Dr. King’s Guiding Light

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished more than perhaps any individual in the struggle for African American rights. In the early stages of the civil rights movement, though, King struggled to reconcile the Christian doctrine of love with the immense challenge of achieving economic and social rights for African Americans. During this time of soul-searching, King was introduced to the teachings of a Hindu man who had fought on the other side of the  1 world—for the rights of the oppressed, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s principles of nonviolent resistance   2 was the primary influence that helped King build momentum in the American civil rights movement.

  3 As early as 1919, Gandhi fought against the British government, which held India as a colony and subjected its people to unfair laws. Gandhi used methods such as the boycotting of British goods, peaceful marches, and fasting. His ongoing campaign of nonviolent resistance eventually led to a major change in 1947 when Great Britain passed a resolution that outlawed 4 prejudicial discrimination against “untouchables”—India’s lowest caste of people. In 1950, King was introduced to Gandhi’s teachings through a sermon by Mordecai Johnson, who had just returned from a trip to India. After studying Gandhi’s achievements, King 5 concludes that Gandhi was the first person in history to use the Christian ethic of love as a “potent instrument for social and collective transformation.”

In 1955, King was given an opportunity to 6 bestow Gandhi’s techniques during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus incident. After Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on a public bus, King organized a year-long boycott 7 upon Montgomery buses, which ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Over the next decade, King continued to rely on methods of nonviolent resistance by organizing 8 marches; and giving speeches; and instituting boycotts; and leading “sit-ins” at public establishments that refused to serve African Americans. King’s efforts led to the passage of significant laws such as the 1964 Civil Rights 9 Act. This law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in public establishments.

King eventually made his own trip to India in 1959, 10 but he would never meet the man who influenced him so deeply. Even before King began to learn of his principles, Gandhi had given his life for his cause. King once called Gandhi’s teachings “the guiding light of our nonviolent technique of social change.” 11