Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an extremely well known civil rights leader during 1950-1960’s. He was originally a pastor of a local church, and he felt moved to speak and take non-violent action against the mistreatment of African Americans at the time. He lead many non-violent protests and presented numerous motivational speeches until his assassination on April 4, 1968. One of his best known works of Dr. King is his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Throughout this work, Dr. King speaks of his beliefs surrounding the unjust treatment African Americans were forced to endure. He states that “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (A World of Ideas, 255). By this he means that where ever injustice is the people willing to fight it should be there. In order to do the most good in a situation one must be near the actual place of the events. This helps draw greater attention to the people directly afflicted. Dr. King feels that every injustice needs to be fought against. His thoughts are closely similar to those of Henry David Thoreau from the mid 1800’s.

 Dr. King would have appreciated Thoreau’s thoughts to peacefully protest the unjust laws of the land. In Civil Disobedience Thoreau writes “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it” (A World of Ideas, 725). There is no way to know that there is need for change if the offended party does not come forward and expose the problem and a proposed solution. Dr. King would agree that one cannot expect change if one does not stand and fight for what he believes would be in the best interest others. Both Thoreau and King were trying improve more than just one incident. They were trying the change the situation from a government standpoint; therefore, the problem is prevented from reoccurring.

            While these two influential mind are alike on most points they differ in one main aspect: their reasons for standing up. Thoreau was motivated by the mistreatment of himself for not paying taxes on things he thought should be rights. He felt as though every citizen should be able to participate in government affairs without having to pay a fine. While Henry David Thoreau was more financially convicted to action, Dr. King felt morally obligated to stand to action. He grew up during a time of extreme segregation and mistreatment of African Americans. He watched the black population being treated as lesser, and he finally reached his limit of sitting down and allowing it to happen. He decided to devote his entire life to helping change these injustices.

Reference:
JACOBUS, LEE A. WORLD OF IDEAS: Essential Readings for College Writers. BEDFORD BKS ST MARTINS, 2019.

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