Martin Luther King and Coates will definitely agree that black lives are mistreated at a higher proportional level than white people. Both individuals support the civil rights movement to help black lives. However, the way they represent and show the message, differs.
MLK preached being non-violent his entire career and was respected as such. He genuinely believed spreading his message while not physically harming others was the correct way to go. MLK supported activies such as sit-ins at stores and boycotting bus stations Coates, in the other hand, could not care less about being non-violent. He calls out how being non-violent only benefits those who don't support to civil rights movement such as the government and police. According to Coates, being violent would not be a bad thing to get your message out; for example, the Baltimore looting activities because of protesting were justified. Martin Luther King is the polar opposite of what Coates is trying to say in his message.
I would applaud MLK for being an important figure for human rights and being an individual black people could look up to. I would remind MLK how intelligent and articulate he was; something that is unanimous whether you support the civil rights movement or not. I would definitely ask him what he thinks about the Black Lives Matter movement and whether it's beneficial or not for the community.
As for Coates, I would tell him to stop being so biased against the police enforcement community. The majority of policemen know what they are doing. And there is no point in being violent because of a justified cop murder; who are you going to be violent to? Looting and destroying the city of Baltimore does not solve anything. I would definitely spend more time talking to MLK and asking how he would lead today's movements.
After reading both articles, i can say that i've never seen so much of a difference in authors. MLK's article was a letter from his cell talking about the unfair justice system but everyone knows that MLK was never a violent man and this article displayed that even more.
ReplyDeleteThe Coates article kind of irritated me because ifyou think about it, what is getting violent and causing chaos really gonna help in the long run? Its all pointless when you evaluate it.
If i was to have a conversation with them, i would ask Coates to leave so that i could have a civilized conversation with Dr. King.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Nonviolence as a Compliance” both argue about the rights and injustices in the black community. I believe they would agree that there are many issues that need to be solved within the black community and state, which needs to be addressed and brought to attention, however it is a difficult matter. However, they would very much disagree in the ways that they bring attention to the matters at hand. King has always argued that non-violence is that best way to handle these situations in hope not to make matters worse. In his letter he also argues this but within his letter as he tries to be professional you can see the anger in his writing, in suit with his anger he still argues that, they are trying to protest with non-violence and yet violence is being placed on them. This is where I see Ta-Nehisi arguing if the state and police are placing violence on their citizens why can we not act in violence also, either way we will be harmed. I believe Ta-Nehisi’s main argument is we are doing things silently and the “right” way for years and still aren’t being heard.
ReplyDeleteI would as King about his feelings toward brutality today, especially after all he and his followers have done for using the past. Yes, thing are better but the black community is still being humiliated and disrespected in many ways. As far as Ta-Nehisi I guess I wonder what is violence actually going to solve, besides having more of us killed.
If and when the two authors of the article “Nonviolence as Compliance” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Coates and King, sat down for a debate over the topic on social justice movements, I believe that they would both agree that as a minority group, black right matters. And when the right of one racial group faces insult, they would walk up and support the social movement that asks for a fair treatment towards other races.
ReplyDeleteWhat they would disagree with each other, though, was the way to conduct such social movement. King would argue that violence is unnecessary and would probably cause the opposite effect on what they expected to achieve. On the other hand, Coates would probably say that nonviolence was only going to benefit the ones that they were fighting against and they could never earn equal right from those who insulted it.
If I was to join the debate, I would ask Dr. King about what he was going to say about how he feel about the treatment that black community faces today and if he thinks that what he wanted to achieve through nonviolence movement has been achieved or not. Toward Coates, I would ask him that has his violence movement solved any problem throughout history and what would he do if it was gonging to make situation worse.
I agree with the commenter above me Jade. Both of them argue the same thing and want the same thing which is for everyone to be treated fairly. It is shown in both articles how African Americans are treated unfairly but the two articles are totally different and have a different approach. The article “NonViolence as a Compliance” has more violence in the article while Martin Luther King Jrs. Article “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is aimed towards less violence. Martin Luther King Jrs article believes “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and I think that shows what their whole article is about and what it stands for. That violence is not the answer. With that being said, I still think that the other author would agree with that statement. The articles aren’t promoting violence, one just has more violence in them and comes from a place where one person can not just change that. Coates is just basically saying that in his situation that’s how he feels something should be done to make a change. If I had to talk to them I would say that I don’t really disagree with either of them. I agree more with Marin Luther King because he promotes non- violence.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading both articles I notice a distinct similarity between the two pieces. Both King and Coates argue for equal treatment and a end to prejudice. They both highlight the unequal treatment the African Americans faced, however the two men have different ways of going about change. However, the two men would agree on more than just the rights of blacks. They would support multiple minority groups and advocate for the better treatment of all races. However King would go about a more peaceful way of getting things done, while Coates would advocate more violent means of change. If I were to join the conversation I would ask Coates why he advocated violence and if he disliked white people as a race. I would ask Dr.King on the other hand what he thought of white people and i'd ask for his autograph. If I had to side with one I would choose King because he gives off a promising vibe that people can spread to others.
ReplyDeleteIf sitting at a kitchen table, I believe that based on the papers Dr. Martin Luther King and Ta’Nehisi Coates wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “Nonviolence as Compliance”, King and Coates would be on the same page regarding various social movement issues. Specifically that there is an extreme problem with African American’s being discriminated against. Though these pieces of work were written many years apart, the underlining issue is the same. Something the authors would probably disagree with is the way to make the problem go away. While King did not participate in a violent protest, he believes that the tension of a violent rally promotes change. Coates on the other hand is completely against violence when it comes to social movement changes. He uses police brutality, specifically African American Eddie Gray’s death, as an example of what can come from violence. I believe that both have great points and a debate between King and Coates would be very civil because they are fighting for the same thing. I also believe that we should never use violence. Any loss of life is devastating and if we can prevent it, we should do everything in our power to do so.
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