MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. & FREDERICK DOUGLASS.   Term Paper ID:24216 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Compares black leaders' speaking styles & effects, social, economic & political ideologies & strategies, views on civil rights.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares black leaders' speaking styles & effects, social, economic & political ideologies & strategies, views on civil rights. Paper Introduction: Neither Martin Luther King, Jr. nor Frederick Douglass were extremists; both argued that African-Americans have a natural right to equality. King and Douglass claimed that black people had been robbed of their equality by white Americans who refused to acknowledge their own hypocrisy by not affording people of color the liberties that were guaranteed them in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In using America's stated ideals as the basis for their appeals for equality, King and Douglass sought to influence reasonable Americans, not hard core racists. Both King and Douglass were recruited into their leadership roles as spokesmen for racial equality. King rose to prominence as a result of his involvement with the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott during the 1950s: "Although King had been in Montgomery Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Healso envisions his four little children being judged by a color blindsociety. King's death was a shock to theentire nation, and President Johnson called for a national day of mourning. In contrast to King's nonviolence, Douglass was not above advocatingforce, especially in dealing with the slaveholders he abhorred. Douglass died of natural causes in 1895,and was mourned by thousands across the nation. New York: St. As one of Douglass'scontemporaries writes, "As a public speaker, he excels in pathos, wit,comparison, imitation, strength of reasoning, and fluency of language"(Douglass 5). By 1963, King had become a targetfor surveillance by the FBI, with FBI Director J. New York: Library Classics, 1994.---. The Strategy of Social Protest. Both King and Douglass based their protests on the second classcitizenship to which African-Americans were relegated. The majorstrategy that both King and Douglass employed was to chastise white Americafor failing to fulfill its commitment to equality. The civil rights movement, as led by King, was conservative andassociated racial equality with the American Dream. Frederick Douglass. Martin's Press, 1995.Sunstein, Cass. He projects the image of black and white children playingtogether freely, and people from all religious backgrounds (Jews andGentiles, Catholics and Protestants) joining hands and singing. By focusing idealistic principlesin his speech, King was able to unite his listeners based on the beliefsthat form the foundation of the very essence of national pride. In quoting from the Declaration of Independence in "I Have a Dream"speech, King suggested to white listeners that black people view themselvesas Americans. In contrast to King's untimely death, Douglass continued his fightfor racial equality even while well advanced in age. In choosing thisphilosophical approach, King made it possible for all listeners, regardlessof race to identify with his dream. He spoke in favor offull voting rights for African-Americans and waged an assault on theSouthern practice of lynching. Theseactivities would not be possible in a segregated society. King was in Memphis atthe time; in keeping with the spirit of his Poor People's Campaign he wasthere to speak on behalf of striking Memphis garbagemen. His appeal to a general senseof justice might not have changed the hearts of racists, but it movedreasonable Americans" (Steigerwald 54). . Shortly before his death, King participated in organizing apoor people's march on Washington: "The likely thinking behind the poorpeople's campaign was that the post-civil rights crisis among AfricanAmericans was one of class rather than race" (Steigerwald 67). that he is the rightful ownerof his own body? King has become a symbol of peace for all generations,and he is often equated with Gandhi, who helped India gain independencefrom Great Britain. Theonly way to make the Fugitive Slave Law a dead letter, is to make a fewdead slave catchers" (McFeely 211). "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass." In Frederick Douglass Autobiographies, 453-1 48. This ideology isevident from an examination of King's most famous speech "I Have a Dream."The chief strategy that King uses in his speech is to the appeal to thesense of pride that Americans have for their country. Some blacksinterpreted the assassination as a personal affront. New York: W.W. All his people wanted was the freedom and equality that wasguaranteed all citizens by the founding fathers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 199 .McFeely, William. In a letter published in the Liberator in 1846,Douglass writes, "If ever I had any patriotism . Neither Martin Luther King, Jr. In using America's stated ideals as the basis for theirappeals for equality, King and Douglass sought to influence reasonableAmericans, not hard core racists. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1995.Douglass, Frederick. Douglass's appeal to reasonable white Southerners was that by abolishingslavery they could guarantee their states the "power that fullrepresentation would bring" (McFeely 2 6). The picture of freedom that Kingpaints in "I Have A Dream" would make it difficult for any red-bloodedAmerican to disagree with his vision of America's future: "King was at hisbest, placing civil rights not in the narrow context of region or race butin the most universal Christian tradition. Thus asegregated society does not fulfill the promise of the Declaration ofIndependence, and those who believe in segregation are being unpatriotic. King rose to prominence as a result of hisinvolvement with the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott during the 195 s:"Although King had been in Montgomery for only a year and was just 26 yearsold, he was educated, the best speaker, and a minister, all assets whichwould pull the black community together" (Anderson 45). New York: Library