Martin Luther King As A Moral Hero
Moral Hero
Michael Groves
A Moral Hero is someone who sacrifices their reputation or a chance of alienation from their peers, while defending a moral principle they hold against opposition, usually an authoritative group or the majority. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a moral hero who fought for the equal rights of African-American citizens against the government as well as a large portion of the nation, in a non-violent way. King once said “Non-violence means not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil, and economic rights non-violently, unlike another hero, Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr. noted the importance …show more content…
Board of Education was a critical moment in the history of the civil rights movement. The case overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. However, Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” A social psychologist named Kenneth Clark testified in court that segregation causes black children to “reject themselves and their color and accept white as desirable.” Martin Luther King Jr. reflected on the importance of Brown vs. Board of Education at the “desegregation and the future” address in 1956. “To all men of good will, this decision came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of human captivity. It came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of colored people throughout the world who had had a dim vision of the promised land of freedom and justice ... this decision came as a legal and sociological deathblow to an evil that had occupied the throne of American life for several decades.” King was excited when such a monumental issue to the civil right movement was won, but this was just the …show more content…
was influenced by the non-violent ways of Mahatma Gandhi after being taught his ways at Morehouse College. King, after learning about Gandhi’s non-violent protests said that Gandhian philosophy was “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” King also said that Gandhi was “the guiding light of our technique of non-violent social change.” MLK successfully used the same techniques and philosophies as Gandhi. In 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King went on a five-week tour of India. King’s acceptance while being in India showed the extent of the coverage, of king’s participation in the Montgomery bus boycott, in India. “Gandhians accepted King openly and praised him for his efforts in Montgomery, which they looked upon as an example of the potential of nonviolence [Gandhi’s teachings] outside of
Michael Groves
A Moral Hero is someone who sacrifices their reputation or a chance of alienation from their peers, while defending a moral principle they hold against opposition, usually an authoritative group or the majority. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a moral hero who fought for the equal rights of African-American citizens against the government as well as a large portion of the nation, in a non-violent way. King once said “Non-violence means not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil, and economic rights non-violently, unlike another hero, Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr. noted the importance …show more content…
Board of Education was a critical moment in the history of the civil rights movement. The case overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. However, Brown vs. Board of Education ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” A social psychologist named Kenneth Clark testified in court that segregation causes black children to “reject themselves and their color and accept white as desirable.” Martin Luther King Jr. reflected on the importance of Brown vs. Board of Education at the “desegregation and the future” address in 1956. “To all men of good will, this decision came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of human captivity. It came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of colored people throughout the world who had had a dim vision of the promised land of freedom and justice ... this decision came as a legal and sociological deathblow to an evil that had occupied the throne of American life for several decades.” King was excited when such a monumental issue to the civil right movement was won, but this was just the …show more content…
was influenced by the non-violent ways of Mahatma Gandhi after being taught his ways at Morehouse College. King, after learning about Gandhi’s non-violent protests said that Gandhian philosophy was “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” King also said that Gandhi was “the guiding light of our technique of non-violent social change.” MLK successfully used the same techniques and philosophies as Gandhi. In 1959, Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King went on a five-week tour of India. King’s acceptance while being in India showed the extent of the coverage, of king’s participation in the Montgomery bus boycott, in India. “Gandhians accepted King openly and praised him for his efforts in Montgomery, which they looked upon as an example of the potential of nonviolence [Gandhi’s teachings] outside of