3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives
3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives 3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives
those living within that system . Hate the evil deed, King would say, not the evildoer. Fourth, it requited "a willingness to accept suffering without rotaliation ." Unearned suffering was redemptive. Finally, nonviolence eradicated not only physical violence but "violence of the spirit" : it created peace and spread love .~ 3 Additionally, certain universal truths informed King's protest . He believed that people, within their own destinies, are good and free. He believed that God is both "toughminded" and "tenderhearted" : a powerful but loving God . He believed that humankind fell from God's grace when Adam and Eve overstepped the bounds of their freedom, and that individuals continued to create problems for themselves when their actions impinged on the freedom of others . He believed that an imbalance ofjustice 330ne can actually see the development of King's philosophy of nonviolence by reading his notations in the margins of his copy of William Stuart Nelson's article "Satyagraha : Gandhian Principles of Non-Violent Non-Cooperation" ; see Box 82, Folder 58, Martin Luther King Collection, Department of Special Collections, Boston University. The marginalia reveals King's impressions while reading Nelson's article, published in the Autumn-Winter issue, 1957-58, of The Journal of Religiousous Th~ouah_t . Here King first jotted down his notions of the supremacy of truth, and of nonviolence as a way of life ; he also recorded how nonviolence avoids both external and internal violence, and how it distinguishes between evil and the evildoer. A more polished articulation of King's understanding of nonviolence may be found in Martin Luther King, "Pilgrimmage to Nonviolence," Stride Toward Freedom , particularly pages 102-104 . See also Allan Boesak, "Coming In Out of the Wilderness: A Comparative Interpretation of the Ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X," (Masters thesis, Kampden, Netherlands : J.H . Kok, 1976), 36, reprinted in David J . Gatmw, Martin Luther King . Jr . : Civil Ri¢hts Leader. Theolaai~ an r . Orator (Brooklyn, NY : Carlson Pub., 1989), 94 ; and James A . Colaiaco, "Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Paradox of Nonviolent Direct Action," pylon 47 (1986) : 18, reprinted in Garrow, Kind CivilRim, 191 . For more on vsar~a, see 8ondurant, Guest of Violence , 6. 1 8
(toughmindedness) and love (tenderheartedness) caused disharmony. And he believed that persons must be respected because God loves them as individuals ; that is, people are sacred .'~ King's appeal to Christian sensibilities would allow his words to germinate in the South, a bastion of religious conservatism and Christian belief. Here, the union of Christianity and black protest was strong . The South provided the ideal setting for his message, and the black church provided the ideal vehicle for his strategy of nonviolent protest . He recognized not only the centrality of religion in southern black life and culture, but also the church as the vanguard of social revolution in the South ; he saw that religion gave meaning and significance to spirituality and community. 3s King worked within the larger Afro-American tradition of protest through religious channels . Furthermore, the rhetoric of Christianity made his words more palatable to otherwise hostile white Southerners ; that is, if it did not convert them to King's position, it at least eased some of their fears . In adopting nonviolence, King followed in the footsteps of William Whipper, Frederick Douglas, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the National Urban League, all of whom had emphasized nonviolence and moral suasion as the most practical methods for achieving integration and basic constitutional See Otis Turner, "Nonviolence and the Politics of Liberation," Journal of the Interdenominational Theoluglca Center, 4 (Spring, 1977) : 49-60, reprinted in Garrow, j~~ Civil Ri~rts Leader, 985-999 ; Steinkraus, "The Dangerous Ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.," Scottish Journal of Reli¢ious Studies, 6 (1985): 20, reprinted in Garrow, Kin¢ :¢: C~ahts 925 . See also Garnow, Bearing the Cross , 927 . ss Baldwin, Balm in Gilead, 175 . . 186. 1 9
- Page 1 and 2: CCVII. RIGHTS & SELF-DEFENSE : THE
- Page 3 and 4: Civil Rights and Self-Defense : The
- Page 5 and 6: It was not until the 1950's and 196
- Page 7 and 8: ights movement, including : redempt
- Page 9 and 10: unnoticed, unbeknownst, or simply i
- Page 11 and 12: nonviolence . It is not a complete
- Page 13 and 14: happen, and the time for defense is
- Page 15 and 16: during this period currently lie do
- Page 17 and 18: what is right, but Iam not sure how
- Page 19 and 20: could be argued that King's middle-
- Page 21 and 22: people customarily initiated it . F
- Page 23 and 24: "The Other Cheek" : ReUn9ubhing Sel
- Page 25 and 26: expressed an urge to "give as good
- Page 27 and 28: professionals and faculty members f
- Page 29 and 30: But while King defused the volatile
- Page 31 and 32: (FOR), and William Worthy, a black
- Page 33 and 34: practicability of his position: '~4
- Page 35 and 36: Additionally, Bayard Rustin reporte
- Page 37 and 38: the power structure."~ In other wor
- Page 39: available to the Negro in his strug
- Page 43 and 44: compelling arguments for the moral
- Page 45 and 46: and faggot. For example, in 1889, J
- Page 47 and 48: His first impulse when threatened w
- Page 49 and 50: aggravate ; that is, his politics o
- Page 51 and 52: quantitative change in our lives."
