In this important essay, Martin Luther King identifies three ways of meeting an oppressive situation which was the case where the Negroe was suffering in the Deep South of the 1950’s and the 1960’s. He is circumspect and direct about the terrible situation faced by the Negro in the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as typical examples where arbitrary violence and oppression apart from humiliation was the order of the day where the negroe was concerned. King identifies three ways in which one may meet this oppressive stance, the first is to do nothing and acquiesce with what is going on, the second is to meet this resistance with violence and the third is to carry out non violent resistance in an attempt to reach the goals which have been set out beforehand.
Doing nothing as an option
King is immediately resistant to the idea of doing nothing as he believes that this shows an inherent weakness and will definitely make the oppression continue. He is scathing about the attitudes of certain negroes who just let everything go by and without any sort of self respect they let the white citizen trample over them. King states that:
“To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber”.
This is a very telling observation as it clearly shows that if one does not do anything about his/her oppressed state then he is actually co-operating with his/her oppressors who want this state of affairs so that the status quo may continue accordingly. Obviously king tends to think that this defeatism will not get the negro anywhere and will only put his/her further into the thralls of the white citizen who will continue observing the rules of segregation and daily humiliation with zest if these are not even challenged.
Violence as the other option of meeting oppression
The second option discussed by King is to use force and violence to meet an oppressive state. As a genuinely pacifist man, King was obviously appalled by this prospect as it brings out the worse side of man and everything will then degenerate into a bloodbath with both sides hardening their resolve. He argues that violence will intrinsically achieve nothing due to the fact that the white community will portray the negro as troublesome and without any sort of scruples when faced with such violence. However King also condemns the violence against negroes which is carried out on a daily basis, not only physical violence but also that which is carried out mentally and which is another intrinsic cause of the problem of oppression. King comments as follows:
“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible”.
King’s observations on the use of violence are both instructive and crucially important. He frames violence into an aspect of confrontation which can never bring about a just solution, wisely comparing the outcome to the Bible where ‘an eye for an eye’ will leave the whole world blind. Thus violence can never be accepted as a compromise solution when attempting to resort to the elimination of oppression.
The third way of meeting oppression – nonviolent resistance
As a specialist in non violent resistance, King obviously favours this method when confronted by the problem of oppression. Through this method, King argues that hearts are softened and are also made aware of the plight of the negro who cannot go on suffering in this manner. He espouses the virtues of non violent resistance as this shows that the moral argument is clearly in favour of those who stand up bravely and make their case for a just cause. Obviously King does observe that there will be times when non violent resistance will have its own casualties and that one has to suffer considerably before the final goal is reached accordingly. However he continues to insist that the negro is surely emboldened by this sort of resistance as it brings his plight to the fore and that obviously can no longer continue to be ignored.
King argues thus:
Nonviolent resistance makes it possible for the Negro to remain in the South and struggle for his rights. The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away. He cannot listen to the glib suggestion of those who would urge him to migrate en masse to other sections of the country. By grasping his great opportunity in the South he can make a lasting contribution to the moral strength of the nation and set a sublime example of courage for generations yet unborn.
This is indeed a powerful and noble statement as it espouses the fact that non violent resistance will certainly not make the negro inferior in the eyes of others. He continuously argues that such resistance will enable the negroe to continue fighting for his rights in his birthplace and this does not mean leaving the South where he was born and bred and where he wishes to stay. Those who would want to do away with the negroe will do so as they want to have the place to themselves and will brook no interference from others. By using non violent resistance the negroe will also bring his case to a wider perspective and this also means that the problem will be strutting on the world’s stage which after all was King’s ultimate aim in the end.
Conclusion: non violent resistance is the way forward to meet oppression
In this essay, King clearly believes that doing nothing or resisting violently have no cause for the eventual elimination of oppression. The way forward must be through non violent protest and resistance as apart from being morally justifiable, the cause of the negroe would be exposed to the world in more ways than one. In fact, the brutal quelling of peaceful demonstrations in places like Alabama and Mississippi in the 1960’s showed that King’s cause was just and this eventually led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Surely these are the greatest testaments to non violent resistance.
Works cited:
King M L; Three Ways of Meeting Oppression; Retrieved from: http://www.gibbsmagazine.com/Ways%20to%20respond.htm
