Three Ways of Meeting Oppression by Martin Luther King Jr.: Article Analysis
TonyTan
FDE1: Thesis-driven Analysis
3/4/2013
A Hasty Stride to Liberation
After Abraham Lincoln assigned the Emancipation Proclamation, the African Americans were finally freed of struggling from slavery. However, they are continued to be mistreated by the white peoples. In the article of “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression,” Martin Luther King writes to enlighten the African Americans to fight against “oppression” in a “non-violent” way (202). Although King’s article is based on simple text organization, there is no doubt that his point of views are unconvincing due to biasness that reflects in some examples and the incompleteness of some of his argument.
Firstly, there are several examples that King mentions that have signs of biasness. In the article, King personally thinks that “acquiescence”, the first way of meeting oppression, is not an executable and acceptable option of mitigating the pressure that is brought by the white people (203). Because of that, King describes the “fleshpots of Egypt” as a result of the slaves being tired and discouraged when pursuing their freedom (203). It is to my belief that the “fleshpots” also brings strength to the worker, at the same time, giving them hope in the ruthless of enslavement. I think that people should be free to make a choice when they are faced with different paths in their lives. King fails to only labeling “easy” as one of acquiescence’s advantages (203); as, history tells people that luckiness is not to be trusted while so many African Americans died from fleeing from their masters with the faith that free life is awaiting at the north of the union. Some or probably most of the slaves and later on African Americans may also held the belief that giving a chance to live is far more better than earning respect. Personally, King is biased when he presents that example. He ignores the positive mechanism of the “fleshpots”, only believing that things like the “fleshpots” are the only temptations that could
FDE1: Thesis-driven Analysis
3/4/2013
A Hasty Stride to Liberation
After Abraham Lincoln assigned the Emancipation Proclamation, the African Americans were finally freed of struggling from slavery. However, they are continued to be mistreated by the white peoples. In the article of “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression,” Martin Luther King writes to enlighten the African Americans to fight against “oppression” in a “non-violent” way (202). Although King’s article is based on simple text organization, there is no doubt that his point of views are unconvincing due to biasness that reflects in some examples and the incompleteness of some of his argument.
Firstly, there are several examples that King mentions that have signs of biasness. In the article, King personally thinks that “acquiescence”, the first way of meeting oppression, is not an executable and acceptable option of mitigating the pressure that is brought by the white people (203). Because of that, King describes the “fleshpots of Egypt” as a result of the slaves being tired and discouraged when pursuing their freedom (203). It is to my belief that the “fleshpots” also brings strength to the worker, at the same time, giving them hope in the ruthless of enslavement. I think that people should be free to make a choice when they are faced with different paths in their lives. King fails to only labeling “easy” as one of acquiescence’s advantages (203); as, history tells people that luckiness is not to be trusted while so many African Americans died from fleeing from their masters with the faith that free life is awaiting at the north of the union. Some or probably most of the slaves and later on African Americans may also held the belief that giving a chance to live is far more better than earning respect. Personally, King is biased when he presents that example. He ignores the positive mechanism of the “fleshpots”, only believing that things like the “fleshpots” are the only temptations that could
Cited: King, Martin Luther, Jr., “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression.” The Norton Mix: Boston University. Ed. Katie Hannah. New York: Norton, 2012. 202-05. Print.