ipl-logo

Martin Luther King Peaceful Resistance Essay

791 Words4 Pages

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King Jr.. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society by displaying diverse views to debatable issues in the nation. Typically contentious issues such as war, new laws, and social issues bring up a variety of competing and diverse opinions about the topic. The United States was founded upon diverse opinions coming together to form a united nation. The constitutional started with the Articles of Confederation, however after new ideas arose the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were formed. The Constitution gave citizens the right to vote, free speech, …show more content…

Discrimination had long been accepted in America, African Americans were dissatisfied with the life that they were forced to endure. Afraid to speak out against the country, they had to endure the hardships of cruelty and misjudgment. Then Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, decided to change the way African Americans were. He and the African American community came together to protest the way America treated the colored community. Martin Luther King Jr. led many peaceful protests, and discriminatory laws were disregarded leading him and others to jail. While sitting confined in a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote: “Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here...I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These protests led to equality through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Without Martin Luther King Jr. standing up for the injustices being done (even through civil disobedience), there wouldn’t be the amount of equality we have

Show More
Related
810 Words | 4 Pages

As a peacemaker and an outspoken leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has done a lot to end segregation in the United States of America. His own imagination filled with millions of hopes that one day everyone can learn to accept one another put him in very difficult situations in which he was not afraid. In 1963, Dr. King wrote a letter from the Birmingham Jail to a clergymen that freedom has to be given to everyone no matter what race they were. Dr. King fought for the rights of African Americans because they were separated from doing all the things that the Whites were able to do. He decided to take a step and fight for everyone.

Read More
1072 Words | 5 Pages

On April 16th, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, wrote a letter to the Clergymen. He was sitting in jail and wrote about the injustice his people are facing and how he wants this to change. He talks about how being treated like this just because they are black is wrong. Dr. Martin Luther wants his point to be heard, and he wants to fight as much as he can. People say what he was doing was "unwise and unjust."

Read More
976 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel by William Golding Lord of the Flies, the young english men that are left alone on the island make contact with many important symbols that help to display ideas and concepts. Through symbols like the beast, the Lord of the Flies, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when freed from civilization’s rules and restrictions, allow their primal necessity for evil to control their life. A symbol that is arguably the most important object in the book,the book’s namesake, the pig's head. Golding's description of the murdered animal's head on a spear is very dark and more so scary. The boar's head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood getting darker between the teeth," the "obscene thing" is covered

Read More
539 Words | 3 Pages

¨Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(King 582). Martin Luther King Jr was a civil rights activist who fought for civil rights; he wrote to eight white clergymen in jail. King got arrested for fighting for African American rights. King was very passionate and emotional about civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. suggested the idea of people having a moral responsibility to infringe on unjust laws.

Read More
531 Words | 3 Pages

To this day people are treated unfairly, many people have felt the effects of discrimination. Dr. Martin Luther King was a highly recognized spokesman for the civil rights movement. In his letter he explained his stance on non-violent protests. In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King evaluates human rights through moral reasoning, equality, and segregation. Dr. King vehemently appealed to his colleagues concerning their moral reasoning, and showed how unethically black people were treated.

Read More
203 Words | 1 Pages

Martin Luther King had been arrested for participating in an anti-segregation march that he didn’t have a parade permit for. He wrote a letter from Birmingham Jail claiming that it was his duty to fight for justice. There was a need for Civil Rights Movement right away because as Martin Luther King stated “We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights”. African Americans have been waiting for far too long to gain civil rights and “...still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee”. In this letter Martin Luther King also addresses his reasoning for following certain laws and breaking others.

Read More
548 Words | 3 Pages

Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society because it helps get people's points across, without breaking any rules. People are allowed to voice there opinion, without causing any physical harm to themselves, or anyone around them. Many equal right came about during peaceful resistances. Thomas Jefferson is an example of that. He led a revolution, and changed the lives of millions of African Americans, then and now.

Read More
359 Words | 2 Pages

Martin Luther King was an activist who fought for the rights of black people by leading nonviolent protests. Martin helped the black community deeply by being responsible for acts like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. In addition, he also led the civil rights movement with his vision of change and leadership, which made the world a better place for all colored people. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin says “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create tension so a community will move toward negotiation”. Martin Luther King firmly believed nonviolent direct action was a very effective tactic so the community will slowly begin to understand the racism they were facing.

Read More
895 Words | 4 Pages

People should be treated equally regardless of their race. Martin Luther King wanted everyone to be happy and be able to work together. Martin Luther King wanted kids to be able to work together. Violence was not good; it did not help solve problems. Martin Luther King's philosophy made the most sense for America in the 1960s.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

Martin Luther King makes a powerful statement in Birmingham jail after being imprisoned for peacefully protesting. His authoritative letter addresses the issue of racial injustice towards African American people. His goal was to act in a nonviolent way so that the poor treatment towards the black community was changed. He was fighting strictly to end discrimination. King makes radical points in his letter to his fellow clergymen about the treatment that colored people in the south were receiving.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

Racial segregation was a major issue that alarmed the black community in the 1960s. Martin Luther King could not just sit and watch his own race get discriminated any longer; he was a well-known peaceful leader who led the black community in nonviolent protests. He was the voice of the discriminated, and stood up for the injustice thrown to his race. Being a Baptist minister, he could only peacefully evoke the idea of equality and unity among the races by communicating and marching. With his influences, thousands of African Americans stood by his side to form a nonviolent resistance towards segregation.

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

Back in 1963 times were different then what they are now, people were not created equal. When Martin Luther King gave his speech you could not spot a white person that associated with a black person, the world was divided and the blacks sought equality. As King said in his speech, “the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land”. To emphasize, for the blacks their home did not feel like home it felt like they were in jail being treated as the whites slaves. Throughout hundreds of years the blacks still had to deal with segregation, and it was time to put up a fight and try to make a change, so Martin Luther King did exactly that even if it meant risking his life to try to make life better for the others.

Read More
631 Words | 3 Pages

In the times of Martin Luther King Jr., an African American couldn't even sit up front on a public bus. They couldn't vote. They were ultimately treated as vermin and less than human. Dr. King was out to change that. Dr. King expressed great gratitude and optimism for the sanitation workers’ strike, the civil rights movement, and the quest to achieve equality for African Americans.

Read More
518 Words | 3 Pages

One of the wise words said by Martin Luther King Jr., specifically in a letter while in Birmingham jail, is "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". King was the leader of a civil obedience group and was therefore arrested for it due to it being a group that resisted laws, despite it being peacefully, to show the public and the government that a change was needed and succeeded in making that change to let the U.S. be what it is today. Thus, peaceful resistance to laws ultimately impact a free society positively so that a free society may remain or truly become free. Peacefully resisting laws help inform the government and/or citizens that something is not right. Rosa Parks is known for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man for the laws back then were white accommodating and she was

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

Timing is key in most any endeavor. Whether delivering a speech, launching a company, or even starting a social movement, actions must be timed correctly to make success an option. In a letter to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a group of clergymen from the state of Alabama criticize the renowned civil rights advocate on the timing of his demonstrations in Birmingham, claiming he should wait for the city government to act on its own. In the now famous reply from his jail cell, King develops a logically structured argument, citing common morals and information to directly refute the clergymen’s claim that his actions are untimely, while establishing a need for immediate action. King methodically crafts a well structured and logical

Read More

More about Martin Luther King Peaceful Resistance Essay

Related Topics

Open Document