- Page 53 and 54: '~P~opk With StrenSth": Questioning
- Page 55 and 56: united behind him:'s Comparing his
- Page 57 and 58: paratroopers from the 101" Airborne
- Page 59 and 60: Williams respected what he called "
- Page 61 and 62: NAACP had always appealed, he scour
- Page 63 and 64: Montgomery was buried without incid
- Page 65 and 66: motorcade with gunfiro when the car
- Page 67 and 68: slavery and oppression . Tire Negro
- Page 69 and 70: S-6 . at the heart of his nonviolen
- Page 71 and 72: act : anyone who would utilize nonv
- Page 73 and 74: folkways . Because they believed th
- Page 75 and 76: the South, found themselves spearhe
- Page 77 and 78: Brown ." sa That same month, Willia
- Page 79 and 80: pumping hundrr~ds of thousands of d
- Page 81 and 82: making better men either of themsel
- Page 83 and 84: He likened racism to a disease, a m
- Page 85 and 86: escalated . Rioting broke out. Then
- Page 87 and 88: Williams' ideas came to fruition in
- Page 89 and 90: When juxtaposed with the ideas of M
(toughmindedness) <strong>and</strong> love (tenderheartedness) caused disharmony. And he believed that<br />
persons must be respected because God loves them as individuals ; that is, people are sacred .'~<br />
King's appeal to Christian sensibilities would allow his words to germinate in the<br />
South, a bastion of religious conservatism <strong>and</strong> Christian belief. Here, the union of<br />
Christianity <strong>and</strong> black protest was strong . The South provided the ideal setting for his<br />
message, <strong>and</strong> the black church provided the ideal vehicle for his strategy of nonviolent<br />
protest . He recognized not only the centrality of religion in southern black life <strong>and</strong> culture,<br />
but also the church as the vanguard of social revolution in the South ; he saw that religion<br />
gave meaning <strong>and</strong> significance to spirituality <strong>and</strong> community. 3s King worked within the<br />
larger Afro-American tradition of protest through religious channels . Furthermore, the<br />
rhetoric of Christianity made his words more palatable to otherwise hostile white<br />
Southerners ; that is, if it did not convert them to King's position, it at least eased some of<br />
their fears .<br />
In adopting nonviolence, King followed in the footsteps of William Whipper,<br />
Frederick Douglas, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People<br />
(NAACP), <strong>and</strong> the National Urban League, all of whom had emphasized nonviolence <strong>and</strong><br />
moral suasion as the most practical methods for achieving integration <strong>and</strong> basic constitutional<br />
See Otis Turner, "Nonviolence <strong>and</strong> the Politics of Liberation," Journal of the<br />
Interdenominational Theoluglca Center, 4 (Spring, 1977) : 49-60, reprinted in Garrow, j~~<br />
Civil Ri~rts Leader, 985-999 ; Steinkraus, "The Dangerous Ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.,"<br />
Scottish Journal of Reli¢ious Studies, 6 (1985): 20, reprinted in Garrow, Kin¢ :¢: C~ahts<br />
925 . See also Garnow, Bearing the Cross , 927 .<br />
ss Baldwin, Balm in Gilead, 175 .<br />
. 186.<br />
1 9
Change language