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.