preview

King Broken Values Essay

Decent Essays

Broken values In the 1964 nonfiction book , why we can’t wait , King refers back to U.S history and the American culture as a critic towards the American values America preaches but doesn’t practice . Consequently, the injustice, segregation and lack of freedom that is prominent in the “free land” contradicts the values Americans highly praises which is Democracy, written in the constitution. King uses the false imagery of America being the land of the free, opportunity and justice, as an advantage to argue that America is the land where justice, freedom and opportunity are absent, thus making America an unjust and oppressed land. Using pathos, King describes African Americans anger and hopeless in the justice system, when the ongoing …show more content…

That is why King's nonviolence was so effective because the oppressor(whites) became the bullies which went against the imagery of Blacks as "Thugs" therefore made America look not so unified to the rest of the world which only strengthen the African American movement and the views of America as the land of terror. This revolution was no joke for submission. The negros decided to no longer put up with the system taking away their god given rights as Americans, regardless the color of their skin. They decided that this delay will not be further allowed to take away the future generation, the negro child educational opportunity and moral freedom away. In 1963 king talks about the negro revolution has a moral action that seeks to better the black individual from the oppression, in justice and discrimination, and blames the law system for this uprising. King began to criticize the justice system in America stating that “any law that degrades human personality is unjust… An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself” (71) shows the hypocrisy of America and the values of justice, freedom and opportunity for all

Get Access