Hatman Turbow once said to Martin Luther King Jr., “This nonviolent stuff ain’t no good. It’ll get ya killed.” (Cobb 7). Dispelling the notions held by numerous individuals, groups who had guns to protect non-violent protesters during the American Civil Rights movement. Moreover, pronounced in both Charles Cobbs, activist and author interview and book, This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible is that particular viewpoint. Indeed, the typical narrative force-feed to many people of leaders not practicing self-defense is false and deeply problematic as it prevents a true understanding of one of many dark chapters in American history. A point that Cobb established early in the interview is that some individuals who practiced non-violence when faced with terrible violence practiced self-defense too. It harkens back to a point made in his book when he gives an example of Martin Luther King Jr., the person most associated with nonviolence during the American Civil Rights Movement also held guns for not only his self-defense …show more content…
Baker famously stated, “strong people don’t need strong leaders”. Relating to a point brought up in Cobb’s book, “nonviolent direction actions” (90) brought upon real change in the South with SNCC leading at the forefront of voter registration drives for African-American beliefs. Done in the early 1960s, during the latter half of decade other Black groups would empathize political power spurred by African-Americans as a key ingredient to ensuring their rights increased as citizens in the country. The early grassroots organizing done by groups such as SNCC played a crucial role in the success of the
There are many political activists in American History that made substantial contributions to nation. Activists in the 1900’s took on many different roles in their communities and had a huge impact on changes made in the country. The freedom most Americans take for granted today are a result of the struggles many faced years ago. Many of the activists during the period after WWII contributed greatly to history by representing both violent and nonviolent methods to employ new views on freedom and civil rights that America has adopted. Robert F. Williams was an African American activist in the 1900’s who advocated freedom and civil rights for Negroes in the South and across the country.
Nonviolent direct action not only opened a door for negotiations on civil rights, but it also gave a new conscience to African-Americans. It showed that they have a voice, a voice that can make a sound in the deaf ears of Southern
Charles E. Cobb is a journalist and he was an activist during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, he left Howard University and became the secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During the interviews he had with The Real News, he detailed that slaves organized to revolt, escape, or assassinate white plantation owners. There has always been a history of black people uniting together against white supremacy. The Civil Rights Movement was just a manifestation of the traditions that black people had been a part of since late 18th and mid 19th centuries.
Yet, as SNCC grew, a bureaucracy grew with it, leading to the creation of a hierarchy. Thus SNCC was left with a contradictory notion of a grassroots approach, while at the same time advocating continual integration into the political atmosphere. SNCC was created on the idea that they should work within in the area, and empower people to become local leaders. With the measure of success being the amount of voters registered in the area or the ability to spur federal intervention. Yet later SNCC decided to put more “emphasis on militant rhetoric rather than on the development of workable programs to consolidate southern rights gain” (229).
One of the most known so called “militant” groups in American history credit Williams as being the beginning influence for their own call to arms. Eldridge Cleaver, a leader of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense said “Robert Williams and Malcolm X stand as two titans, even prophetic figures, who heralded the coming of the gun, the day of the gun and the resort to armed struggle in Afro-America.” (http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/41069202?loginSuccess=true&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents) Included in their ten point program was the demand for an end to police brutality. “The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all black people should arm themselves for self-defense.”
The Power of a Few Citizens America’s history is full of conflict, and also full of positive change. A prime example of this is the Civil Rights Movement. Following Reconstruction, which took place after the Civil War, Jim Crow laws and segregation rose despite efforts to achieve equality for African Americans, like the 14th and 15th Amendments (Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement). The Civil Rights Movement was a period of fighting for political, economical, social, and just about any other type of equality for African Americans. Despite extreme backlash and disapproval from white supremacist groups and racists, mainly in the South, a positive change was created, credited to the many events that took place during this time (Carson).
