Hope From a King
“Darkness cannot drive out the darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” This quote from a long and memorable list of Dr. Martin Luther King quotes offers some much needed solace, and hope in today’s troubled world. The darkness that Dr. King refers to can symbolize many things today and the hate he mentions is as strong today as it was four decades ago; only we are dealing with a different kind of hate.
In today’s world, darkness is apparent every corner you turn, with the daily atrocities being committed in southern Sudan and the ongoing conflict in Iraq serving as prime examples. Over 30 countries are actively engaged in civil war, and there is the constant threat of
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There are still ways in which light can drive out the darkness that is prevalent in our world today. Every nation claims that they are building up arms to defend their people in case of an attack. This is a perfect example of the darkness that is embedded in the world. People’s psyches are so concerned about the worst of possibilities that we seldom look at the positive ways in which we can improve our world for the better. The light that can offer some answers may be the consent of all nations to reach an agreement on every major international issue such as the battle over nuclear weapons. I find it hard to believe that in a world where we have so much potential to rid the ills of society with diplomacy, we often resolve to arms and violence.
Dr. King was referring to the plight of African Americans (particularly in the South) when he said that “hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Dr. King was in essence preaching to those that wanted integration, and civil rights that the only way you can achieve anything is with love. Dr. King knew that hate often results in violence, and using violence as a means to a gain at a time when our nation was engaged in a deadly war will not have been in the best interest of a nation that needed cohesiveness amongst all its citizens. In the history of the world, hate has never produced a good result. Hitler’s hatred of Jews resulted in the massacre of over six million Jews. In Rwanda, over
King was an inspiration to all! I agree with Mr. King’s philosophy of civil disobedience and nonviolence. I agree with this because then you are just hating the enemy. I don’t think that you should fight hate with hate. If we fight like this then the result will just be even more hate. I think that Mr. King thought that we should fight peace with hate so that in the end peaceful will overpower the hate. MLK once said , “ I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Mr.King was also very brave to stand up for what he believed in and continuing to do this even after the threats he was getting. Know matter how bad he was being treated by white people he still picked up his head. Another quote that relates to what I am saying was also by MLK. “ Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.” - Martin Luther
King uses irony, by giving examples of him using peaceful actions that were condemned anyway because they were said to ?precipitate violence?. He went on to say, ?Isn?t that like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated in the evil act of robbery??(King 563). Dr. King also realizes that the white moderates are mostly religious. He reminds them ?Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability, it comes through tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God??(King 563). Again, he urges the audience to get up and become active, and that there will be no change without their action.
He knew what African Americans needed and deserved, and that’s what he fought for. According to Document#4, King states that in order to have a “healing context” in the classroom, all races needed to be together. This means that separating black and white people wasn’t going to help, it was only going to harm and he didn’t want that. His ideas for African-Americans were the best because he’d set good goals to achieve complete equality and liberation for black people. In addition, he knew that responding with violence would’ve been counterproductive and a bad idea for African Americans.This shows that he really knew that in order to achieve equality, black and white people couldn’t be separated and he also knew that violence was not a
One of the ways that Dr. King brought change was through his message of hope and optimism for the future, and his long, eloquent sentences that proved that he was a man of intelligence that should’ve been listened to. In Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he makes clear his belief that racial equality can only be achieved by integration. This can be best describes when he states “I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right here in Alabama little black [African-Americans] boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white [Caucasian] boys and little white girls as sisters and brothers.” (King 5) Dr. King discusses how he believes that if the Caucasian
That leads into King talking about how the time is now. The time to make a difference. The time to give every person the basic civil rights that they should deserve. He states, “Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood” (King 260). He then brings it all back to Birmingham, Alabama. King tells his audience that he sees “two opposing forces in the Negro community” (261). He describes those two opposing forces as being one that is made up of those who are “so drained of self-respect” that they have gotten used to the segregation (King 261). The other force is one that is made up of “bitterness and hatred” that is found in “Black Nationalist groups” (King 261). King doesn’t want there to be two opposing forces. He wants to enforce the idea that there is a more peaceful and nonviolent way to resolve their issues
Dr. King tussled with the cares of life looking for solutions, concern for his family, and stood up for righteousness, justice, and truth. Dr. King knew what he was up against was daunting and knew enough to call on the name of Jesus. Dr. King believed in the power of prayer even through the countless number of threats he received and even arrested he stood unyielding for what is right, justice. Dr. King refused to sink in the quick-sands of racism and abhorrence. Dr. King realized that he had to alter the mindset of society if change was to come.
