P o rtla n d © b scru cr
Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
Jan. 13, 1999
c5
The Peacemaker And The Machine
self, the community, even the world
costs, medical care, supervision,
and how he chooses to react within
monitoring and a decrease in crimes.
that world. The application o f this
Apparently, we know what doesn’t
political method o f nonviolence on
work and we know it well.Part o f the
the part o f the Eastern Indians To
answer is going to the true source of
day, the British people within the
what are the contributing factors that
commonwealth and the Eastern Indi
come into play to create the behav
ans have a mutual friendship based
iors. Let’s address the ones that we
on total equality.The great Martin
can. Let’s go to the schools in the
Luther King saw the need for man to
nation and begin to seriously edu
overcome
oppression and violence
cate the children on the meaning of
without
resorting
to violence and op
verbal and physical abuse. W hat the
pression.
After
his
trip to India, he
force o f violence means and its im
was
convinced
more
than ever before
pact. A realization needs to take place
that Gandhi’s nonviolence, truth-
that humiliation and defeat is not
force and love method for social re
truly winning, it is losing...M artin
form had been what he had been
Luther King said, “It is the evil that we
seeking for so many months. Over
are seeking to defeat, not the person
the centuries, men have sought to
victimized by evil.”
discover the highest good. It has
Gandhi was probably the first per
been the chief quest o f ethical phi
son in history to lift the love ethic of
losophers King believed, “that love
Jesus above interaction between in
is the most durable power in the
dividuals to a powerful and effective
world.” “He who loves is a partici
social reform. It was a powerful ele
pant in the being o f God and he who
ment in uplifting the thoughts of man.
hates does not know God.”
He altered the way man views him
B y S ophia K at
Historically, there have been the
peacemakers, great men with great
words and through these words came
great deeds. The peacemakers have
used something positive, yet potent
- a uni fied force that can be channeled
for maximum results and without in
jury to others. They have pursued
nonviolent methods for conflict reso
lution through compromise, negotia
tion, organized resistance, non-co-
operation, civil disobedience and civil
based defense.
Gandhi, simply stated, that he
knows no other way. ’ The way clearly
being one o f Nonviolent Resistance.
Nonviolent Resistance as a philoso
phy is a distinctive way o f acting and
thinking that typically permeates the
entire being, but like all things it is
developed by practice. Another as
pect o f G an d h i’s philosophy is
Satyagraha which means holding on
to the truth and therefore, literally is
the use o f truth as a force. In that it
makes people see the truth as op
posed to untruths. This is a powerful
force in its own right. A force o f true
peace, goodwill, brotherhood, jus
tice. It is not some negative chaotic,
dark force lurking in the shadows, it
is one o f light not o f wrongs, but o f
right. Critics would argue that the
prison system is one that uses fear,
force and punishment to maintain
order and the oppression is the out
come.
The prison system is one that is a
politically charged arena and a costly
one at the spending staggering bil
lions o f tax dollars. If we continue to
drain our resources at this rate, there
is reason to evaluate. The never end
ing increasing costs ofbuilding more
prisons - the key word here is in
creasing costs created by a system
that is an outworn form, that is having
its final spasms struggling to main
tain itself before it is forced into
change. If the prison system was
working effectively and to its full
potential, then we would clearly see
decreased costs in terms o f food,
housing, court costs, transportation
In 1849, the Oregon Territorial Legislature passed
the Exclusion Act (repealed in 1926), which banned
“Negroes and Mulattoes” from the Oregon Territory.
This year, one hundred and fifty years later,
Oregon
Uniting
will
acknowledge
Oregon's
discriminatory history, condemn the attitudes that led
to that discrimination and acknowledge the people of
ALL races and ethnic backgrounds who have worked
for positive change.
“Whereas, situated as the people of Oregon
are, in the midst of an Indian population, it
would be highly dangerous to allow free
Negroes and mulattoes to reside in the
territory or to intermix with the Indians,
instilling into their minds feelings of
hostility against the white race, therefore:
Be it enacted by the Legislative
Assembly of the territory o f Oregon
that it shall not be lawful for any
Negro or Mulatto to come into or
reside within the limits o f this
l territory.. ”
Martin Luther King was arrested sixteen times.