In his letter from Birmingham city jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses aphorism to directly express the necessity of nonviolent resistance in order to encourage moral means to achieve the moral end of racial justice. King first quotes T.S. Eliot in noting that, “…there is no greater treason than to do the right deed for the wrong reason….” Here, King is criticizing the disciplined and nonviolent handling of public demonstrators as a moral means to preserve the immoral end of racial segregation. He argues that the police force deserves no commendation in maintaining “order” and “preventing violence” as such efforts are only done to fortify racial injustice in face of resistance. King declares that, “…nonviolence demands that the means we use
The Black Panther Party, the Rodney King Race Riots and George Zimmerman are examples. There is a clearly established judicial system in place, which possesses the ability to enact its laws, but the public loses confidence in the system and feels justification for striking out (Brown, 1976). Rising crime rates, especially of those during the 1980s, create a society which is more trigger jumpy and find power in being able to protect themselves against (Scully & Moorman, 2014). Belief in self defense rises to an all time high as “armed citizens annually encounter, and kill, as many as three times more violent offenders than police do and instances of lawful defensive gun use by citizens each year actually exceed fun misuse by felons.” (Scully & Moorman, 2014)
When the world is engulfed in injustice, it calls for brave men and women to fight back, but the question is how should one fight? Most would resort to violence to kill off injustice, but this leads to even more violence and chaos in most cases than intended. If someone is going to be shot the first reaction is to fight off the killer. However, Cesar Chavez implies in his powerful essay the weakness of violence in a unjust situation and instead the power of nonviolence.
In a magazine article by Cesar Chavez on the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, Chavez discusses the advantages of nonviolent resistance versus violent resistance, arguing that “nonviolence is more powerful than violence.” Chavez successfully develops his argument for nonviolent resistance by utilizing the rhetorical strategies of repetition and allusion. Chavez utilizes the rhetorical strategy of repetition throughout the article, repeating words like “nonviolent” and “we” to develop his and others’ stance on nonviolent resistance. Whenever Chavez states the word “nonviolent”, it is usually followed by its positive effects. For example, in the quote “nonviolence supports you if you have a just moral cause,” the word nonviolence is stated and is followed by its positive effect of supporting those with a righteous reasoning,
Nonviolent resistance is an individual’s (or individuals’) peaceful approach toward a conflict. Individuals such as Henry David Thoreau and The Liberian women claim that nonviolent resistance is justified because it’s peaceful and it encourages participation of those who support it. Nonviolent resistance is best characterized by the relationship between the means and ends of a conflict. It is conceptually viewed as a method of approach toward a conflict. Henry David Thoreau was able to justify nonviolent resistance through his passivity by questioning the government.
explains to the ministers that “in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustice exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action” (1). After the unsolved bombing of Negro homes and churches (1), King knew there had to be some type of negotiation between whites and blacks. He goes on to explain how “Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation” (2). The negation between the leaders of Birmingham economic community and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights soon became broken promises which made King and the black community realize they were “victims of broken promises”(2).
Dr. Martin Luther King was a well known civil rights activist who worked during the 1960’s. This decade was perhaps the pinnacle of the civil rights movement in USA. King dedicated his life to see improved conditions for colored people in USA. He was assassinated during one of his speeches. His dedication in bringing equality has lead to him becoming a martyr.
Cesar Chavez, a civil rights activist, published an article in a religious magazine devoted to helping those in need. The date this was published was particularly significant in that it had been the tenth anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This occasion allowed Chavez to tie in the work of nonviolence to his own cause. Cesar Chavez convinces the audience to proceed in a nonviolent manner toward their goals by utilizing juxtaposition to contrast the consequences of violence and pacifism, allusions to appeal to the moral aspects of humanity, and a diction that relates positive output to nonviolence.
Ten years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, Cesar Chavez (A civil rights leader) writes a rallying article against violence. Chavez also promotes nonviolence (not coincidentally during the 10-year anniversary of Dr. King’s death) and aims to persuade his audience of its effectiveness against oppression. By justifying nonviolence, understanding violence, and describing the uses of nonviolence, Chavez persuades his audience to utilize nonviolence instead of violence. Chavez’s justification of nonviolence, through the use of repetition, is his first step in persuasion. In repeating “we” multiple times throughout the paragraph, can, metaphorically speaking, put everyone under the same umbrella.