Martin Luther King’s "Ethic of Love"

“I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil’”.

He started American Civil Rights Movement, in order to spread equality among the people of United States. There was huge protest against racial discrimination and social segregation in the southern part of United States. He explained Just laws and Unjust application of Law. Unjust laws are those laws which are not based on morality whereas unjust application of law refers to the law which is against justice, implemented on someone else. MLK along with few other people started a movement in which they violated unjust law and he did that by starting civil disobedience movement. While staying in jail Martin Luther king expresses his opinion on being criticized by the clergymen’s. He talks about the Southern Cristian leadership conference and its operation in south. Later, he gives the moral reason of staying in Birmingham, to fight against injustice. He took the path of non-violence to bring back the rights. There were four basic steps involved in this nonviolence campaign, collection of facts, negotiation, self-purification and direct action. He gave the difference between just law and unjust law, just laws are those laws which raises humans’ personality whereas unjust laws brings down an individual’s personality. A law is said to be unjust if a minority group has to obey the majority. In non-violence resistance he said that freedom is always demanded by the oppressed. He focuses on the creative

The Civil Rights Movement occurred in the 1950’s. It’s a movement against segregation and discrimination in the Southern states of America towards the African Americans. Throughout the wars and battles that were fought, African Americans never had equal rights like Caucasians. Caucasians downgraded African Americans due to their skin tone and their intelligence. Since African Americans were not given the same equality like Caucasians, they started to fight for equality. A well- known social activist who participated in the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, took the initiative to fight for equality in America. Martin Luther King delivers a speech about having equal rights for sanitation workers in

The Civil Rights Movement of the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s, was to end discrimination and racial segregation against African Americans. The African Americans wanted protection of their citizenships by the federal government. Evidence illustrates to us through source 1 of male and female ‘niggas’ holding signs stating “WE DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS NOW!”.

The civil rights movement can be called one of the most important movements in the history of the country. Without it who knows where America would be as a country in today’s time. Fortunately it was not a problem America had to solve all by its self. With the help of two of the most influential people in history, America became the country of the free where everyone is equal, no matter what religion, gender or ethnicity. Those two men were Martin Luther King Jr. and Elijah Muhammad. These men have accomplished so much but some can argue that one did things a better way than the other. Most of the time people are more for the non-violent Martin Luther King Jr. but some say that without a little force, nothing can be accomplished. This was the

In the earlier half of the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement was blossoming. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was based on the concept of non-violence and peaceful protest as exhibited by Gandhi. “We affirm the

The African American Civil Rights Movement officially “began” in 1954, but the ideas of Civil Rights had been brewing since the end of the Civil War, and even earlier. The Civil Rights Movement was centered on the idea of the equal, fair, and constitutional treatment of African Americans in the United States. The movement features some of history’s most prominent figures, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Throughout the movement, activists utilized protests, marches, boycotts, and strikes in attempts to change public opinion and governmental action on African Americans. The movement succeeded in overturning

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement was a time in which African Americans were setting out to end segregation, specifically in the south. During this time period, African Americans were treated unequally from the white people. African Americans were unable to eat in the same restaurants, shop in the same stores, or even drink out of the same drinking fountain. Dr.

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

    The Civil Rights Movement was a zealous and essential period in American History. The civil rights movement began in 1954 and was led by African Americans to outlaw racial discrimination against Blacks. One century after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, African Americans still observing segregation and various forms of oppression and “Jim Crow” laws. The nonviolent and civil disobedience protests were used by the civil rights activists to bring about change. Some significant leaders within the Black community were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Martin Luther King Jr., he was a brilliant and potent leader of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement was inspires by the writings of Gandhi and Thoreau. King had a commitment to try to end racial segregation and discrimination. King did speeches, petitions and got the U.S. people and government involved. Kings philosophy was a nonviolence resistance. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King states “There are two kinds of laws: unjust and just laws.” (221-222). “An unjust law is no law at all,” stated Saint

Following the non-violent principles of Gandhi, King ignited hope into the eyes of thousands of African Americans for equal rights. Early in his career he realized that non-violent protest was the most efficient way of achieving his goal. He stated that: "I had come to see early that the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of non-violence was one of the most potent weapons available to the Negro in his struggle for freedom." In seeking to continue and expand the non-violent struggle against discrimination, King, along with other Black ministers, set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. As a result of his consistent commitment to nonviolence, black college students began to launch a series of sit-ins at lunch counters and public places where segregation was existent (King 39).

.Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged blacks and whites to confront racism everywhere and spoke about “militant nonviolence” which called on blacks of all ages to who had the willpower to endanger their lives in order to freedom. He wanted

During the course of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, there were several black and white supporters who had brave roles. The most prominent and persistent activist of African American rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr. King’s ideas sparked the ideal perspective of equality. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for equality by organizing marches, giving powerful speeches, and staying positive through adversity.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December, 1955 till to April 4, 1968, African Americans accomplished more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced. Dr. King is broadly regarded as America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history. Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. King led a "nonviolent movement" in the late 1950’s and ‘60s to accomplish legal equality for African-Americans in the United States. While others were supporting for liberty by “any means necessary,” including violence, but Martin used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals. He went to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always preserving loyalty to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family