Intro of influence of Gandhian principles on Martin Luther king or Nelson Mandela
(about 100 words)
Pls answer fast
Answers
Martin Luther King was mentored by a man named Bayard Rustin, who studied Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance in India. Prior to this, Martin Luther King, influenced by the theologian Reinhold Niehbur, had rejected the idea of nonviolence as a tactic for social change. Dr. King’s perspective on nonviolence was influenced by Christian pacifism at the time, articulated by people such as Leo Tolstoy and Adin Ballou, which advocated for nonresistance. Dr. King felt that this was too passive an approach, believing that the nonresistance principle was only applicable to personal conflict, and that group violence and institutional oppression required a more pragmatic approach. However, when Rustin informed Dr. King of Gandhi’s satyagraha principle and his success in breaking the British power, Dr. King was inspired to adopt nonviolence as a tactic of militant civil disobedience. Gandhi had corresponded with Tolstoy, and had developed his satyagraha as a criticism and modification of Tolstoy’s nonresistance. Rather than emphasizing conscientious objection to oppression, Gandhi instead advocated nonviolent resistance through direct action and civil disobedience to fundamentally change society. Dr. King was so impressed with Gandhi’s logic and the success of his tactics that he vigorously researched Gandhi’s philosophy in order to apply it to the States. The rest, of course, is history
Nelson Mandela wasn’t quite so influenced by Gandhi. He did draw from some Gandhian ideas, but he was always eclectic in his political ideology. For one thing, his attitude towards political violence was pragmatic; he didn’t repudiate it on principle, but neither did he lionize it. He was a part of the African National Congress’ revolutionary militia for some time, but he also organized satyagraha-styled protests through the Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws. He also used his work as a civil rights attorney to fight against apartheid, a tactic that Gandhi (also a lawyer once upon a time) had abandoned as ineffective. And finally, he became President of South Africa, which carried with it its own tactics for fighting apartheid.