Paragraph 19:2 Non-violence campaign (MLK Vs Malcolm X)
In this paragraph, King makes a claim, which says, if people have to break some unjust laws, they “…must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty…in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice…” (King 408). I think that is the main idea of non-violence champion. As King has proclaimed the law, which is against the non-segregation, is an unjust law, he gives a further explanation of how to resist the unjust law. It seems, King believed in the power of the “conscience of the community”(King 408), and, kind of depended on it to solve the problem. When King encourages people to devote themselves as victims of unjust laws in order to “arouse the conscience of the community”, Malcolm X and his followers believed indirect rebellion. As King said: “…I stand in the middle of tow opposing forces in the Negro community.” (King 410) On one side, there are some middle class black people who kind of satisfied with the present situation and afraid to change; on the other side, the lower class black people who believed “white man is the devil” ( Malcolm X “Saved” :from the Autobiography of Malcolm X, Casts of Thought: Writing In And Against Tradition. Eds. George Otte and Linda J. Palumbo New York: Macmillan 1991, 94) wanted to change the condition instantly with the extreme action. Thinking about King is a Christian minister, it hard for him to ask people resist the segregation by violence. In the anti-segregation champion, King actually should be considered to be a moderate. It’s very easy to understand Malcolm X as a radical on this issue, if we notice that Malcolm X believed in Islam who has innumerable wars and struggles with Christianity in the middle east. On the other hand, the social classes differences between two of them have a great influence on their principles. King was born in a middle class family and was well educated; while Malcolm X used to be thief and learned reading and writing in jail. I don’t imply that King has no idea about the suffering of lower class black people, but his social position makes him closer to the middle class, who were afraid of changing and violent revolution. Malcolm X, who was on the side of poor black people, really wanted to change their sad situation instantly, even by violence, for they had nothing to lose. The long road of non-violence champion seems too long for those people. So the difference of two of them is quite clear, in a word, King asked for non-segregation in the prerequisite of social peace, (thus, the middle class’s property can be protect); Malcolm X asked for immediate gains and practical results.
The Conclusion—Non-violence Campaign Today
No one will deny the great influence of “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In the last century, non-violence movement, which was emphasized by Doctor King, played an important role as a peaceful but strong weapon of people all over the world, who fight for civil rights.
“The civil rights movement in the United States, led by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was inspired by his example, as was much of the movement against the Vietnam war. The mass movement for disarmament, against nuclear war, and the environmentalist movement, have been influenced, among others, by Gandhiji. Non-violent resisters in the Philippines played a significant role in the struggle to overthrow the
Marcos dictatorship. Liberation theology, which has spread in Latin America, Africa and Asia, draws some of its inspiration from Gandhiji” (Gandiji and the struggle for liberation in South Africa Written in connection with the 80th anniversary of the imprisonment of Gandhiji in South Africa. Published in Asian Times, London, January 29, 1988, and in several papers in India. ).
When it comes to the now millennium, the non-violence movement is still brisk in every corner of the world. The movement of Chinese Falun Gong is a great example for non-violence movement.
“Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through special exercises and meditation. The benefits of practicing Falun Dafa are numerous and varied, ranging from improved health and newfound energy to mental clarity, stress relief, and peace of mind. At the heart of the practice are the supreme principles of the universe: Truthfulness, Benevolence, and forbearance.” (“Introduction of Falun Gong” http://www.falundafa.org)
The most famous movement of Falun Gong is the non-violence sit-in movement in front of Zhongnanhai—the Chinese political center, on April 28th
1999. What they asked was an aspect of civil rights—the freedom of belief and religion. After this movement, the Chinese government treated Falun Gong as an evil religion and began to force the believers give up their faith, and even arrested resisters. When I was in China, I heard lots of terrible news about Falun Gong on newspaper, TV, and radio, such as many people committed suicide or murdered their relationships because of believing in Falun Gong. But I also wondered why there are so many people including some well-educated scientists and powerful politicians believe in it.
It’s not hard to figure out when you understand that Chinese people face a serious faith problem in the beginning of a new millennium. In a word, Chinese, especially young people, believe in nothing. After the culture revolution, the fairy tells of communism was broken. Although, the constitution protects citizen’s freedom of belief and religion, the communist education and social environment does not encourage people believe in Christianity or other religions. So, the current situation is that one of the biggest countries in the world has no unitary belief; On the other hand, people need to have spiritual sustenance. It’s very natural that people come to believe Falun Gong. Actually, Falun Gong is not the first Qigong organization in China. Xiang Gong, Chinese health intelligent Gong also has billions of believers. It is the non-violence movement makes Falun Gong so special. Falun Gong is the first one to stand up and struggle for their belief freedom. I don’t want to critic whether Falun Gong is right or not. My point is the non-violence campaign, which bring desegregation for American black people, may help Chinese struggle for their democratic rights. Although, I can’t deny the big effects that the Communist Party of China (CPC) did in this field, it’s far from enough. The problem is CPC actually is the dictatorial party of China, then how could Chinese government be democratic? One great example is the press of China, which is treated as the mouth and tough of CPC. That means there is no freedom of the press. When American people take the freedom of the press for granted, Chinese journalists are checking their reports again and again in order to pass the exam of CPC’s news exams.
Maybe Falun Gong is an evil religion, maybe its non-violence movement will bring China a stricter political environment, maybe it’ll disappear under the stress of CPC, but I still believe it’ll arouse Chinese people to fight for their democratic rights in this peaceful but efficient way. Just like the founder of the non-violence movement Gandhi said:
” I have not conceived my mission to be that of a knight-errant wandering everywhere to deliver people from difficult situations. My humble occupation has been to show people how they solve their own difficulties. My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family, that every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty. “(M. K. Gandhi, Words of Today” www.gandhitoday.org)
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