The world should learn from MLK

by Florian Martin
Opinion Columnist

The third Monday of every January means a day off from school for students all over the United States. More importantly, it means honoring one of the most exceptional people in U.S. history.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave a face to a movement that put an end to legislative discrimination against non-white races in America.

The United States was founded with the intention of being a free and democratic country, but it took almost 200 years to accomplish this idea. For a long time, the phrase "all men are created equal" from the Declaration of Independence applied only to white males, and the "land of the free" was one of the last countries to abolish slavery.

Many great men and women dedicated their lives to change this, but it wasn’t until 100 years after the Civil War and the end of slavery that equality by law was finally achieved.

King was incredibly influential in the civil rights movement because he chose the right way to change things. Instead of giving in to frustration with administrative oppression and starting a war, he adopted the non-violent civil disobedience that Mohandas Gandhi used in his struggle for independence from British colonialists in India.

This method has since proved to be effective against oppressors. It took Gandhi almost 30 years to succeed, and King about 10 – from the Montgomery bus boycott to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This strategy may take time to gain victory, but in the end, it will prevail.

The advantage of non-violence is that it offers resistance without physically harming the opponent. Therefore, we have is no reason for retaliation, which could result in more retaliation, causing a cycle in which the original cause of fighting is forgotten.

When King and his followers did not retaliate against authorities, it gave the authorities no reason to be violent. And, more importantly, the media had no choice but to side with the oppressed. By not fighting back violently, the members of the civil rights movement were able to win the moral war and thus the sympathies of the majority of people in the world.

It is rare to find an example in history where this concept hasn’t worked. Unfortunately, it is also rare to find non-violence being applied – violence and counterviolence are the norm all over the world. The never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine would probably be long over if one side stopped retaliating against the other. Hate will always cause more hate, and unless someone is strong enough to resist the first impulse and follow the example of Gandhi and King, a conflict might never be resolved.

King may not have solved all the racial problems in America – this country is still too obsessed with differences rather than commonalities in things like race, culture, religion and sexual orientation to be completely integrated. However, King significantly moved America toward that goal, and for that should be a role model for the world.

Martin, a communication senior,
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu