"LIFE & DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR." (JAMES HASKINS) & "MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR." (ADAM FAIRCLOUGH).   Term Paper ID:25875 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Compares content, biases, sources of biographies of civil rights leader.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares content, biases, sources of biographies of civil rights leader. Paper Introduction: The Civil Rights Movement in its contemporary form started in 1955 with an act of mild disobedience by a black woman on a bus in the Deep South. Black leaders developed several strategies over the next few years, strategies that would be successful in changing laws and in getting some of the long-standing discriminatory institutions of the South changed. Between 1954 and 1965, the Civil Rights Movement developed into a major movement for social justice, societal change, and self-determination for millions of black Americans. The tactics undertaken by the movement have ranged from violent to nonviolent, with nonviolent predominating under the direction of Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers. The movement started first around the busing issue in Montgomery, Alabama, but it was also the culmination of decades of frustration nearly a century Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The Civil Rights Movement in its contemporary form started in 1955with an act of mild disobedience by a black woman on a bus in the DeepSouth. The dominant blackmovement of the era, led chiefly by the NAACP, emphasized integration, somuch so that it placed desegregation of schools ahead of such basic needsas voter registration. Fairclough also notes some of the sources forKing's nonviolent approach. Fairclough is no less admiring of King but does suggest more depththan does Haskins. [2]Ibid., 69-7 . King might be described as an "accidental" leader giventhat he did not precipitate the Montgomery bus boycott, nor organized it,nor sought its leadership. The story is also told in terms of the times when King wasarrested, the relations he had with presidents such as Kennedy and Johnson,and especially in terms of King's power as a public speaker, notably forhis "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington in 1963. (Athens, Georgia: Universityof Georgia Press, 1995), 33. Still, his leadership as not a creation of the media but came aboutbecause he captured the imagination and devotion of the people and unitedthem in a cause. Black leaders developed several strategies over the next few years,strategies that would be successful in changing laws and in getting some ofthe long-standing discriminatory institutions of the South changed.Between 1954 and 1965, the Civil Rights Movement developed into a majormovement for social justice, societal change, and self-determination formillions of black Americans. and his followers. One important eventoccurred in 196 when King was indicted for perjury in filing his 1956 and1958 tax returns. King developed from a local preacheraddressing a local issue into a major civil rights leader known throughoutthe world. Haskins says King was certain he would be convicted,given that this sort of prosecution was an established tactic in the OldSouth for dealing with blacks who asserted their rights or agitated forothers to do so. The press singled King out and highlighted him as the personality towatch. His book notes that the public career of King covered onlytwelve years but that in this short time King helped transform the Southand the nation as a whole. Haskins finds that certain events in King'slife after he became a national figure were especially important for whatthey told him about the movement he was leading. The movementstarted first around the busing issue in Montgomery, Alabama, but it wasalso the culmination of decades of frustration nearly a century after theslave era and after a long history of continuing discrimination and ill-treatment. Integration is an essential part of the nonviolentmovement and so attracted many who were already committed to the concept.Fairclough shows how this worked and how the nonviolent crusades led by Dr.King and others fell into a pattern. The Life and Death of Martin Luther king Jr. by James Haskins and Martin Luther King Jr. [3]Ibid., 169. in the broad sense, all of us, in a society that has not rid itself of bigotry, are responsible for the life, and the death, of Martin Luther King.[3] Adam Fairclough is a professor of modern American history at theUniversity of Leeds and has written extensively on the Civil RightsMovement. Dr. King was successful not only in attracting money and in becominga major force in the Civil Rights Movement, but he was also able to definethe movement in terms of non-violence in such a way as to make that tacticone of the key elements in the movement thereafter. Sometimes protesters forgot this and turned to violence and bloodhsed. The tactics undertaken by the movement haveranged from violent to nonviolent, with nonviolent predominating under thedirection of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1977.----------------------- [1]James Haskins, The Life and Death of Martin Luther King Jr. . Haskins gives the assassination more space in his book than iswarranted by the time period covered, and in doing so he shows howimportant this event was for the Civil Rights Movement after that murder,leading to some speculation about what King might have accomplished had henot been killed when he was: There would have been other moments for martin Luther King, had he lived . Mass meetings would be held. The assassination ofMartin Luther King Jr. King was, however, acquitted, and this gave him a sensethat his movement was having a real effect and that God was on his side.