...Civil disobedience allows one to convey their thoughts and ideas in a passive, nonviolent way. It can be used when one believes that they are morally correct and know that there are others that will agree with them. Antigone, from Sophocles Antigone, and Martin Luther King Jr. in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, both chose to fight for justice rather than preserve their own safety. They both violated laws that they believed were unjust in order to help people and were willing to suffer the consequences that their actions brought upon them. In other words, they believed that there was a higher good that required them to disobey specific laws. However, even though they both had the same intentions, the methods that they used to achieve their goals differed...
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...Versus Laws in The Eyes of King In the mid twentieth century, America was full of segregation and inequality between the blacks and whites. One man did everything in his power to get equal rights for the races until it eventually killed him, literally. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who dedicated his entire life striving towards African American equality. Without using violence, King fought hard and strong for what he believed in, and was passionate about, which was civil disobedience, that is defined as a peaceful form of protest. Practicing civil disobedience addressing his demands for racial equality landed Martin Luther King, Jr. a spot in Birmingham Jail. The incarceration resulted in a large amount of free time which he used to complete a lengthy letter addressing the clergymen who criticized his actions, calling them untimely and unwise. These criticisms did not sit well with King and therefore, he formulated “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Although long winded, Martin Luther King, Jr. uses repetition, in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” to his benefit, in addition with ethos and pathos to sway his audience and develop his reasons for his civil disobedience. Ending at an astounding eleven pages, Martin Luther King, Jr. covers a great amount of information throughout “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. The length of this letter most likely was due to the fact he was locked in a cell with nothing better to occupy himself with, King admitted himself, in the last...
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...Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist from the 1950 to 1968 with a strong religious background. A strong advocator for all minorities, King did all in his power to end barriers of community, poverty, racism and militarism. The principle he focused more on, however, was racism. King defined racism as prejudice, apartheid, ethnic conflict, anti-Semitism, sexism, colonialism, homophobia, ageism, or discrimination against disabled groups and stereotypes (Haskins). Later turning his efforts to poverty, King believed that the United States should have equal rights for all men, women and children. Martin Luther King Jr. had a strong philosophy of non-violent protests, called civil disobedience, to which he gained supporters, changing the jurisdictions of racism and poverty to create the American Dream for all. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, to Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Born as Michael King Jr., King lived in Atlanta, Georgia (How Did Martin). However, in honor of minister and civil-rights activist Martin Luther Baptist, his parents gave him the name Martin. In 1931, King’s father became the lead pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, a very successful minister as his father and grandfather had been. A very intelligent man, King skipped ninth and eleventh grades, graduating from Booker T. Washington High School at the age of fifteen. Dealing with segregation at a young age, King believed...
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...30 April 2013 Civil Disobedience When should civil disobedience be justified? Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey government laws, in an effort to bring upon a change in governmental policy or legislation. Civil disobedience is not an effort to dissolve the American government, because without government our society would result in chaos. Sometimes, when there is an unjust law and the government won't take the initiative to fix it, the public must act as civil disobedient to bring awareness and fix the unjust law. There have been times when citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government because of an issue that is unjust. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau made such actions to prove their point. Civil disobedience is justified when its goal is to obtain equal rights and service for everyone, without causing physical damage to people and their property, and without breaking the just laws that are already enforced. It should only be practiced when the government fails to uphold justice and fix laws that don't allow everyone the equal rights already given to some. In his essay, "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau wrote in 1849 after spending a night in the Walden town jail for refusing to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War. He recommended passive resistance as a form of tension that could lead to reform of unjust laws practiced by the government. He voiced civil disobedience as "An expression...
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...people who acted in similar methods when it came to civil disobedience were Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu was a civil rights activist in South Africa during the 1980s, while King was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1960’s. Both Tutu and King fought for African Americans who were treated unfairly in both South Africa and America. Tutu and King wanted to bring an end to segregation and apartheid and they felt the best way was through civil disobediences. Although they agreed the unfair treatment of African Americans needed to end, King’s approach to the topic was a lot more instructional and insistent. Tutu believed his job was not to lead people and show them how to achieve their common goal, but instead to let them know that he was on their side as well as many others....
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...Answer the following questions regarding Gandhi, King and Mandela: What Made Non-Violence Work? Any suspicion of plagiarism will result in a non-submission of assignment. Failure to complete assignment by the start of the fall semester or suspicion of plagiarism will result in a 5% loss of class average for the first semester grade. Read the background essay to gain more knowledge about these men. Answers should be typed. Plagiarized responses will receive no credit. Document D Questions: 1. What non-violent tactic is being threatened by Gandhi to protest the salt tax? 2. What is civil disobedience? 3. Provide an example of civil disobedience. 4. Inference: Why did Gandhi write the letter to Lord Irwin, telling him in advance what he intended to do? 5. What are the risks of civil disobedience to society? Document E Questions: 1. What is a lunch counter sit-in? 2. Is a lunch counter sit-in an example of civil disobedience? Why? 3. Explain the difference between a strike and a boycott? 4. How does King justify breaking the law at his trial? Examine the Picture 5. What can you tell me about the sit-in and the times from Blackwell’s photo? Explain. a. b. c. Document F Questions: 1. Does the document provide evidence that Mandela supported civil disobedience? Explain. 2. Did Mandela believe that acts of civil disobedience must be non-violent? 3. Under what circumstances...