King speaks from personal experience how difficult it can be to have to tell a child that they are hated because of their skin color. “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to dorm in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people” (12). King talks about his own experience because he knows others have to face this as well, and the children can never be free to live good lives because segregation ruins their self-esteem. Dr. King explains to his audience how segregation can damage people physically and emotionally. “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damaged the personality. It gives the segregation a false sense of superiority a false sense of inferiority” (12). The meaning behind this is all segregation will ruin all who are involved, mentally and physically. It will break the people most involved and destroy the person’s mental state. Dr. King has some very strong points. His personal opinions makes his argument
This turns the situation back to the clergymen – implying that they should think about what they would have done in that situation. It’s assumed that as Christians they would help, but the question is why they aren’t doing that with African Americans. Dr. King’s use of multiple traditions for his allusions reinforces his argument. By directing the text to people of so many backgrounds and using their most notable figures to support his case, he makes it hard for any person to view his overall argument as separate from their own culture or background. He draws a relationship between the brutalities committed against the Jews and the brutalities committed against African Americans in America with prejudiced laws bringing about violence and death. King then justifies his fight for an “extremist” cause by providing specific examples of other historical “extremist” causes that brought about changes for the
King did not want African Americans to express a feeling of hatred toward all white people. He made an excellent point when mentioning, "…not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny…" By presenting this point in his speech Martin Luther King made known to everyone that he is a man of great character and honor.
Martin Luther King Jr. lived in a world where racial tensions were high and not everyone was treated equally. He fought for a world where there would be no more segregation and no more disparity between the ways blacks are viewed compared to that of whites. In doing so, he preaches about nonviolence in order to keep the movement honorable. Although Machiavelli believed that the ends justify the means no matter how terrible those means were, the evidence will show that King 's ideas that the means used to reach an end should be pure are more reasonable.
King, without pause, preached for the necessity of peace during his marches and other statements against racial injustice. Without peace, he was leading rioters. A statement was made with the mighty combination of steadfast physical presence in addition to peace. This was perhaps the most virtuous response to the deplorable deeds done to blacks in that time. Consider it, a child could not attend his or her local school because of his or her skin color. Or a man cannot purchase, a cup of coffee from a diner due to his skin’s darker hue. After all this, the advocated response was peace. There is nothing more positive than the ends of the movement, despite that it was civil disobedience. Do not let the reality of consequences for one’s actions escape the history that was created. Dr. King and his followers stood up and received the repercussions of their actions in peace. Also, do not forget that Dr. King wrote his historical letter from jail. Echoing St. Augustine, King stated that “an unjust law is no law at all.” Thus, he was not disobeying law. Peace was vital to the civil rights movement, as they effectively disobeyed the skewed law of
He believed that “normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action” (“Letter” 30). It is understandable that blacks were enraged with the way they were mistreated for years. King felt this rage should be channeled into proactive ways to change the way blacks were viewed. He goes on to say “If your repressed emotions are not released in non-violent ways, they will seek expression through violence” (“Letter” 30). King encouraged black people to feel, to be upset, and then fight for the freedom that blacks deserved.
King did not hesitate to declare his distaste for a certain group by stating “the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice” (80). In this statement, King was acknowledging the way many whites who claimed they were in the movement to assist, were really there to shut the noise up and avoid conflict. In so many words King stated, he could not sit idly and allow injustice to be swept under the rug by these so-called peacemakers, and believed the white moderate was hurting more than helping the forwarding of the movement. King was also frustrated with people within the group he so lovingly was fighting for. King spoke about having two upsets when it came to African Americans. “One is a force of complacency… The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously closed on advocating violence” (81). These statements were used to point out that some blacks were accepting the fate placed on them by the superior whites to be impoverished and denied rights while others were so furious with the system in its current state they were willing to go further than the peaceful protests currently held and take justice into their own hands through violence, King was hurt by the current state of his people and felt something needed to
Martin Luther King “Darkness cannot drive out darkness:only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” (VI-AN NGUYEN parade.com 2 ) This quote practically sums up Martin Luther King’s whole campaign. Thus making a new understanding of peace.
Today, in a social media ridden world where there’s no communication gap, allows news from around the world to be delivered to us in matter of seconds. Almost every day we hear about a shocking act of violence, whether it’s a terrorist bombing, a senseless rape or a gruesome murder. These tragedies makes us wonder, “What is the world coming to?” However, we forget to realize that in fact today’s world is much more peaceful compared to how dangerous life was thousands of years ago. As pinker stated, “Brutality was once woven into the fabric of daily existence” (2). Therefore, in order to understand the violence we witness today, it’s important to acknowledge how bad the world was in the past. In this paper, just as pinker did in his book “The Better Angels of our Nature”, I will also argue that violence has decreased tremendously over the centuries by using numerous evidence and statistical data. The Pacification process, Civilizing process, and other sanctions throughout millenniums are just some of the changes that resulted in the decline of violence throughout history.