Jesse Jackson vs. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. :: American History Racism Essays

Jesse Jackson vs. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There are three ways to feel towards racism: accept it, hate it or be neutral. However, according to Jesse Jackson in his essay â€Å"Jets of Water Blast Civil Rights Demonstrators† and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail† there are only two feelings, for it or against it. They both use the acts of oppression in Birmingham to instigate their feelings. The disparity, though, is that Dr. King experienced the oppressive acts first hand, while Jackson gains passion on the incidents from pictures. Jackson and King share a similar side of extreme anti-segregation, but differ in the way acts of oppression affect them and in their views of who holds the power to control these acts. Pictures to Jesse Jackson are more than just images on a page. In his essay Jackson refers to a picture where innocent kids are being hosed down because of their race. Jackson believes pictures like these made people want to fight back. He feels this particular picture â€Å"made the determination of the African-Americans public† (Jackson 333). The other result of the picture was it left no middle area. There was no place for neutrality on the matter and as a result two positions remained: support of segregation or disapproval of it. Jackson goes on to mention the general importance of pictures. He generalizes that pictures are more powerful than words because they â€Å"live in one’s memory† (334). The picture of the hosed children is why Jackson feels so strongly against separation. This photograph gives him the passion to speak, and when he speaks, he speaks pictures. Dr. King on the other hand finds experience creates passion and determination a gainst segregation. He speaks with emotion in his letter, giving a whole paragraph of detailed reasons why he and others feel the way they do. King mentions that it is easy for those who have not suffered from â€Å"the stinging darts of segregation† to take an inactive role in stopping segregation. King experiences its harshness and cruelties and wishes to take an active role: â€Å"When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and your fathers at will†¦then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait† (King).