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...Answer the following questions regarding Gandhi, King and Mandela: What Made Non-Violence Work? Any suspicion of plagiarism will result in a non-submission of assignment. Failure to complete assignment by the start of the fall semester or suspicion of plagiarism will result in a 5% loss of class average for the first semester grade. Read the background essay to gain more knowledge about these men. Answers should be typed. Plagiarized responses will receive no credit. Document D Questions: 1. What non-violent tactic is being threatened by Gandhi to protest the salt tax? 2. What is civil disobedience? 3. Provide an example of civil disobedience. 4. Inference: Why did Gandhi write the letter to Lord Irwin, telling him in advance what he intended to do? 5. What are the risks of civil disobedience to society? Document E Questions: 1. What is a lunch counter sit-in? 2. Is a lunch counter sit-in an example of civil disobedience? Why? 3. Explain the difference between a strike and a boycott? 4. How does King justify breaking the law at his trial? Examine the Picture 5. What can you tell me about the sit-in and the times from Blackwell’s photo? Explain. a. b. c. Document F Questions: 1. Does the document provide evidence that Mandela supported civil disobedience? Explain. 2. Did Mandela believe that acts of civil disobedience must be non-violent? 3. Under what circumstances might have Mandela supported...
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... Head and Markowitz Analysis of the Greensboro Sitins The young college protestors used the act of civil disobedience to voice their anger with the country’s unfair policies. Their main goal was to put an end to the segregation on lunch counters in restaurants. When the Greensboro 4 peacefully protested J.W. Woolworths, many other colleges and citizens around the world began to follow. It wasn’t the intention of Ezell, Joseph, Franklin, or David to spark such a big movement but blacks were so outraged with the slow pace to equality. While the precedent of Brown v. Board of Education and the positive outcome of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts helped blacks, the country remained to have unfair policies which limited the success of African Americans. Whites were viewed as superior and were in control of the justice system. A lot of whites didn’t agree with the sitins because they didn’t want to eat with blacks nor wanted to enter a store that’s being protested by blacks. It ruined the businesses of white owners and many whites acted out violently towards the peaceful protestors. Sadly, hundreds of black students were arrested and fined for their actions but didn’t accept bond. They wanted to make a statement and they did because America looked bad by having so many young college students in jail. Luckily, people around the world like Senator John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and many churchgoers supported the Sitins and helped them reach their goal of desegregation...
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...Julia Starr Renner 1 November 2015 Miriam Dominguez Defining the basis of human rights for American society, The Declaration of Independence stated “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Throughout the duration of gaining independence, Americans struggled against the suffocating reign of Great Britain. Colonists saw themselves as equals to those in England and did not believe that their rights should be neglected. Similar to the British-Americans during the Revolutionary War, the pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement sought equal rights and freedom. Prominent civil rights leaders brought new ideas to the world, dreaming up ways to eliminate an archaic mentality. Ultimately, without the reinforcement of...
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...which this query has been posed include, Should people be allowed to break the law? Should individuals be able to ignore the laws in which they do not believe? Can breaking the law ever be justified, morally or ethically? In his situation, King discusses how many other countries are moving forward in how they develop and treat others. He criticizes the United States as they creep forward with the pace of a horse and buggy when it comes to civil rights. He discusses how those who were not while have been lynched, beaten, killed, prosecuted, turned away from and denied access to certain places and ridiculed with mean language. King and his followers supported the de-segregation laws which opened up schools to children of all colors, but broke laws that he did not agree with and, to clarify, he separated the laws into those which are just and those which are unjust. To promote his point, he quoted St. Augustine as saying, “An unjust law is no law at all,” as it is not rooted in eternal and natural law (King, 2013). It is likely that there are situations in which breaking the law would be justifiable, as proposed by King, as well as many others. Some, such as John Rawls, have set forth guidelines to determine whether or not breaking a law would be justified. Rawls believed that there must be a clear injustice, the act of disobedience must be a public act which is both non-violent and non-threatening in nature and the perpetrator(s) must be willing to accept full responsibility,...
