Criterion For Civil Disobedience By Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Criterion for Civil Disobedience

The mid twentieth century was characterized by the Civil Rights Movement. This movement was a period fueled with civil disobedience in hopes of racial equality and the dissolution of Jim Crow laws. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prevalent, if not the most prevalent, leader during this era. He stressed peaceful protest and revolution, unlike some other leaders, in order to achieve the common goal of equality.

Dr. King encouraged civil disobedience, stating that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (Fumerton and Jeske 217). However, he laid out the criteria to disobey a law. Two of the criteria are substantive, which mean they assess the substance or contents of a law. One criteria is that, in order for a law to be disobeyed, it must be inconsistent or contradictory to moral law. The other substantive criteria is that if a law degrades human personality or contradicts human rights, citizens have the right to disobey the law. The third criteria is procedural, indicating that it only

This campaign does not start with civil disobedience, rather it begins with collecting facts. These facts could be how the law came to be, the context of the law, who wrote it and why. These facts prove the injustice of a law. Then negotiation of the law takes place, in hope one can avoid breaking the law. If and when negotiations fail, the third step is self-purification. The final step is direct action which is civil disobedience. The goal of this disobedience is to “foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (Fumerton and Jeske 216). King does not “advocate evading or defying the law”(Fumerton and Jeske 218) and states that whoever does so in hopes for a change must “do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty”(Fumerton and Jeske