Oppression, MLK Jr., Iron Jawed Term Paper

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The second way to resist oppression listed by Martin Luther King in his essay is the violent way, a way he disapproves of and a way against which he speaks. "A second way that oppressed people sometimes deal with oppression is to resort to physical violence and corroding hatred. Violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem; it merely creates new and more complicated ones. " This type of resistance is the most striking of all, and the easiest to recognize in real life, and also in this film. It is a type of resistance that both the oppressed and the oppressor sometimes use. A march of protest sometimes turns violent, and by doing so it serves no goal and brings no deliverance to the suffering. In the film, the protagonists' protest takes the form of a hunger strike, earning them the nickname "iron jawed angels," and this can be considered as the most violent way they could protest. The oppressors' violence is in the form of the forced imprisonment on unjust causes, and the way in which they forced the women to eat.

The third way to resist oppression is by nonviolent protest, and this is the way supported in his essay by Martin Luther King. "The third way open to oppressed people in their quest for freedom is the way of nonviolent resistance. (...) the principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites- acquiescence and violence- while avoiding the extremes and immoralities of both. The nonviolent resister agrees with the person who acquiesces that one should not be physically aggressive towards his opponent; but he balances the equation by agreeing with the person of violence that evil must be resisted." In the film this idea is supported, as any just idea, and the women in the fight try to persuade people of their just cause, not to force them into it. However, things sometimes turn towards violence, no matter how right and nonviolent ones methods and ideals are.

The parallel between women's fight for equality in "Iron Jawed Angels" and the fight of Black Americans for their rights is obvious, and the same rules of fighting oppression and injustice apply. There is no long-term success in violence and acceptance, only in a nonviolent long-term protest that will change the way people see things, persuading them of new ideas.

Sources:

Author not available, "Martin Luther King Jr.," Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Sept. 26, 2006. Retrieved: Sept 27th, 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970," Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972, copyright the Nobel Foundation, nobelprize.org, Retrieved: Sept 27th, 2006. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

Author not available, "HBO films Iron Jawed Angels-Synopsis," Copyright © 2006 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Retrieved: Sept 27th, 2006. http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/synopsis/

Martin Luther King Jr., "Three Types of Resistance to Oppression "- fragment, from Joyce Henna's webpage, Jan. 5th 1998, Retrieved: Sept 27th, 2006. http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/~joycehen/readings.htm

Author not available, "Synopses for Iron Jawed Angels," Mooviees.com All rights reserved. Retrieved: Sept 27th, 2006

http://www.mooviees.com/14511/plots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/synopsis / http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/~joycehen/readings.htm

http://www.mooviees.com/14511/plots http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/~joycehen/readings.htm idem.....