MLK vs Coates

In Martin Luther King Jr. speech, he talks about how violence is not the answer to fix any social movement. He says in order to stand up for something you must be pure and have not done anything wrong. He talks about how we should try to cooperate with the government. He was in Birmingham city Jail because he believed that there’s injustice in there. He was there people in order to protest he had to have a license and they refused him that people he was black. He also talks about that in any nonviolent campaign there’s four basic steps. Those four steps are collections of facts, negotiation, self purification, and direct actions.

Coates on the other hand also talks about how it is okay to if violate breaks out during a social movement because it out of anyone’s control. It wasn’t planned though he also believes non violent protesting is the way to go, but he also understands violence might happen. He just believes that it’s okay to have violence in a movement if needed to be. He’s angry and believes people doesn’t have to be pure in order to stand up for something. He understands violence might break out even if the protest is supposing to be a non violence protest. There’s no cause or anyone’s fault. It just happens and it was out of anyone’s control. He’s saying that non of the rioting or violence means it’s correct or wise… It just happened and beyond anyone’s control.

King vs. Coates

            In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article “Nonviolence as Compliance”, they both agree that African Americans are treated unfairly and unequal to whites. Coates mainly talks about police brutality and the injustice that they receive when confronted by police officers. Instead of feeling like they are protected by the police, they feel as if they are being targeted by them. The author lived in the same area that the riot broke out in Baltimore, and he explains how unfairly African Americans were treated in that area. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. talks about the discrimination that African Americans face in their day to day lives. He wrote this letter in the 1960s, and during that time African Americans had to deal with more than just police brutality. He goes into detail in his letter about how difficult it is being an African American because racism was so prominent during that time. They were not able to go to many public places or stores because of the color of their skin, and had to deal with many hardships because they were denied entrance to many places.

            Although both readings discussed discrimination against African Americans, there was one major difference between the two. King encourages non-violent action, while Coates discourages the use of non-violent protests. While King does favor non-violence, he does acknowledge in his letter that sometimes violence does occur during social movements, such as the Civil Rights Movement. I would say to King that I 100% agree with his forms of action. It can be hard to push for non-violence when there is a large injustice happening, but I believe it’s better to at least try and push for change without violence. As for Coates, I would agree with him that police brutality on African Americans needs to be stopped, but I don’t think that the entire police force should be punished for the actions of a few. There are plenty of ways to push for change without violence, and I think Coates’s judgment is blurred by his anger caused by this injustice.

Cesar de los Santos -

     Ta-Nechisi Coates of Nonviolence as Compliance and Martin Luther King Jr.'s A letter from a Birmingham jail both definitely agree that African Americans are treated unfairly. Both men think that they are being treated unfairly because Coates talks about how African Americans in the United States are being abused and discriminated against by local police in their communities through police brutally which has caused deaths recently. Martin Luther King Jr. on the other hand talks about how he is having his civil rights as an American taken away by being incarcerated for his non-violent protesting in Alabama. Though both may seem similar, they do see one major difference. 

      Coates discourages the use of non-violent protesting in the portion of the United States that actively speaks out against the un-lawful use of police brutality and their unfair rulings in court. He uses examples like from when young African American Eddie Gray ran from police and lost his life days after the violent arrest that left him severely injured. He argues that violent protesting can meet the justice to police brutally halfway and it cannot be reached by non-violent means. 

     Dr. King Jr. says in his letter from an Alabama jail that he does agree that violence does happen in social movements but Dr. King firmly believes and takes part in non-violence acts towards a more equal country. He does say that tension is what brings the “light of human conscience and the air of a national opinion” which means that the voice of many angry Americans and sometimes their acts does affect change in America.

     I believe that tension does cause change as it strikes a nervous chord in our nation's government and makes them reform their laws.