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...the time they start coming up with their ideas. They may look at the same problem and have different ways to solve them from other people. In this paper Bertrand Russell who was born in 1872 and died in 1970 along with Martin Luther King Jr. who was born in 1929 and died in 1968 will be examined. They used their own creative process to motivate people into seeing different issues their way. Each of these men made contributions during difficult times. In this paper specific problems and ideas that these men sought to solve, and the plans they put into action to resolve these problems. Their ideas and solutions were met with opposition from people who did not like change. Some of their solutions were constantly improved upon. A part of these solutions were logical solutions, which allowed them to be accepted without much resistance. The way these two men thought had a huge impact on the way other people started to think, this helped to make the outcome of personal issues for the better. Russell dealt with analytical philosophy dealing with realism, and King was for fighting against inequality and the injustice of segregation. Being that they were two different men, they looked at things with different perspectives that others did not see. Both of them could produce ideas and solutions to various issues. Sometimes they had to have perseverance and patience to outlast their opposition. Contribution to Society Bertrand...
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...resolved, this is when they start coming up with their ideas. They may look at the same problem and have different ways to solve them from other people. In this paper Bertrand Russell who was born in 1872 and died in 1970 along with Martin Luther King Jr. who was born in 1929 and died in 1968 will be examined. They used their own creative process to motivate people into seeing different issues their way. Each one of these men made contributions during difficult times. In this paper specific problems and ideas that these men sought to solve, and the plans they put into action to resolve these problems. Their ideas and solutions were met with opposition from people who did not like change. Some of their solutions were constantly being improved. A part of these solutions were logical solutions which allowed them to be accepted without much resistance. The way these two men thought had a huge impact on the way other people started to think, this helped to make the outcome of personal issues for the better. Russell dealt with analytical philosophy dealing with realism, and King was for fighting against inequality and the injustice of segregation. Being that they were two different men, they looked at things with different perspectives that others did not see. Both of them were able to produce ideas and solutions to various issues. Sometimes they had to have a lot of patience to outlast their opposition. Contribution to Society Bertrand Russell contributed to society by establishing...
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...Martin Luther King Jr, was born at noon Tuesday, January 15 1929 at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the first son and second child born to the reverend Martin Luther King Sr and Alberta Williams King a school teacher. Martin began his schooling at the all black Younge Street Elementary in Atlanta. He experienced an extremely rough childhood and witnessed things such as police brutality of the worst kind ;watching black people ‘negroes’ receive injustices in courts.(Martin Luther King pg 90).The things he saw and experienced were eventually what caused him to strive for African American freedom and despise segregation. “I had grown up abhorring not only segregation but also the aggressive and barbaric acts that grew out of it.” (Martin Luther King pg 90). Martin was an extremely bright student and skipped right through his high school years and on June 1944 he entered Atlanta’s Negro Morehouse College at age 15.His father encouraged him to study ministry though his heart was set on medicine or law. During his studies at school and as a minister , two very important people came into Dr. King’s life .One of these men was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; who was a leader in India which had a similar situation to Dr. King. Lower class of India lived in poverty and hunger while the upper class Indians and British led a separate life. Gandhi saw the need for India to gain its independence from Britain in order for all the horrors of the lower class to stop (Haskins 32). Gandhi performed...
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...ways to rebel against ones government and/or religious institution, in the past rebelling has varied from protesting to a world wide revolution. Revolutionary leaders such as Che Guevara and Martin Luther King Jr. both lead groups which allowed people who rebelled against their government to obtain justice. Two philosophers who spoke on rebelling against their government or religion were Friedrich Nietzsche in “Morality as Anti-Nature” and Henry Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience.” A situation that occurred to justify an individuals rebellion against their government is the act of excess police brutality. A perfect example of excessive police brutality is the Eric Garner case. In this case Eric Garner was put in a choke hold by a New York City Police Department officer named Daniel Pantaleo, he ended up killing him and did not get indicted. This decision came nearly a week after a cop killed an unarmed African American, Michael Brown. This caused many people to walk and protest in Time Square chanting “This Stops Today” and “I Can't Breathe,” which were Eric Garner’s last words (NY Times). A more popular case that’s historical in American history is the Rodney King case. Rodney King was initially pulled over for a traffic violation where the officers proceeded in arresting him. Rodney King began to “resist arrest” and then the police officers brutally beat him over 50 times with a nightstick. The officers were brought on trial for this...
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...heard. Citizens should not be lurking in the shadows and keeping an opinion bottled up to never be heard. If an idea or belief gets shot down, a citizen can try again to make their idea noticed. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses civil disobedience in “ Letter from Birmingham Jail,” as “ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (173). Although civil disobedience can alter life drastically, it does not mean to continue on the path of insanity, but to stand up for what you believe is just. While standing up for justice is admirable, however, it is not always easy. In Iran, the government can take disciplinary action towards its citizens striking fear and panic into their souls. In the book The Complete Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi, in which she discusses a hectic life in Iran. In chapter fourteen “The Wine,” Satrapi discusses how the government takes disciplinary action towards the citizens who chose to rebel by having a party. The citizens found at the party are thrown in jail or are physically abused (103-110). Although the government took action against its people, the citizens continued to sneak around partying and revolting against the government. The citizens in Iran did not want to be controlled by the government because the laws enforced were...
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