Thesis on "Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote"

Home > Topics > Black Studies My Account

Thesis 4 pages (1207 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Power of Nonviolence

Marin Luther King wrote that nonviolence was the answer to the crucial political and moral dilemmas of the civil rights era. He understood that man needed to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to them. In retrospect, this statement is true for the plight of African-Americans throughout the civil rights movement. From the days of Homer Plessy to the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States, success has been achieved not through violence but through nonviolent acts that lifted up the character of the man. While violence did erupt in certain situations, it rarely ever solved problems and generally made circumstances worse. The most intelligent of protesters understood this notion and advocated peaceful action.

Homer Plessy is probably one of the first individuals that realized racial inequality was wrong and decided to do something about it, whether or not he suffered for it. In 1890, he deliberately broke a law in Louisiana by boarding a white only railway car. He wanted to challenge segregation on the grounds that it violated his Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. He did not win his case and it would be decades before the ruling was overturned but what we remember about this man is how he challenged the law in a nonviolent way. Plessy was one of many African-American that decided that they had rights like any other American. These people created needs that were met with the establishment of groups. Prior to the 1960s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League were the two primary associations that worked for civil rights. The NAACP "pushed doggedly to dismantle

Continue scrolling to

download full paper ⤓

the legal underpinnings of segregation" (Bailey 911) and it was the first such group to see certain levels of success. While the high court was determining that separate but equal was unconstitutional, individuals were stating their own cause and fighting for their rights in ways that they knew best. They were simply responding to the court's ruling in their daily lives. Rosa Parks is perhaps one of the most famous nonviolent protestors, decided that she would not give up her seat in a whites only section of a city bus. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and "served notice throughout the South that blacks would no longer submit meekly to the absurdities and indignities of segregation" (Bailey 912). Other successful organizations that fought for the rights of African-Americans without advocating violence were the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose motto was to "resist without bitterness; to be cursed and not reply; to be beaten and not hit back" (Davidson 1167). Another significant organization to emerge during this time was the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

It should also be noted that African-Americans experienced the effects of violence and tried to steer clear of it whenever possible. Morris states that the lynching of Emmett Till is significant because a "generation of young Blacks who would lead the student wing of the modern civil rights movement was coming of age precisely at the time of Till's lynching" (522). Till's murder and the outcome of the trial "radicalized" (522) them. The most distinctive aspect of the movement was "its demonstration that the oppressed... can generate social change through the widespread use of social protest" (524) and it evolved over time. The Montgomery bus project revealed that large numbers of people could be mobilized to protest and that protests could last indefinitely. The Montgomery bus protest lasted longer than a year and it "revealed the central role that would be played by social… READ MORE

Download Full Paper

Write a New Paper for Me

Quoted Instructions for "Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote" Assignment:

“

The requirement is 2 primary sources and 2 secondary sources *****“ minimum. You may consult any viable source, i.e. primary and secondary source material, newspapers, movies, etc*****¦ (NOT WIKIPEDIA). Stay away from encyclopedias and other reference materials as they are NOT historical sources. Check with me first. Be sure to show your evidence in the paper with appropriate bibliographical references (MLA format). This assignment will be a minimum of 4-5 pages in length plus a bibliography page.

Topic :2. Discuss the following statement by Dr. ***** Luther King, Jr. *****Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence.***** Do you think this statement is true of the plight of Black Americans from the turn of the 20th century through the Civil Rights Movement? Is this statement applicable both in the 60s and in the late 1890s? Trace the actions of the racial movement in this country from Plessy vs. Ferguson through to Dr. King, discussing specific events and people. Which type of movement, militant or peaceful, was more effective?

How to Reference "Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote" Thesis in a Bibliography

“Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864. Accessed 3 Jul 2024.

Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote (2008). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864

A1-TermPaper.com. (2008). Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864 [Accessed 3 Jul, 2024].

”Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote” 2008. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864.

”Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864.

[1] ”Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864. [Accessed: 3-Jul-2024].

1. Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2008 [cited 3 July 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864

1. Power of Nonviolence Marin Luther King Wrote. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/power-nonviolence-marin-luther/484864. Published 2008. Accessed July 3, 2024.

Related Thesis Papers: