Clash of the Colors John Rails presented the Ideal that society as a whole should have a balance of wealth, power, opportunity, and income; Martin Luther King Jar. Expanded this philosophy in a non-violent way, he convinced the people that it was necessary that social equilibrium be restored to acquire Justice and the basic civil rights of every man. In doing so, he was successful In achieving that equilibrium among all races, religions, and classes. Martin Luther King Jar. Fought for what he thought was just but as legally unjust.
He yearned for racial Justice, increased human rights, dignity for both African Americans and Whites, and wanted to achieve this goal non-violently. In Martin Luther King Jar. ‘s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he says “We know through painful experience that freedom Is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 217). King is stating that his people must fight to gain racial justice in a society that is against the minority. Though he fights for his people, he would never lay a hand on another human being.
King’s voice as his only weapon; It took power over all the people In our society and hooked them; it got them to listen and understand the injustices that were taking place. Much like Ghanaian, he advocated for non-violent direct action to bring this issue to the social surface. King and his followers took beating after beating Just to prove their point that they were never going to give up until they got basic civil rights for every human being. King sought to achieve basic civil rights using non-violent direct action.
This creates a situation and generates such a tension that the community that has selected an issue Is forced to finally confront It. In King’s words, “It seeks so to dramatist the Issue that It can no longer be Ignored” (King 216). King was not a violent person. He was soft spoken yet bold. His followers were the same. They did not want to fight with their fists so they fought with the power of free speech and non-violent protests. This changed the way people viewed African Americans, protestors, and people Like King forever.
King said “justice too long delayed is Justice denied. We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional God-given rights” (King 217). African Americans have been denied civil rights forever up to this point, and not Just African Americans, but all of the minorities. White people In the south were raised to view anyone of another color as inferior. They looked down upon them, as if they were not human beings. King Just wanted the issue to be brought to the surface. It had been lingering underneath for too long and it was time to confront the issue.
Whites hated to admit It but they were afraid to give African Americans civil rights because they believed It would give themselves fewer opportunities, such as fewer employment opportunities, election opportunities. Furthermore, they feared that they would lose the superiority they had over the African Americans. Martin Luther King knew his people were not freed. He knew that they had still been suffering from the disease of segregation. The law that separated the blacks and the whites from going to the same schools, from drinking from the same water 1 OFF restaurants, or using the same bathrooms.
He knew that one day they would be free and that one day all the races would Join hands as brothers and sisters?that one day, there would be no hate in the American society. He succeeded, the signs that once read “For Whites Only’ were coming down, kids were allowed to play together, African Americans got the right to vote. Soon, they started Joining together with their white brothers to discuss politics. Finally, all citizens became equal with one another. John Rails originally had the idea of a balance of equilibrium for a society.
He suggested that “a certain amount of unequal distribution of Primary Goods could result in an internal revolution, thus destroying the equilibrium of society as a result of a perceived injustice” (Rails 234). The “Primary Goods” he is talking about are those of freedom, equality, opportunity, wealth, power, and income. Both Rails and King believed that in order to have a balanced social equilibrium, there must be a balance of the Primary Goods distributed or circulated through a society as open options. They believed that no individual should be denied the right of acquiring these Primary Goods based on race, religion, or class.
Rails wanted equal rights for those of higher classes as well. He wanted all people to have the same opportunities, and possibilities in life. He believed that all people should have the same basic rights, and felt that if a law benefited one group of people but harmed the other, that it was unjust. According to Rails, a Just law is a law that benefits a society as whole, not Just one group or the other. His idea of “Justice as fairness” amounts to this: if people are fair, then there is bound to be justice, and if there are multiple small injustices occurring in a society, such as racial injustices, then fairness cannot be achieved.
This limit or boundary that was put on African Americans was neither Just nor fair, it was cruel and evil. One of the unjust laws that were present during this time was the right to vote. African Americans were not given the right to vote because the whites were afraid of them taking over in a sense. African Americans had a loss of dignity because they felt that they had no say in what their future held by not being able to vote. It stripped them of their possibilities in the future and denied them of great opportunities that they should have had during a very difficult time for blacks.
Both King and Rails ere promoters of Justice. They had the same social morals, wanted basically the same thing but achieved their goals in a slightly different manner. Most people say King Just wanted rights for African Americans in the south, but that’s not true. King wanted all people to be seen as equal, for all people to have the same basic civil rights. He restored the equilibrium in society, and gave all the people their dignity back. African Americans were seen as a low minority that had no say in anything. The “superior” whites in the south were seen as bullies.
King gave blacks their dignity ace by this restoration of rights and privileges, and he gave the whites their dignity back because they didn’t have to hate anyone anymore. The whites were freed along with their black brothers that were once their enemy. As you can see Rails and King were great minds that thought alike. They both had the same objective which was to stand up for Justice, freedom, and equality. King achieved his goals in a non-violent way which made his case even stronger.
