American Relgion and the Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement symbolizes a conflict both in America as a nation and in the religions of American society. We see in the writing by Martin Luther King how the civil rights movement was a time where African Americans were protesting and fighting for their rights. King states that unlike Elijah Muhammad who demonstrated with violence and hatred, he thought it was more effective to protest in a nonviolent manner. Kings reasoning for demonstrating was because it was the most effective way to start negotiations. We see this when he says, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which had constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”

When King wrote his letter to his fellow Christian brothers who accused him of being an extremist, he made a direct correlation between his actions and those of other respected people and prophets that many people in the American society could relate to. James F. Findlay Jr. wrote in his article, “The Origins of Activism, 1250-1963,” that the National Council and the Protestant church continued to play a major role in America at this time. (Mathisen, 710) Because King was aware of the heavy influence that the Protestant and other Christian denominations played in America, he tried to make a connection to them by relating his extremist behaviors to those of Jesus, Amos, Martin Luther, Paul, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. Most Americans could relate and support at least one of these figures, which is why Martin Luther King Jr. referenced them. He hoped to gain some support and understanding for the African American cause.

King tells us that throughout the civil rights movement there were two kinds of African Americans. There were the ones who ended up living with and adjusting to segregation, and then those who opposed it and acted out in violence. King did not feel as if violence was the answer to their problems. He felt as if there needed to be a mix of both in order to from a peaceful resolution. Findlay Jr. talks about how the National Council met on many accounts trying to work out and discuss the segregation problems and "create a non-segregated church and a non-segregated community." King thought that the only way to establish peace and equality was to demonstrate it himself, no matter what the consequences were.

Findlay, James F., Jr. "The Origins of Activism 1950-1963." Critical Issues in American Religious 

 History. By Robert R. Mathisen. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006. 710-718. Print.