Racism and racial inequality was extremely prevalent in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. James Baldwin shows how racism can poison and make a person bitter in his essay “Notes of a Native Son”. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” also exposes the negative effects of racism, but he also writes about how to combat racism. Both texts show that the violence and hatred caused from racism form a cycle that never ends because hatred and violence keeps being fed into it. The actions of the characters in “Notes of a Native Son” can be explain by “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and when the two texts are paired together the racism that is shown in James Baldwin’s essay can be solved by the plan Dr. King proposes in his
In the passages "Letter to Birmingham jail" by Dr.Martin Luther king Jr. and "speech at the march on Washington" by Josephine Baker showed that Dr. Martin Luther king and Josephine Baker both had the same views on un-equality and non-violence. They both claimed that to achieve true freedom society must use non-violent means in order to find a peaceful solution. To start with, freedom is something everyone wants and must have but to achieve true freedom we must all use non-violent means in order to protect our freedoms and find peaceful solutions. According to the article "letter from Birmingham jail" King states "I have earnestly opposed violent tension but there is a type of constructive tension which is necessary for growth" Dr. Martin Luther
Well known at the time, Josephine Baker, gave a heartfelt speech at the walk on Washington. Josephine was the only female speech presenter, but still gave an amazing performance. The speech related to almost every soul in the crowd of 250,000. The anecdotes used almost definitely got across to all of the listeners, and got to their feelings. To break down Miss Baker's speech, her three main points were that she ran, very far, away from home, came back and felt hate, and therefore wanted to change it for the next generation to come.
Throughout the American 1960’s there was a Civil Rights Movement. This movement gained a lot of traction within a short amount of time through many people. There were two leaders with opposing tactics but had the same goal reined in the movement. One leader was Martin Luther King with the tactic of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and integration. The second leader was Malcolm X with the tactic to fight back and to have the communities better themselves by being separate.
During the 1960’s civil rights movement hundreds of blacks were unlawfully arrested and beaten in attempts to end segregation. Many civil rights leaders such as John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King jr. and professor, Jim lawson strived to teach and demonstrate others how to bring equality peace by using non-violence methods. Marching, protesting, and participating in sit-ins tested the strength, morals, and dignity of John Lewis and others. The trilogy March, tells a story about a young farm boy, John Lewis, who was inspired to help end segregation and how he used non-violence at protests, marches, and sit-ins.
Throughout the history of mankind, power has always been exercised on people as a way to suppress civil disobedience. Most of the time, resistance was and is still being produced as a backlash to the exercise of power. Foucault stated that: “Where there is power, there is resistance.” (1998:95) People have used different kinds of resistance to meet brutality such as acquiescence, physical violence and nonviolent resistance as stated by Martin Luther King in his article named “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression“.
Ella Josephine Baker was known to be an unsung hero during the trials and tribulations of the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the women who contributed in achieving civil and human rights for minority people. She cooperated with many organizations to establish her goal, such as motivating the discriminated into standing up for themselves. Ella Baker’s childhood, political activism, and the influences of her actions all contributed in ending discrimination against African Americans and other minority groups during the Civil Rights Movement.
Non-violence is acting without physical confrontation. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the many people that solved situation without using violence. By using only his words be demonstrated that we African-Americans can do anything without using violence. Practicing non-violence can make you look morally stronger than the other person. In my opinion using there are time when you should use non violence like when you’re using self defence.
In "The Ways of Meeting Oppression" Martin Luther King, Jr. states how people deal with oppression and how effective those responses are. He states that people deal oppression in three characteristic ways. The first one being acquiescence. The oppressed accept their way of life and become accustomed to it. He compares the civil rights movement to Moses leading out the slaves from Israel in which the slaves at the time did not want to escape.
In Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech he says“ I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and uncondtional love will have the final word.” he does not believe that Man is forced to be involved in racism and war, also society cannot come together and the only way the community can come together is to start respecting each other. In the picture provided, he is not just with african american but also white americans showing how they can be apart of the movement. Mark Twain is wrong, man is not born cruel they choose to be.
Josephine Baker an amazing vocal opponent of segregation and discrimination, often initiating one-women protests against racial justice. She dealt with alot when she was younger from being burned out of her home to being so frightened and running away, she was beaten just for the things she continued to do and to say the things she said just because she didn't like the rules and laws of segregation. Josephine ran away multiple times but when she ran away to another country she could do anything she wanted she felt like she was equal to everyone. She was a person who not only just wanting to fight for blacks but for all she wanted to do anything with all races all color because she felt like we all was put on this earth and we all suppose
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a huge part in the American Civil Rights movement during the 1950s-1968. Martin Luther King lived during a time where black people had different privileges than white people. He chose to make a difference in the world about it. Not very many people in his time would be brave enough to express themselves the way he did. Because of his great determination, courage, and inspiration, his marches and speeches were successful in motivating people.
The woman’s suffrage movement of the 1800s and early 1900s as well as the civil rights movements of the 1950s and the 1960s, even though they were made up of a multi-ethnic group of people, the two movements actually had multiple of similarities such as the same goals and concerns. Both group felt appressed by society and both groups demanded basic freedoms and equal opportunities. As both groups sough to have their demand met, other issues became the major national focus. The main difference between the two movements is the fact, that in achieving their goal, African-Americans were calling for the enforcement from the government of their voting rights and end to segregation which still existed in the South, while the suffragists were calling for the right to vote for women.