Social Change Requires Self-Cleansing and Direct Action

This essay will explain how King claims that in order to achieving peaceful social change, self-purification and direct action are important steps to be taken, as society will be forced to face the issues that are considered to be unfair. Self-purification requires individuals to prepare themselves to withstand the opposition’s torment, in a non-violent manner, in order to make a difference in society. Direct action requires that society hears the perspective that has usually been ignored and overlooked. This is achieved by the oppressed showing their suffering.

Showcasing the issue with society results in tension in the minds of people who are fine with how society already is. This display must be planned with the perfect conditions, where people cannot ignore the suffering, in order for the direct action to effective for social change.

Self-purification is not an easy task, as a lot of mental condition and practice is required in order to bear torture that the people who want change will endure, from the people who want to resist the change (Bloomfield, 10/17/18).

In King’s Birmingham Letter from Jail, the protesters questioned themselves of whether they were mentally prepared to withstand the punishments and forces that wished to oppose the cause that they were fighting for (King, 1-2). It is important that people who want peaceful social change withstand the nonviolent acts that are committed against them, in a non-violent way, in order to further the change that is trying to be brought forward (Bloomfield, 10/17/18).

Through these non-violent mannerisms, when protestors undergo these sufferings, in the name of social change, a wide audience of people in society focus on the injustice that other people must undergo (Bloomfield, 10/17/18).

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Though this is not an easy task, being ignorant of all the suffering that the protestors must undergo, the persistent effort and hard work is definitely worth it, as these hardships can bring out social change. The oppressed, who are discontent with the current societal situation, use the frustration of their injustice to channel it through the innovative outlet of peaceful direct action (King, 4). This dissatisfaction of the oppression may be hard to suppress the violent urges to retaliate against the opposition, but non-violently enduring the pain results in a more effective end point, with social change being the most probable outcome.

After preparing for the non-violent course of action to bring about change in society, it is important the society hears the perspective of those who are in favor of change, when following a plan of direct action (Bloomfield, 10/17/18). Bloomfield claims that in order to further King’s goal of ending segregation, African Americans went to jail voluntarily in order to be heard in court. This was so that people could hear what was going on in their standpoint, resulting in change in the current situation. Breaking laws and disturbing the way that society usually functions brings the truths about how society treats people unjustly, to the spotlight (Bloomfield, 10/17/18). Thus, being visible to society can show that people are so serious about this issue that people are willing to suffer for the sake of achieving change in the system (Bloomfield, 10/17/18). Making sure that the direct action is in the public’s view also ensures the public to scrutinize the injustices that people are going through. By suffering from the repercussions of direct action, the people’s attention can be brought to the injustices that oppressed go though (Bloomfield, 10/17/18).

In order to reach the minds of the people who oppose the social change, it is important the people who are oppressed show themselves. The oppressed must demand for change, in order to change the current situation, they are in and no longer be bounded by the disadvantages of society, that make them suffer till date (King, 2). They must strive for the betterment of their treatment, throughout society and must not succumb to the acceptance of their mistreatment, in order to make a difference in society (King, 4).

This cannot be determined by the convenience of those who are not inconvenienced by the current norms of society. It is unfair when people sympathize for the social change that is required for the well-being of society, but at certain times, changing society would be inconvenient (King, 3). Equality must be the common goal for everyone, in order to achieve any social change, regardless of untimeliness or inconveniences. King argues that the oppressed have been patient for long enough and that they don’t deserve to be treated so poorly, even till date (Bloomfield, 10/17/18). Sympathizing for social change but refusing to make a difference in society is not enough because this does not allow for any direct action to occur, so that negotiations can be made and change can occur.

It is usually believed that direct action can be replaced by negotiation, due to the unpredictable nature of a non-violent protest. However, negotiation is the reason for direct action (King, 2). This activism creates a crisis and tension in society so that something that is usually ignored and overlooked must finally be dealt with. The situation is negotiated with and the issue must be confronted, in order to resolve the tension. Though this allows for a lot of drama and tension to ensue, this helps further the purpose of the social change, as people in the opposition of the social change become more thoughtful and unite people on the other side of the argument (King, 2).

Thus, when direct action is conducted, it opens the door for negotiation. This pressure needs to be planned at the right time, in the right conditions, when people cannot ignore or avoid the change that requires to occur. King chooses to create a commotion, in a non-violent way, by choosing Easter time to protest because with the exception of Christmas, shopping season is quite prevalent around this time. Thus, when economic changes are made, due to direct action, many shopkeepers are pressured by the change in their livelihood, that is caused by these peaceful protests, and they cannot keep ignoring the message that the people are trying to send (King, 2). By non-violently protesting, people who wait for the right conditions are successful in achieving the change that is necessary in society, since negotiations are unavoidable in those situations.