Martin Luther King, Jr.'s American Dream

Clash of the Colors John Rawls presented the ideal that society as a whole should have a balance of wealth, power, opportunity, and income; Martin Luther King Jr. expanded this philosophy in a non-violent way, he convinced the people that it was necessary that social equilibrium be restored to acquire justice and the basic civil rights of every man. In doing so, he was successful in achieving that equilibrium among all races, religions, and classes. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for what he thought was just but was legally unjust. He yearned for racial justice, increased human rights, dignity for both African Americans and Whites, and wanted to achieve this goal non-violently. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he says “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 217). King is stating that his people must fight to gain racial justice in a society that is against the minority. Though he fights for his people, he would never lay a hand on another human being. King’s voice was his only weapon; it took power over all the people in our society and hooked them; it got them to listen and understand the injustices that were taking place. Much like Ghandi, he advocated for non-violent direct action to bring this issue to the social surface. King and his followers took beating after beating just to prove their point that they were never going to give up until they got basic civil rights for every human being. King sought to achieve basic civil rights using non-violent direct action. This creates a situation and generates such a tension that the community that has neglected an issue is forced to finally confront it. In King’s words, “It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (King 216). King was not a violent person. He was soft spoken yet bold. His followers were the same. They did not want to fight with their fists so they