Justice

Simbarashe Sigauke

Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King junior is a pillar of strength and virtue in United States of America and the world at large. He is a symbol of social justice, courage and hope. He stood for the dismantling of social injustice and in particular racism in the United States of America, which was rampant in the Jim Crow South. King employed the tactics of non-violence, which he leant from Mahatma Gandhi in India. His ethical values were driven by his Christian beliefs. He knew that the best way for the oppressed to overcome the evil of oppression was through the instrument of non-violence. He was a charismatic, eloquent and prolific speaker, which was attributed to his Baptist preaching tradition. He fought the system of racial subjugation throughout his whole life. He did change his ethical views along the way as he borrowed from many systematic theologians such as Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. He even admits that he learnt from Reinhold Niebuhr that even the oppressed as a group could not be morally good because man is sinful and consequently groups made up of man are sinful too. However Martin Luther King was more of a liberation theology that preached the hope for a racial free America. He knew that America was not going to be ideal but believed that a better America was possible. Therefore Martin Luther King saw the issue of racism through the lens of the oppressed and marginalized and advocated for change. It was such a strong commitment for King that he was willing to die it.

I believe that racial oppression is one of the most evil vices in America today. America still has racial issues but there is a vast improved comparing to the charged 1960s. I cannot say America is were it wants to be as far as racial issues are concerned but I can confidently say America is still not were it used to be, thanks to the works of individuals such as Martin Luther King Junior and Rosa Parks. Non-violence is a very important tool to fight racial oppression. I however believe that it is not enough to free people socially without freeing them economically. People of color are the minority in America and they cannot change their identity or skin color. As a Christian I believe speaking against inequality, racism, oppression and subjugation. I believe in the power of being a voice to the voiceless, but I also want the voiceless to speak and let their voices be heard. As long as there is group of people that are called voiceless it means the issue of oppression has not be solved at all. As Christians there is a need for voices of justice and love to start rising and speaking in places of power and influence. Jesus taught that we ought to fight evil with good. He even taught against retaliation when he spoke of turning the other cheek. Jesus was the movement of social Justice and he refused to participate complicity or explicitly with oppression. He was counter-cultural and radical. He spoke against power and upheld ethos of equality and freedom. As Christian ethicists we must fight for freedom, social justice and change through the use of non-violence and love.