Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

391 Words2 Pages
Martin Luther King’s idea that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” is a common theme in Barack Obama's speech and other readings we have done. This concept is used throughout Martin Luther King’s letter to the clergymen in Birmingham. He felt he could not let them minimize the struggle that blacks were going through there as if it only affected them and nobody else. Racism and prejudice is a threat to everyone, not just to the people who are the current target of this hatred. He tried to clearly make the point that being silent would only make the matter of racism worse. Silence and lack of any action by society only allows those who use hate to deprive others of their basic human rights to continue doing so. The fact that when Barack Obama gave his speech 45 years later, this country is still struggling with the issues of racism and prejudice is a sad reality that we haven’t come as far in this struggle as we might believe we have. I like the fact that both of these men address the need to bring the problem into the open and encourage using a non-violent approach to break through people’s denial. In Obama’s speech he says that blacks still hold a resentment towards the white man. His speech, however, contradicts itself because he supports ending discrimination and the racial divide, but understand why his Reverend has resentment toward white people based on previous actions by our ancestors. He ground his speech on actions that he saw in his times, and uses historical facts to help people understand his point of view and urges our nation to change their behaviors. Obama explains that America is a diverse nation, and that people discriminate based on: religion, race and education. Some contemporary documents and literary works that have issues such as colorblindness, racism and white resentment include: Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial

More about Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

Open Document