Preview

Essay On Martin Luther King Disobedience

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
553 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Martin Luther King Disobedience
“Disobedience,” the word has different connotations. Many people have disobeyed throughout the course of their life, considering that rebellion is a natural human instinct. This refusal to obey is a trait that cannot suppress, especially in the fight for correct human rights.
Martin Luther King Jr. fiercely waged for the rights of African Americans through disobedience acts. Several of the rallies King conducted were unauthorized; the civil rights leader gave speeches in a few of the key centers of advocates against equality for African Americans. King’s disobedience occurred for the welfare of the people he loved and cared for. Obtaining the rights meant utilizing different methods that required King to disobey laws he thought were inadequate. The dreams that King so dearly wished for, were finally accomplished, which were the equal and inalienable rights for African Americans who had been discriminated and abused because of their skin color. With the help of his supporters, the effect of the speeches delivered by him, and his persistence of disobedience, King took victory. Lost battles were tough for him, but he was full of belief that he could …show more content…
Additionally, many people fail to recognize that their struggles were made worth it by peaceful misbehavior and breaking of the law. Similarly like Martin L. King Jr. and Rosa Parks, there are innumerable people who have done the same for diverse rights of the people. Disobedience has been part of our history, but no one realizes that both individuals bent laws for those they loved. Everybody has to defy the rules at some point in their life and us ourselves do not know if our acts of protest will be part of a legacy just like theirs. “Disobedience”, should not have a pessimistic connotation, but instead be appreciated as a virtuous strength and progress to change a city, a state, a country, a continent, and even the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Civil Disobedience: Martin Luther King Jr.
    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Civil Disobedience: Martin Luther King Jr.

    Disobedience causes the right things to happen, it is like the key to good things, well sometimes. In past historical events, there was many issues involving disobedience; rebellions were a major impact of the happenings too. For example, Rosa Parks, she refused to give up her seat on the bus, so people started boycotting buses and due to that, blacks were able to get rights. Even though Rosa Parks had to serve jail time, she was the main cause of those rights today. Rosa Parks was not the only person who did something like this and served jail time as well, Martin Luther King Jr. He fought for equality, rebelled in order to accomplish what he started and believed in. For the blacks and the whites to be one nation, to be mixed all together…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Letter To Birmingham Jail Analysis
    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Letter To Birmingham Jail Analysis

    Howard Zinn, American historian, playwright, and social activist, once said, “Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.” He was talking about civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws or government demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes according to dictionary.com. Two authors write about civil disobedience in their pieces. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a civil rights activist and minister, according to biography.com, wrote Letter to Birmingham Jail. He writes this letter to fellow clergymen while he is in jail about why he is sent to the jail. Henry David Thoreau, who was a philosopher, journalist, and poet, wrote his essay, Civil Disobedience. Thoreau writes this while in jail because he refuses to pay taxes and accepts that he will go to jail for it. At times, civil disobedience is indeed appropriate and justified, given the right circumstances based on morality.…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Does Civil Disobedience Affect Society
    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages

    How Does Civil Disobedience Affect Society

    Disobedience is a very controversial topic due to the fact that history represents such a wide range of extremities of this ideology. Disobedience can be perceived in many different ways and it can either help or destroy the structure of society. An example of disobedience in society that has proved very successful in the past is civil disobedience. Throughout history, civil disobedience has made a huge impact on the U.S. government and is responsible for several popular social reforms. Many of the world’s most inspirational leaders used civil disobedience to reconstruct society and develop remarkable social change. Examples of these leaders include Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks. These people were able to…

    • 1780 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civil Disobedience And It Promotes Social Progress
    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Civil Disobedience And It Promotes Social Progress

    Disobedience is a valuable human trait and it promotes social progress. The beginning of time starts with disobedience. Humans tend to attract to trouble like a moth to a flame. When someone is born they start off disobedient. Humans have to be taught how to behave. It is to be imbedded into our brains to make the right decisions.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau's Role In Civil Disobedience
    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thoreau's Role In Civil Disobedience

    It becomes a kind of despotism where we seek to silence rather than engage.” Civil disobedience is a necessary part of free society, as it provides an avenue from which all people can make themselves heard, regardless of political power or economic status. Furthermore, it is necessary to keep the spirit of the first amendment alive, as peaceful protest is a way in which people exercise their right to free speech; without peaceful resistance to laws, little progress would be made in a free society, and the views of the majority would be imposed on the rest of the population. Acting as a catalyst for change, peaceful resistance one ingredient of the recipe that drives a free nation towards growth and…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr Research Paper
    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr Research Paper

