Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's 'White Moderate'

Dr. Martin Luther King’s “White Moderate” In Dr. Martin Luther King’s writing Letter From Birmingham Jail vividly argues why he feels the Civil Rights Movement should be important and urgent to all American citizens. Within his letter, he uses the term “white moderate” to describe white people who agree with his words and ultimate goal of equality, but do not agree that the situation is critical. He states that the white moderates are the Civil Rights Movements greatest obstacle because they prefer destructive peace without tension rather than the positive peace of justice. He argues, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will… Lukewarm acceptance is much more

While each writer made their claim in their own ways, they all sought a unified goal: equality. Gandhi fought for justice during British imperialism in India. He used nonviolent resistance to eventually won independence and Indians were seen as equals to the British. In his work, Selected Writings, he states, “I should be content to be torn to pieces rather than disown the suppressed classes…. Let us not deny God by denying to a fifth of our race the right of association on equal footing” (CTR, 464). Gandhi believed that everyone was created equal, so when the British were being prejudice to the Indians, they were being prejudice towards God. He lived out his belief that he would rather be torn to pieces than disown the oppressed people in India. Gutièrrez also saw inequality in the class systems and fought for the oppressed. He had a heart for the poor and saw their suffering as a fault of the Church. “When we struggle for a just world in which there is not servitude, oppression, or slavery, we are signifying the coming of the Messiah… An intimate relationship exists between the kingdom and the elimination of poverty and misery. The kingdom comes to suppress injustice” (CTR, 492-3). Gutièrrez claims that is the Church’s job to make the world more like the Kingdom of God, where there is no injustice, oppression, or slavery. By doing so, the Church is signaling the coming of Jesus. All Christians should participate in this action, not because it is required for salvation, but because we want to honor and glorify God. Gutièrrez believes that Christians want to ease the pain and burden of brothers and sisters in Christ, around the world. Similarly, The United Nations explain in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that they seek justice around the world. Although the document is not legally binding, they seek for the document to be a goal for all