[2] Haskins tells the King story in terms of the confrontations that tookplace in the 195 s and 196 s between this leader and various white leadersin the south. His book on King shapes the life ofthat leader around the Civil Rights Movement that he would be identifiedwith so clearly, giving considerable attention to King at the height of hispower and to the assassination that ended his life and his leadership.Haskins writes about the early life of King and about King's preparationsfor and development as a preacher. This period in King's life,from the bus boycott to his assassination in 1968, is treated differentlyby different biographers, as can be seen in The Life and Death of MartinLuther King Jr. Haskins described the Kennedy era in a different way than doesFairclough. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1995.Haskins, James. These would usually be inchurches and would inspire those who attended through song and oratorydealing with grievances. (NewYork: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1977), 33. For Haskins, the Kennedy administration was friendly to Kingand his movement, and Kennedy did indeed make a speech on nationaltelevision calling for the country to fulfill its promise of freedom andequality for all.[5] Fairclough, on the other hand, states that Kennedywas more interested in foreign policy and "displayed little sensitivity tothe problem of racism, viewing the civil rights issue as a minorirritant."[6] He also shows that Kennedy was not happy with the way Kingwent about agitating for reform, though in the end Kennedy did make theaforementioned speech on television and proposed a Civil Rights Bill.Fairclough also shows as Haskins does not how King fomented a crisis incertain circumstances in order to generate interest and promote change. For a young man of twenty-seven, it was a remarkable achievement.[4]From this point, King worked to create a movement that would be more broad-based and national in scope. BIBLIOGRAPHYFairclough, Adam. . . Each writer makes use of primary sources from theperiod and of writings by King and others who are depicted. When they did, Gandhi would fast, refusing to eat until the violence ended.[1]Haskins notes as well that both Gandhi and King were influenced by HenryDavid Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience." King was instrumental in the Montgomery bus boycott and in pressuringfor and shaping the Civil Rights legislation that would be passed in thelate 195 s and early 196 s. In the beginning, the blacks in Montgomerywere confused by the Gandhian philosophy espoused by King, but there was atthe same time no doubting the intense loyalty that he engendered amongthem. [6]Fairclough, 6 .----------------------- 7 is presented as a coming together of two verydifferent men, King on the one hand, and assassin James Earl Ray on theother. Martin Luther King Jr. Fairclough's book has greater depth thanHaskins's book, which offers a good outline of King's life but is perhapstoo reverential to be realistic. For both, the Montgomery bus boycott was the event that propelled Kinginto the national spotlight. [5]Haskins, 8 . Fairclough in particular, though, givesattention to the various character and leadership traits in King whichserved to make him a leader and which caused others therefore to rallyaround him. A protest movement would be organizedin a community where blacks felt they had been beset by particularinjustices. Each day, street marches and other demonstrationswould be held, and at crucial periods during the campaign thoseparticipating would break the laws or policy they considered unjust, suchas staging sit-ins at a segregated lunch counter, marching in violation ofregulations, or refusing to leave a voter registration office where blackswere subjected to discrimination. Haskins onlyprovides a bibliography at the end, while Fairclough gives more detail andrelates the writings he uses to specific chapters and specific information. Gandhi was the most important figure in modern Indian history.He developed a philosophy which serves his followers as they fought to addto the freedom and self-rule of India, and it was this method admired byKing: The most important thing was to be nonviolent, not to fight back. That he did not is the fault not just of the man, or men, who killed him . by AdamFairclough. James Haskins has been a teacher in elementary, junior high schools,and various colleges, and he has also worked as an educational consultant.He has written several biographies. Fairclough devotes a chapter to King's earlylife and the beginning of his career as a preacher, but he also finds thatKing's national life began with the Montgomery bus boycott and with themovement that King helped create out of that boycott: The Montgomery bus boycott had been a massive collective effort, but King had done more than anyone else to hold it together and give it a moral resonance. . He also gives considerable attention tothe work of Gandhi, who served as a model for King and his non-violentmovement. [4]Adam Fairclough, Martin Luther King Jr. Black leaders did not care to wait for white hearts to change,so they set out to change them with a program of peaceful demonstrations,sit-ins, and similar actions. His message of non-violence was important as a basis for theCivil Rights Movement and represented one branch of the development of ablack consciousness in America in the 196 s. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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