Laurn 1 Amber Laurn ENG.1201.634 Dr. A.

Cassel 1/15/12 Summary of The Quest for Peace and Justice by Martin Luther King Jr. In 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech The Quest for Peace and Justice during his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the American Civil Rights Movement. The speech detailed his beliefs of what mankinds problems were and how our lack of morals and spirituality is the driving force behind these problems. Mankind is fighting, has fought, and always will be fighting these problems because we have caused these problems by being a constantly changing society. Our dilemma is how we can take care of these consistent problems that have arisen while having variables that constantly vary. This speech came a monumental time in American history. The Civil Rights Movement was ongoing and fell right into one of Dr. Kings problems: racial injustice. Dr. King said these developments should not surprise any student of history. Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself. We only have to look at history to see how this has held true time and time again. Dr. King believed that change was taking place in the world. There were events happening on multiple scales that illustrated the change in racial injustice. Globally, independence was increasing Asia and Africa as colonial rule was no longer being accepted. The Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregation was no longer lawful, and a civil rights bill known as the Jim Crow laws was passed. President Johnson was elected over a contender whom was known to be an extremist. Society was taking steps to being racially just, and Dr. King said the demand for dignity, equality, jobs, and citizenship will not be abandoned or diluted or postponed. If that means resistance and conflict we shall not flinch. We shall not be cowed. We are no longer afraid.

Laurn 2 Even as Dr. King said these words, he was not advocating for violence, but just the opposite. He was a believer and teacher of nonviolence. It was through nonviolence that he believed a resolution was reached. Dr. King said violence is immoral because it thrives on hated rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. Dr. King wanted equality, peace, and respect towards all. Violence stood for everything he was not, and nonviolence was the key to the root of the problem because it cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. (King Jr.) While not being a new problem to mankind, poverty in America was something that frustrated Dr. King. He said the poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. America is a land of huge potential and wealth, but yet do not take care of our people by closing the gap between the haves and have nots of the world. (King Jr.) Our resources and capabilities are abundant, but yet we do not remedy our situation. As Dr. King stated at the beginning of his speech, the richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. Poverty must be exposed to the light of day in order for it to be acknowledged as a problem, and we have to grow internally in order to be able to fight this problem. War has been integrated into our history since the biblical times. Over time, people have changed, and so have the methods of war. We are no longer at a place in time where face to face battle on a field occurs, but instead we are at a time in place where we only need to push a button. Not only are we harming our enemy, but also face the threat of global nuclear fallout.

Laurn 3 As Dr. King said, wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. War will not build a better world. In a world with racial justice, war will not benefit it; instead it will demoralize it more. People cannot function under the constant worry and stress of impending war and doom. History has been predisposed to outbursts of hatred and strife, and fighting these with war is not the way to accomplish defeating it. If hate is present, love is the way to smoother its embers. Nonviolence is love, and love is essential to fixing our corrupt morality and spirituality.

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Works Cited
King Jr., Martin Luther. "The Quest for Peach and Justice." University of Oslo, Norway, 11 December 1964. Lecture