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We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community By Martin Luther King Jr

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Recommended: The impact of Martin Luther King’s speech

Aimee Martinez
Ms. Flores
Period 2; English 11
17 March 2023
Performance Task “Well, I don't think of love as, in this context, emotional bosh. I don't think of it as a weak force. But I think of love as something strong, and that organizes itself into powerful direct action (Martin Luther King Jr.). Making a change in society by approaching it in a violent manner will not get the right attention towards the change wanted. The principles of nonviolent resistance consist of making a social or political change in society without using any form of violence. Violence is unjustifiable when making a social change; fighting the hate within society by spreading more hate and violence will not create good change. Non-violence is a passive, yet strong approach to a non-ideal social situation. Change simply cannot be made when advocating with what is being advocated against. Having an “eye for an eye” mentality will not outweigh any wrongdoing when the objective is to create a better social or political outcome. In his book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot …show more content…

As Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate”. Martin Luther King expresses that non-violence is not defined by silence, but by moral prevail: silencing criticism, being able to make a statement using words, and being in unity will always be more powerful than those who must resort to violence in order to advocate for their cause. Humans were endowed with moral and ethical conciseness; a need for change does not excuse nor make violence

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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.

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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

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and they need to fight. Nothing else is working so fighting is the only working option. Dr. King’s purpose to this speech is to get out the word that the people need to fight with nonviolence. “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” Martin Luther King is famous for fighting for equality using non violence.

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Why Nonviolence Works Non-violence can be just as effective or more effective as compared to violence. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela all used non-violence to stand up for what they believed was wrong, and got many followers to make a change. Their governments were aware of their presence, but they could not do much about it. They did not break any laws. Mohandas Gandhi became a hero of South Africa and led India to independence.

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Like said by Elie Wiesel in his Nobel prize acceptance speech in 1986, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” “OUR SILENCE IS ANOTHER KIND OF VIOLENCE.”(Kiely 292) this quote is saying that staying silent might just be as worse as being the one discriminating against someone. Staying neutral in situations of police brutality and other acts of prejudice is also in favor of the oppressor, “IF YOU ARE NEUTRAL IN SITUATIONS OF INJUSTICE YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE SIDE OF THE OPPRESSOR”(Kiely 290) I think this quote would help change society for the better because, a lot of people stay neutral to try not to arouse feelings or divide people, which seems fair, but them doing that is helping the oppressor. This is because then the oppressor is not being called out or confronted because of their acts, this results in them obtaining a mindset that it is okay to discriminate or be

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent strategy showed that violence isn't the solution to what he wanted to achieve. Martin Luther King Jr. states that “Violence may go to the point of murdering the hater”. But it doesn't murder hate. It may increase hate. It is always a descending spiral leading nowhere.

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Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” King was an American clergyman, activist, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement. The topic of peace and justice from this quote can be found in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. This letter is a response written by King to respond to the criticisms of his colleagues (eight white clergymen), who called him “unwise and untimely,” while he was in Birmingham City Jail.

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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.

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used ethos to encourage African Americans to overcome oppression,Martin Luther King Jr knew that any violence would ruin their chance at freedom, if this get violent it makes African Americans look bad and they will never receive the things they have been asking for, the most ethical thing for Martin Luther King Jr to do was to warn African Americans not to become violent, and explain to them that he knows that they have a taste for freedom, but being violent will not help them, and that exactly what he did; “ Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy, which has engulfed the Negro community, must not lead us to a distrust of all white people.”

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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.

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“As King wrote about nonviolence, he no doubt recalled the numerous instances in which civil rights activists had maintained their courage and discipline and responded to their oppressors with love” (Colaiaco). Martin Luther King believed that it is impossible to achieve a moral end by immoral means without causing damage to the soul and making oneself unworthy. One of the requirements of the volunteers of the non-violent demonstrations was to sign a “commitment card” which contained the Ten Commandments of the nonviolent movement. The first commandment required them to “meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.” Others explained that they must “walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love” and “refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.”

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Using nonviolent resistance does not include killing off anyone that doesn’t share the same opinion, it is simply protesting to prove and persuade a need for change. Also, peacefully protesting attracts attention from all over the world; thus, educating more people about a serious issue in society. If no one takes action, no one will realize the problem and it’ll only continue to grow. Also, many political leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are extremely known for their delightful use of civil disobedience. Even better, all of them were successful in bringing about a change in society.

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Non-Violence vs. Violence Non-violent acts to accomplish a goal have been in existence for a long period of time. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Gandhi used non-violence methods to obtain favorable settlements, to show how the peaceful boycotts became a new and effective weapon to gain rights for all people and to improve society by becoming one. However, violence may appear to be a masterful technique and highly effective in the moment because of the threats visibly shown like weapons. But nonviolence techniques are more difficult to spot while in conflict and it takes a lot more time to be effective. But if one wants an outcome without harm and bigger lasting difference nonviolence is the way to go.

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