Identification with the Oppressed

Identification with the Oppressed

In an insightful essay written by Martin Luther King, Jr., "Three Ways of Meeting Oppression," King disclosed three ways in which people can identify oppression. In the first reaction, "acquiescence," people choose to stay in the oppressive state because it is easier and less complicated than going against the flow of the oppression (King 310). The second way to identify and deal with oppression is through physical violence and corrosive hatred. This struggle, in most cases, leads to more issues rather than generating a practical solution. King gives evidence of violence that often brings momentary results; he expresses that "Nations have frequently won their independence in battle" and " violence never brings permanent peace" (King 311). King claims, achieving racial equality with violence is impractical and violates moral principles, so King's third method identifies oppression utilizes non-violent resistance in the quest for achieving freedom. Being nonviolent should eliminate any resort to crime or violence, and "balances the equation" by being reasonable with the other violent person to show so others identify the injustice and that "evil must be resisted" (King 312). Although King described how to identify oppression and the three types of responses, the end goal is reached thorough the wide identification of the problem, a solution of the issue, and in this essay the evaluations of his appeals.

King presents the problems of oppression for the Negro community and highlights his writer's sense of effective behavior. The responses that King classifies for each resistance are in the order from worst to best. The first reaction to oppression is through "acquiescence," where people choose to stay in the oppressive state. This means that Negroes choose to be walked over and "cannot win the respect of the oppressor by acquiescing" (King 311). A second response creates moral problem in the way Negroes deal with oppression through physical violence and corrosive hatred. King claims this second solution to oppression problem that "violence never brings out permanent peace" (King 311). For the third political problem King urges non-violent resistance in the "quest for achieving freedom" (King 312). After analyzing the problem of oppression and the three solutions and if they can succeed, severe consequences to both oppressors and the oppressed will be effected. Crisis in race relations, an endless reign of meaningless chaos, and "future generations will be the recipients of a desolate night of bitterness" (King 312).

King presents the solution to oppression for the oppressed Negro community and underscores the writer's thesis and provides reasoned evidence. King's thesis is that Negroes should not be violent nor "succumb" to being treated badly (King 312). King writes, "Through non-violent resistance, the Negro will be able to rise ... while loving the perpetrators of the system" (King 312). He indicates, instead, they should take reasoning from both the violent perspective and the passive perspective. King's supportive evidence is the historic Hegelian philosophy. He expresses, the principle of nonviolence and "seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites-- acquiescence and violence while avoiding the extremes

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