Classics, 1994.Gamson, William. "What the Civil Rights Movement Was and Wasn't." In Stephen Macedo (Ed.) Reassessing the Sixties, 253-282. Both King and Douglass were recruited into their leadership roles asspokesmen for racial equality. . Douglass waspersuaded by white abolitionists to become a lecturing agent for theMassachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society.The abolitionists were correct in their assumption that this runaway slavewould be an effective tool in the anti-slavery cause. Norton, 1991.Steigerwald, David. King was gunneddown that evening by James Earl Ray, a white drifter. Increasingly, King focused his civil rights movement oneconomics. King and Douglass claimed that black people had been robbed oftheir equality by white Americans who refused to acknowledge their ownhypocrisy by not affording people of color the liberties that wereguaranteed them in the U.S. nor Frederick Douglass wereextremists; both argued that African-Americans have a natural right toequality. Works CitedAnderson, T. In "I Have a Dream," King creates visual images of the equalityclause from the Declaration of Independence. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." In Frederick Douglass Autobiographies, 1-1 2. In a speech entitled "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"Douglass posed the following rhetorical question to white America, "Wouldyou argue that man is entitled to liberty? Any optimism about nonviolent civil rights was shattered with theassassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Norton, 1997.----------------------- 8 The Movement and the Sixties. Douglasscontends that to the slave, the Fourth of July is merely a reminder ofcenturies of gross injustices perpetrated by a nation that prides itself onits democratic ideals. Malcolm X, a black separatist, labelled King a "twentiethcentury Uncle Tom" (Anderson 153). Edgar Hoover referring tohim as "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from thestandpoint of Communism, the Negro, and national security" (Gamson 163).Ironically, King's conservatism had the opposite effect on members of themilitant black community. Considering thatmany of the African-Americans who had participated in the Civil RightsMovement had been severely brutalized and even killed by racist whites,King could have dwelt on graphic depictions of this violence and beenjustified in doing so. The phraseincludes the words "land of the pilgrim's pride." The pilgrims leftEngland to escape religious persecution; they were seeking the same type ofindividual freedom for which blacks were now struggling. As StokeleyCarmichael contended, "When white America killed Dr. King, she declared waron us" (Anderson 192). Both King and Douglass had a profound influence on racial equality inthe United States. New York: W.W. In aspeech at a Boston church, Douglass declared, "I believe in agitation. King then insiststhat America will never be a great nation until the words of this anthemare true for all Americans. The ideology espoused by King was not egalitarian becauseegalitarianism has never been a basic tenet of American political thought.What King abhorred was the lack of equal opportunity that resulted in blackAmerica's lack of access to basic economic security: "King urged that 'Anew era, in which the full resources of the society would be used to attackthe tenacious poverty which so paradoxically exists in the midst of plenty"(Sunstein 259). In his words, "All segregation laws are unjust becausesegregation distorts the soul and damages the personality" (Sunstein 262).Douglass was outraged that the U.S. Douglass, however, ceased indulging inimplicitly inflammatory rhetoric after the hanging of fiery abolitionistJohn Brown. Constitution and the Declaration ofIndependence. Mexican American organizer Cesar Chavez admits thathis activism owes much to the example set by King. The black power movement of the mid 196 sreflected the increasingly common view among African-Americans that theywould never achieve full equality with whites until they took matters intotheir own hands. Instead he chose to minimize brutality andinjustice in favor of focusing on positive experiences in a future in whichsociety would be color blind: "King self-consciously invoked 'the Americandream' and the Declaration of Independence on numerous occasions,emphasizing their 'amazing universalism' and treating discriminatorypractices as 'strange paradoxes'" (Sunstein 257). He speaks of the sons offormer slaves and former slave owners sitting down at the same table. King believed thatracial segregation perpetuated the myth of the inferiority of blackAmericans. Douglass's mostimportant legacy is his diaries, in which the most famous anti-slaveryorator of his time sets forth a moving condemnation of slavery. Despite the conservatism of King's beliefs he was labelled asubversive by the white establishment. For a period of time, Douglass had been in danger of the law,having been implicated in Senate testimony of being an accomplice toBrown's insurrection. in 1968. In a similar fashion to King's "I Have a Dream," Douglass complainedabout the failure of white Americans to live up to American ideals ofliberty. it was shipped out ofme long since by the lash of the American soul-drivers" (Douglass 687).Douglass wrote of the sharp contrast between his treatment in America,where even in the Northern States he was scorned as a fugitive slave andfelon, and his treatment in Great Britain where "no delicate nose growsdeformed in my presence" (Douglass 689). You have already declared it" (Douglass 433). Having been the victim of more overt prejudice, and having travelledextensively in Europe, Douglass was understandably more bitter aboutAmerican racism than King. The Sixties and the End of Modern America. Constitution considered slaves to becounted as only three-fifths of a person in determining the number ofrepresentatives that each state could have in the House of Representatives. In "I Have a Dream," King again appeals to the pride of Americans intheir country by quoting a verse from a famous national anthem. Subsequently, rioting occurred in several majorcities throughout the United States. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.