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Similarities Between Gandhi And Martin Luther King

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Two twentieth-century leaders who have continued to influence non-violent social protest movements internationally are Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King.Jr, Of different races and cultures, born on opposite sides of the world in nations vastly different in wealth and technology, these two aggressive men in their later years shared the philosophy of non-violent, but direct, action and expended their lives in pursuit of peaceful solutions to social inequities. An examination of their lives, consequently, reveals both similarities and differences in their family backgrounds, ideology, and plans for social action. Gandhi's and King's family backgrounds show similarities and differences. Gandhi was a Hindi of the Baniyu (Trading) Caste; his father, nevertheless, was …show more content…

Early environment, family tradition, and study of both Gandhi and King, at some points similar but at most points different, shape their characters and form their expectations for their societies and their people . Both Gandhi and King believed that their aims could be achieved through non- violent means. They held a common ideology of non-violence. This common ideology on non-violence was not to be understood as a failure to act. It should be understood as a direct resistance which is grounded in love force or agraha. Gandhi said men must resist the evil that men do by refusing to obey a man-made law which contradicted a higher moral law. He often reminded them that blood would have to flow before the Indians attained their ends, but he said the blood must be their blood, not the oppressors. King cried out, 'I hope no one has to die as a result of our struggle... but if anyone has to die, let it be me'. King reminded Black Americans that they must love their enemies even if it means suffering and death. Similarities in the ideologies of the two men are most apparent since Gandhi was one of the most influential in the development of the King's

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