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Non-violence:
A philosophy
by Harris Levon McRae
“ L ove, mercy and forgiveness
should stand at the center o f our
lives. There is the danger that those
o f us who have lived so long under
the yoke o f oppression, those o f us
who have been exploited and
trampled ovr, those o f us who have
to stand amid the tragic midnight o f
injustice and indignities will enter
the new age w ith hate and b itte r
ness. But i f we retaliate w ith hate
and bitterness, the new age will be
nothing but a duplication o f the old
age. We must blot out the hate and
injustice o f the old age with the love
and justice o f the new. This is why 1
believe so firm ly in non-violence.
Violence never solves problems. It
only creates new and more com pli
cated ones. I f we succumb to the
temptation o f using violence in our
struggle for justice, unborn genera
tions will be the recipients o f a long
and desolate night o f bitterness, and
our chief legacy to the future willbe
an endless reign o f meaningless
chaos.”
Though he shunned violence, D r.
M a rtin L u th e r K in g , J r ., was the
target o f violence a num ber o f
times. H is home was shot at and
bombed; he was stoned, punched
and stabbed. He went to jail several
dozen times. Through it all D r. King
continued to say, “ Let no man drag
you so low as to h a te .” H is p h il
osophy on non-violence and his
methods o f passive resistance were
vital influences in the development
o f the civil rights movement.
King’s non-violent social philoso
phy was a mixture o f old fashioned
C h ris tia n ity and views he learned
from other great thinkers.
He was inspired by the life o f his
namesake, M a rtin Luther. Luther
headed a m ovem ent that brought
changes in church practices during
the sixteenth century. “ T o go
against conscience is neither right
nor safe,” he said.
The price of
of freedom is high
k F **
A
Henry David Thoreau once said,
“ The millions are awake enough for
physical la b o r; but only one in a
m illion is awake enough for effect
ive intellectual exertion, only one in
a hundred million for a poetic or di
vine life .” M artin Luther King, Jr.,
was one in a hundred m illio n and
T h o re a u ’ s w ritings touched him
deeply.
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is unjust, men should refuse to co
o p e ra te ,” T h o rea u w ro te. H e re
fused to obey laws he believed un
just, and just as King did later, went
to ja il for acting on his belief. He
showed that one man can start a
movement to bring justice and peace
to our world.
T h o rea u ’ s w ritings had also in
spired Mohandas K. Gandhi in In
dia. In d ia was then a part o f the
B ritish E m p ire and had trie d for
years to gain independence. Gandhi
used some o f Thoreau’s ideas to de
velop a new way o f fighting for In
dia’s independence— non-violent re
sistance.
G a n d h i and his follo w ers p ro
tested unjust conditions with mass
marches, strikes, boycotts— always
in the spirit o f love. They were beat
en and jailed, but they never fought
back with violence or weapons.
T he teachings and practices o f
other loving men helped M a rtin
L u th er K ing J r. to form his own
philosophy o f life. Like those before
him his philosophy was based on
courage and love.
His public career began in 1955 in
M o n tg o m ery , A la b a m a where he
led the working Blacks’ fight against
segregation on the public buses. It
ended on A pril 4, 1968 in Memphis
Tennessee where he had joined the
fig h t to secure better wages and
working conditions for the garbage
collectors.
D r. K ing won the N obel Peace
Prize in 1964. A t 35 he was and still
is the youngest person ever to re
ceive the award.
The chairman o f the Nobel Peace
P rize C o m m ittee called D r. King
“ the firs t person in the W estern
world to have shown us that a strug
gle can be waged without violence.”
Ironically, this peaceful man died
a violent death and that death
caused still more violence.
When James E arl Ray, the con
victed assassin o f D r. King, shot Dr.
King down that fatefu l evening in
Memphis, he set o ff a worldwide ex
plosion. M a n y cities erupted in
flames and violence as thousands o f
people couldn’t keep their rage un
der control.
Hate is a man-made lake so easy
to drown in. Love is a life preserver.
W e must learn to love one another.
We have to be able to struggle with
out violence. I t ’s part o f the dream
. . . A Love Supreme.
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Portland Observer, January 21, 1982 Section II Page £