Douglass and King: Advice They Might Have Accepted from Thoreau

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Though Henry David Thoreau lived more than one hundred years before the time of Martin Luther King Jr., his philosophy lingered in the minds of many individuals. Thoreau was opposed to injustice in general and refused to support or to follow the unjust laws. His idealism and anarchism influenced the thinking of King. Douglass' narrative shows how his thinking would have been similar to that of Thoreau's. Douglass' descriptions of the cruelty lived by African Americans are filled with horrific details that would touch anyone. He believed that slavery was not only dehumanizing for the slaves, but for the slaveholders as well. Douglass uses as an example the case of Mrs. Sophia Auld. Before she became a slaveholder, she was known to be pure, kind, and generous. Her way of being changed once she became a slaveholder. Douglass witnessed himself acts of cruel brutality against one of his relatives. He educated himself by learning from others in forms of trickery since he had no other options at the time. I believe this would have been an advice Thoreau would have given Douglass. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received a Nobel Prize and was honored by the President of the United States for his contributions to society. On the other hand, he was prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, and had his sentence had to be reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. It is hard to understand why he was incarcerated if what he did was noble. When we take into account these manifestations of the government's attitude towards Martin Luther King, we can safely make the assumption that the government is not always justified in the laws that it creates. Our government's original purpose was to keep order and ensure freedom to its people. As his... ... middle of paper ... ...and him and support his fight. While he was in the Birmingham Jail he wrote a letter that explained, "It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative (183, Jacobus)." Civil disobedience seemed to have been the only option during the Civil Rights Era. Thoreau talks about the politics, power and civil disobedience in his works. He believed that when many thought alike, the power was stronger within that minority. I think that Thoreau's intention was to point out that those people who dare to go against what seems to be unjust and go against the majority, and stand erect, are the people who transform society as a whole. Work Cited Jacobus, Lee A., A World of Ideas, Sixth Edition Copyright 2002 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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