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” and in his time and in our time this statement remains true. (260). During King’s time there was a fight
Dr. King once said “we must see the need for nonviolent activists to create the tension…understanding and brotherhood” (doc 7). King got his inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi. King along with the rest of the civil rights movements used the justice system as a way to get their point across, using the court case Brown v. Board of Education. The leader of the suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, once said “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God”. Women felt that because of their
It showed that even children who were willing to carry the burden of freedom followed the philosophy of non-violence not just as a course of action but rather as a philosophy needed to spark change. This direct use of pathos shows the harsh reality of discrimination and touches the hearts of readers to understand how deep the philosophy of non-violence ran in many. Correspondingly, “We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and … asked ourselves: ‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?’” (King 3). Dr. King discusses in his letter, the lengths protestors had to go to, to perform sit-ins and not cave into the temptation to retaliate.
In order to achieve true freedom one must discover that you can break unjust laws through peaceful protest. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and “The Speech at The March Washington” by Josephine Baker each article passionately argues about the disadvantages of the black community, the equality and power of education. We must learn to act with patients and not guns we must protect are self’s with a pen and paper not violence. Dr. King once4 said “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is unique in history which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.
In order to further prove that nonviolence is the way to stop racism and gain equality, Dr. King writes: “I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, I am convinced that by now many streets of the South would be flowing with floods of blood” (). In this quote, Dr. King once again argues that non violence and peace are the best ways to stop the cycle of violence. The phrase “the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle” shows that even though they are struggling, nonviolence can help them.
Marisol Jaslyn Pena Professor Caleb Camacho English 1302 February 15, 2017 Annotated bibliography Argument: The next future generation must be persuaded to stand up for what they believe in and not be too scared to make a change in the world. They need to leave their mark in the world.
“Obstacles are barriers and to overcome them is to do whatever it takes to prevent them from stopping you from going where you want to go”. An obstacle is anything that keeps you from achieving your goal; it could be physical, financial or resource limitations. It could be moral opposition or anything that impedes you from comfortably achieving one's goal. Martin Luther King Jr overcame his obstacle in the Movie Selma. He gave Africans Americans the full right to vote.
