Martin Luther King Jr.: Dealing With Oppression
Martin Luther King Jr.
Throughout history, we learn from a number of great leaders and historic figures that there is a number of ways to deal with oppression. Oppression is most commonly known as an extended state of unkind and unfair treatment, or being subjected to this kind of treatment for a prolonged amount of time. For the sake of this essay, I would like to focus on a very important and influential figure in history, Martin Luther King Jr. One of the most important lessons that we can learn from Martin Luther King Jr. is that there are three main and effective ways of dealing with oppression; acquiescence, physical violence and nonviolent resistance. Acquiescence can be defined as agreement without protest. When discussing how …show more content…
made was that the “means to an end must be as pure as the end itself.” What he meant by this was that the process of obtaining an objective, must be as pure and peaceful as the outcome of the objective itself. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for peace and equality in a time of racism and segregation. Colored people were treated as inferiors to white people; they were not allowed to live at the same standard as white people. Their children were not allowed to attend white schools and colored people were seated at the back of buses, whilst white people sat at the front. Colored people were also killed, their houses were burned down and it was the time period when the Klu Klux Klan were hanging colored people from trees. By saying that the means to an end must be as pure as the end itself, Martin Luther King Jr. meant that if the colored people went out and retaliated by killing white people, then their freedom would be neither peaceful, nor pure. He was a man of great integrity and I believe he was referring to non-violent activities and nonviolent protests, in an attempt to strike the hearts of white people. I think that by sticking to peace and by not retaliating, Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrated an immense amount of integrity and this is probably one of the main reasons that he is the role model that he is today. Peace and fighting fairly are not always effective ways of handling oppression, although they are the most respectful and ethical ways to handle it. A leader who handles situations in this matter must have great character, must be very patient and forgiving, and sadly a lot of leaders nowadays don’t have any of these characteristics, which is why wars nowadays are so
Throughout history, we learn from a number of great leaders and historic figures that there is a number of ways to deal with oppression. Oppression is most commonly known as an extended state of unkind and unfair treatment, or being subjected to this kind of treatment for a prolonged amount of time. For the sake of this essay, I would like to focus on a very important and influential figure in history, Martin Luther King Jr. One of the most important lessons that we can learn from Martin Luther King Jr. is that there are three main and effective ways of dealing with oppression; acquiescence, physical violence and nonviolent resistance. Acquiescence can be defined as agreement without protest. When discussing how …show more content…
made was that the “means to an end must be as pure as the end itself.” What he meant by this was that the process of obtaining an objective, must be as pure and peaceful as the outcome of the objective itself. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for peace and equality in a time of racism and segregation. Colored people were treated as inferiors to white people; they were not allowed to live at the same standard as white people. Their children were not allowed to attend white schools and colored people were seated at the back of buses, whilst white people sat at the front. Colored people were also killed, their houses were burned down and it was the time period when the Klu Klux Klan were hanging colored people from trees. By saying that the means to an end must be as pure as the end itself, Martin Luther King Jr. meant that if the colored people went out and retaliated by killing white people, then their freedom would be neither peaceful, nor pure. He was a man of great integrity and I believe he was referring to non-violent activities and nonviolent protests, in an attempt to strike the hearts of white people. I think that by sticking to peace and by not retaliating, Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrated an immense amount of integrity and this is probably one of the main reasons that he is the role model that he is today. Peace and fighting fairly are not always effective ways of handling oppression, although they are the most respectful and ethical ways to handle it. A leader who handles situations in this matter must have great character, must be very patient and forgiving, and sadly a lot of leaders nowadays don’t have any of these characteristics, which is why wars nowadays are so