Civil Rights And Disobedience Essay Research Paper

Civil Rights And Disobedience Essay, Research Paper

By acting civil but disobedient you are able to protest things you don.t think

are fair, non-violently. Henry David Thoreau is one of the most important

literary figures of the nineteenth century. Thoreau.s essay .Civil

Disobedience,. which was written as a speech, has been used by many great

thinkers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi as a map to fight

against injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor that headed the Civil

Rights movement. He was a gifted speaker and a powerful writer whose philosophy

was non-violent but direct action. Dr.King.s strategy was to have sit-ins,

boycotts, and marches. Dr. King.s .Letter from Birmingham Jail. was based

on the principles of Thoreau.s .Civil Disobedience.. Both Martin Luther

King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau are exceptional persuasive writers. Even though

both writers are writing on ways to be civil but disobedient, they have opposite

ways of convicing you. Dr. King is religious, gentle and apologetic, focusing on

whats good for the group; while Thoreau is very aggressive and assertive for his

own personal hate against the government. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry

David Thoreau have the same ideas, but view them differently. Dr. King wants to

ultimately raise awareness and open doors for the better of a group. Thoreau

wants more individual rights for people. Dr. King is explaining his view of

conscience: I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells

him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse

the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the

very highest respect for the law (Martin Luther King, p. 521). This quote shows

Dr. King.s opinion on going to jail. King knows that he was unjustly put into

jail. He accepts going to jail even though he was put in jail wrongly. The

community then knows of the injustice and should pressure the government. The

other thing that happens is King is respecting the law by obeying it. He is a

peaceful man and wants justice, but believes in following the rules peacefully

to get the job done. Thoreau feels that conscience plays a more personal role.

Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right

and wrong, but conscience.… Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the

least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator. Why has every man a

conscience, then. I think that we should be men first, and subject afterward

(Henry David Thoreau, p.581). Thoreau is questioning why majorities make the

rules. He is questioning democracy. He.s telling us to question anything we do

and why we should give into the government if we do not agree with a rule. Why

should we be individuals with brains and have thoughts of our own if we are not

allowed to think for ourselves and do what we want. If we believe we are free,

why do we have so many rules. Thoreau believes we should be real to ourselves

and live for ourselves, not the government. King wants to change the laws

because they are morally wrong and Thoreau wants to change the law because he

personally doesn.t like it. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King both

agree injustice exists. Thoreau thinks of injustice as friction or tension that

can wear the machine down. King thinks that injustice just exists and tension

must be created with direct action to negotiate with the machine. Thoreau

explians, If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of

government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth,- certainly that

machine will wear out…, but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to

be the agent of injustice to another , then, I say, break the law. Let your life

be a counter friction to stop the machine. (Henry David Thoreau, p.587).

Injustice is a cause of friction, which is brought on by the government. The

government has created something that is working against itself; if the friction

of the injustice is left alone it will continue to grind down the machine. Once

again Thoreau questions if you can wait that long and what are you personally

going to do about the injustice. Thoreau says use your life to stop the machine.

Dr. King explains, . injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We

are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of

destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. (King p.516).

If we allow injustice to affect any one place the government knows they can get

away with it. If people don.t fight injustice the government will continue to

allow it because they know they can get away with it. We are all tied together

in a mutual destiny; we are all in the same boat, what ever affects you affects

me. How can you sit and watch injustice happen, we are all connected; wha

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать