Martin Luther King Jr Civil Rights Analysis

In this life, many hope for peace, but not many try to achieve it. According to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, there are many ways to achieve this, but the best possible course of action would be through nonviolent direct action, which includes but is not limited to: peaceful protest, sit-ins and civil disobedience. In King’s letter, he proclaims his reasoning behind nonviolent direct action, including: the concept that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 4), extremism can be used positively (par. 22), and the fact that “oppressed people will not stay oppressed forever” (par. 24). King uses literary devices including ethos, logos, and pathos to prove and reaffirm that which he is trying to convey.

Dr. King and Malcolm X strived to achieve equality for blacks under the law, more specifically, voting rights, desegregation, and more representation in government and politics. However, both men differed immensely in their tactics and strategies. For Dr. King, the negotiations could be brought about by the persistence of a nonviolent plan where, the oppressed people’s determination would overcome the will of the oppressor in the hearts and minds of the nation. He firmly believed in the principles of Mahatma Gandhi’s method of nonviolence resistance, which had been successful in driving the British out of India. For example, according to King, one of the resisters, or black mans goals is not to humiliate the opponent, (the white man) but to win his friendship and understanding. Dr. King proposed a passive resistance, based on “the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice” (“Pilgrimage to Non Violence” King, 112). He claimed the center of nonviolence is based on the principle of love, or understanding. Dr. King emphasized that the white man should not be held responsible for the minorities and blacks being oppressed. Here is where the two leaders oppose each other. Malcolm X felt social injustice and racism had endured too long, and it was

Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who seldom cared what other people thought about him, lived in the moment. In doing so, He became furious over the amount of injustice. This essay shows King’s fury over injustice through the use of rhetorical appeals through ethos, logos, and pathos.

The strategies that King Jr. elucidates within this document to achieve these objectives are manifold. On the one hand he calls for peaceful, non-violent tactics most noticeably in the form of civic demonstrations in which he and his adherents readily accept any violence their actions might produce without resorting to violence themselves. Violence is one of the five forms of social oppression

During the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and 1960s, two prominent African-American men fought for economical, political and social equality for their race. Even though they were fighting for the same thing, their ideas to attain equality were unusually different. Martin Luther King wanted to a non-violently integrate society; on the other hand Malcolm X thought complete separation was the solution to inequality. Either way both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were some of the most influencing leaders of the Civil Rights period . With their entrancing passion they were able to bring about change in the black community; their voices rose above many other people and left both whites and blacks in awe. At the time, Martin Luther King’s approach towards education and communication between both races made more sense; however when it came to philosophy, Malcolm X’s path toward philosophy made more sense for America in the 1960’s and created broader support for the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail", a rhetorical masterpiece, was written in response to eight clergymen’s statements condemning his nonviolent direct actions. He defends the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights nonviolent, direct action against individuals, institutions, and laws that look the other way while unjust racial prejudice against African Americans runs rampant in Birmingham. Using three main appeals, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Dr. King communicates the struggle that was the essence of human rights, equality. Appealing to the logic, ethics, and emotions of the reader strengthens his rebuttal of the opposition, helps him gain support, and clearly justify the recent direct action he led. King uses logos to illustrate his argument and invalidate the opposition to his claim, leading the reader to side with his position. Exampling this, he demonstrates that direct action is not opposed to negotiation, contrary to what his fellow clergyman believe, and states “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (King par 9).

To begin with, we must use nonviolence to achieve freedom based on the article "Letter from Birmingham Jail" King argued "my friend I must say to you that we have not me a civil right without determine a nonviolent pressure" this demonstrates that king wants to achieve freedom in a nonviolent manner. In addition King states "actually we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

King urges the clergymen to support peaceful protests before years of oppression turn into violence. King emphasizes that anyone who is trapped has a burning desire to be free, for “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.” Similar to a bomb, these African Americans will soon emotionally explode, hurting both themselves and the people around them. King urges the clergymen to support the non-violent protests by exposing the threat of a violent confrontation. Furthermore, King additionally accentuates the idea of rebellion as he states, “the yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself… something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be

In his letter to the clergy he justified the use of ‘nonviolent direct action’ as tactical means to bringing parties together to negotiate. He vehemently condemned all forms of violent action but insisted that it was strategic and constructive to employ the nonviolent tension as a powerful alternate to negotiation. Similarly, Dr. King Jr. stressed to his audience in his momentous speech in Washington DC, that the desire to attain set goal must not be tainted by any acts of retaliation and cautioned the crowd to avoid the temptation of being ‘guilty of wrong doing”. He emphasized the importance of adhering to strict discipline and conducting their struggle in the highest form of respect for human dignity.

The American Civil Rights had many moving parts and the many accomplishments can be attributed to the persistence and sacrifice of many that participated both black and white. Two seminal figures in the movement were Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. While they were similar in many accounts and held many of the same beliefs King is usually portrayed as a pacifist while X is a rabble rouser ready looking for a reason to use violence. Two diametrically opposed sides of the same coin whose accomplishments may not have happened if not for the other. The love of and fear of are two of the strongest motivators known to man. King use love and the quality of love in his address while X uses fear in attempts to motivate change.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are equally categorized as courageous individuals; however the thoughts, actions, and beliefs as evidenced in their writings demonstrate that each chose a path opposite the other in exhibiting courageous actions. Through Martin Luther King Jr.’ speech, I’ve Been to the Mountain Top and Malcom X’s By any Means Necessary, we observe the steps that each of these Black Activist Leaders took in order to grasp the attention of African-Americans all while achieving results in moving the Black community upward toward equality.

Two main black activist leaders of the early 1950's were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Today, both of these men would be remembered as 'great leaders'. However, these two men had totally different approaches towards meeting the same main goal. Both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought for civil rights; however Malcolm X also wanted to have a separate black society whereas Martin Luther "wanted the integration of white people with black people. Malcolm X believed that violence was the key to his goat whereas Martin Luther King chose to take the non‑violent approach This is one reason why some black activists rejected, the approach of Martin Luther King to civil rights.

King considers negotiation to be important. However, like he stated, no man is willing to sit down to discuss topics which may hurt them (2).He says this to explain how many people are not willing to help others if it adversely affects them and their standard of living. Therefore, King believes that in order for citizens to receive their demands, more drastic measures must be taken. These methods can include: sit-ins and marches. He believes that the role of the citizens is to take matters into their own hand. This being that they must produce actions that result it change. They must voice their concern and take appropriate actions, to achieve their demands.

The most powerful scene is when Martin Luther Kinf Jr. leads the protesters on the march to Washington D.C. and makes his speech. Nothing is greater than watching the people get together for the greater good of humanity. Dr. King was an amazing leader and his followers put full faith into him. The people produced a voice that could not be ignored.