Selma Social Justice

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1965) is important from both historical and sociological points of view. It is an example of self-sacrifice as in idea for the of equality of all people. Formally, King addresses this letter that he wrote while in Birmingham jail at the clergymen who opposed his protests. In fact, he applies it to everyone who approves of racism, and considers the methods of nonviolent struggle to be too radical and far fetched from achieving an actual goal. From a sociological point of view, the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” shows the way of nonviolent adjustment of the social conflict and stages of this way: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (MLK np.). Martin Luther King was the first person in western history to show that you can achieve change without going into violent measures. While taking a sociological viewpoint and following two of its major theories. It is conceivable to say that King’s method of nonviolent direct action was the leading motive in the civil rights movement, which allowed for change.

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. showed African Americans nonviolent ways to resist. He did not want African Americans to commit violent acts for their rights. For example, slaves resist by not picking cotton or picking below their usual amount. Resistant in nonviolent ways require people to find other ways to resist without fighting or hurting someone. According to Pitney, he believes King wanted African Americans “to resist white racism through nonviolent actions undertaken in a spirit of love” (Pitney 2). In other words, he wanted African Americans to fight for their rights but he did not want them harm someone else to get equality. For instance, if a white man was using racial slurs toward a

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 Ways Of Meeting Oppression,? by Martin Luther king Jr., gives an over view of how one man classifies his ways of dealing with oppression and how they were dealt with during segregation. . During the first half of the twentieth century segregation was the way of life in the south. It was excepted, and even though it was morally wrong, it still went on, as it there was nothing wrong with it. African Americans were treated as if they where a somehow sub-human, they were treated because of the color of their skin that somehow, someway they were different. Some African Americans began to ?tacitly adjust themselves to oppression?(King), or as King saw it acquiescence. Others began to stand up for themselves but in a matter that involved violence. There where those that stood up for themselves by using nonviolence resistance which was Dr. King?s ideal method of dealing with oppression. ?Nonviolence is the answer to the racial, political and moral question. . .the need for man to overcome oppression and violence. . .?(King). This captures both Dr. King?s powerful feeling and stance on nonviolence as the way to winning the respect of the oppressors. Like Martin Luther king Jr. I to have learned the strategies of how people deal with the three types of oppression which are: acquiescence, violence, and non-violence resistance, but trough historical instances and my personal experiences in the past.

Injustice is a big problem in today’s society. Martin Luther King wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he addressed many forms of injustices that was present then and continue to be present in today’s world. Martin Luther King did a lot of things that still effect today. He got in trouble for some things as well; such as like protesting how blacks were treated. He was arrested and was sent to Birmingham City Jail. He wrote a letter to defend the strategies of nonviolent resistance to racism. He employs the use of pathos, ethos, and logos to support his argument that nonviolence resistance is definitive. Based on the pathos, ethos, and logos present in this letter, the article is overall effective to this argument.

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.

Social injustice is any form of hate, prejudice, or discrimination towards any group of people. Social Injustice can be towards any person regarding their race, religion, or gender. People often have prejudice against Black people as being poor or gang affiliated drug dealers. This is social injustice even though many African American are not what is stereotyped about them but they still face the consequences of discrimination and prejudices everyday. Unjust shootings, fatal chokings, beatings and rough treatment have all contributed to the present problem of social injustice against African Americans in the United States. In the past and recent history African Americans have experienced many social

In the argument essay “The Way of Meeting Oppression,” Martin Luther King discusses three characteristic ways when the oppressed deal with the oppression. He opens directly with the first argument point, and explains the reason why he is not agree with, as he states the acquiescence is not the way out, because the acquiescence lower the self-esteem of the oppressed while increase the oppressor’s arrogance and contempt. Moreover, he doesn't agree with the oppressed use physical violence to deal with the oppression as well, which it could only bring the momentary results. Specially, Martin Luther King points out the violence is not a permanent way to solve the problem, “Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.” Even though, the acquiescence and violence is not appropriate way to deal with oppression, the nonviolent resistance is the best way for oppressed people to seek the freedom.

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.

The film called “Selma” is analyzed, a historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and released on November 11, 2014. The film is based in Selma during the 1950’s to Montgomery in voting rights. The film actors are David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was a history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaign to protect equal voting rights through an epic movement from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

Social Justice: Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.

In Martin Luther King Jr's essay "Three Ways of Meeting Oppression", King describes the three ways of meeting oppression as acquiescence, violence, and non-violence. Out of those means, King rates acquiescence the least effective way to deal with oppression, nonviolence as the most effective way, and violence in the middle, being "both immoral and impractical" (para. 6). By analyzing King's ethical, logical, and emotional deliverance I hope to demonstrate its use of argument. King calls on the ethical side of an argument in this statement embedded in paragraph 4, "To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation

In the essay “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression” (1958), a section from the book Stride Toward Freedom, the author Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that there are three ways that people deal with their condition of being oppressed: acquiescence, violence and nonviolent resistance. Dr.King strategically illustrates that when people are oppressed, they resign to their freedom and adjust to segregation, or utilizes violence to fight against injustice with hatred or in nonviolent way which seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites – acquiescence and violence – with love. The purpose of this essay is to explain the three methods of meeting oppression in order to reveal the truth that among these three methods, nonviolent resistance is the right

What is nonviolent disobedience and what events have exemplified Dr.King's message? Nonviolent civil disobedience is a type of political action that relies on deliberately breaking laws. By doing this, people are calling attention to the unjust laws and punishments of pursuing a just cause. For example, for two weeks in April of 1947 volunteers for the Congress of Racial Equality rode 26 busses in Southern States. Many of them were repeatedly arrested, while others were mobbed by angry whites. On January 29, 1961, James Meredith, an African American and air force veteran submitted an application for the all white university of Mississippi. He was refused by the administration until the NAACF brought a suit against the University. As a result,