    Dr. Martin Luther King was leading the fight alongside a scheme in which he saw his people as second class citizens. A society that would “lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” (EMP, Rachel’s 153); this is the system he was struggling against. His objective, on the other hand, was to carry fairness to people universally, and to display that he could do it minus the fierceness. Kings request for non-violence and his movements through civil disobedience put him and his supporters on the right high ground during the course of the Civil Rights…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Disobedience To Progressive Change
    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Disobedience To Progressive Change

    This disobedience to reach progressive change can be seen throughout history. People like Rosa Parks stood up for a cause by being disobedient towards the racist laws at play. When Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus, she was jailed but her peaceful protest gave rise to the cause of segregation. This was a big issue at this time but…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr On Civil Disobedience
    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr On Civil Disobedience

    This paper will discuss what Martin Luther King Jr., Fredrick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, and Benazir Bhutto have to say about civil disobedience; though coming from different backgrounds they still have the same views or beliefs. This will be done by looking at Martin Luther King Jr.’s work The Letter from Birmingham Jail, Fredrick Douglass’s from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and comparing what these authors have in common. Most of these authors, if not all, have these themes in common: understanding human rights, the relationship between just and unjust laws, and the difference between human law and a “higher law”. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Unjust Essay
    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Martin Luther King Unjust Essay

    Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his work in desegregation and the end of of the most well known racial equality activists ever, and he lived during a period of time that had many unjust laws that created many problems for African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed with St. Augustine that a law that is unjust is actually not a law after all. Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief in this idea was seen in his letter from a Birmingham Jail when he says, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned multiple times in his letter that these unjust laws were extremely degrading, and denied African Americans basic human…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Antigone: Civil Disobedience
    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Antigone: Civil Disobedience

    tells, "No one will ever convict me for a traitor" (Page 61). In a nonviolent…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Greater Mistake
    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Greater Mistake

    Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, the African Americans were fighting for their rights alone. Had Martin Luther King not stepped in, they might have never gained their freedom. He simply could not “sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham” (King 1). Fearlessly willing to gain equality, he was “able to endure the ordeal of jail” (King)…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civil Rights Movement Research Paper
    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

    Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a pivotal leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was an advocate for civil disobedience and peaceful protest. In 1963, following his arrest during a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where various sources of oppression were described along with how to combat such oppression. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. explained promises made to the African Community for equality that were never met. As a result of the broken promises, Dr. King called for pressure to be put on the authority figures who instigated such oppression. Dr. King described the pressure as a “direct action” and that the pressure would force negotiation to occur. Negative emotions were in the African American Community. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that these emotions could manifest themselves a violence, if not expressed. However, Dr. King warned against acts of violence to achieve the desired end of equality. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. revealed to white leaders the racism faced by African Americans and the difficulties faced by the children of this…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Civil Disobedience Helpful
    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Civil Disobedience Helpful

    Civil disobedience is the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences. It has been shown many times that this is not only helpful but essential to our government. A free society’s government, such as America’s, was made to serve and protect the people. If there is a law that consistently harms or oppresses the people than the government is not doing what it was made to do. It cannot serve and oppress at the same time. When people notice a law…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful Resistance
    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Peaceful Resistance

    He faced imprisonment but held strong and continued his mission until the end. He helped make a better society in South Africa by desegregating the entire country. This allowed for freedoms to to be extended to people of all races and skin colors, expanding the scope of freedoms, which positively impacted the country. Utilizing inspiration from both previous efforts was the most prominent American figure in the civil rights fight in the United States of America, Martin Luther King Jr. Although he was not the only protester, he was most famous because of his speeches and marches. To get his cause nationally publicized, he would bring together large gatherings of supporters and he would motivate them with speeches. Those people saw why it was necessary to change the state of American society during that time period and were encouraged to spread their thoughts. Martin Luther King Jr. would also march on cities in the South. During marches, he and his followers would accept any form of resistance given back by the authorities, whether they were being shot at, hosed down, or being ridiculed by white bystanders. They would show a unified front and refused to resort to violence, remaining…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Said To Be A Distasteful Quality
    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Said To Be A Distasteful Quality

    Disobedience can be said to be a distasteful quality. One that I might agree on most occasions, but I disagree. Oscar Wilde once said that disobedience is a virtue and just this one I would have to agree.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics