Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential activists of his time. A quote written by him, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” This was a very powerful and meaningful quote. Egalitarianism is explained as a belief in equal human rights and equality in society. It seems as if the meaning of this quote was basically that nothing is ever given it must be demanded. In other terms, during these times equal rights for African Americans was a major deal, and in that case the quote could mean that African American’s cannot expect equal rights, but demand it. The quote explains that if we want egalitarianism we must take it rather than sit back and wait for it. One of the short stories, Children of the Sea by Edwidge Danticat, there are signs of inequality and some of the outcomes of fighting for egalitarianism.
In Children of the Sea, the time period was one in which Haiti was under rule of a dictator who is responsible for the murders of thousands of Haitians. The story is a series of letters written between two lovers stuck in a rough time in Haiti with mass murders, and a dictatorship. One character has escaped Haiti, this character was someone who went against what dictator “Papa Doc” had to say. In this time, there was a special police force for people like this and would go around killing anyone part of the movement against the dictator. Papa Doc stole tons of money and land from the Haitians and created an extremely bias community as well as a great deal of inequality. In an act eliminate the idea of egalitarianism, Papa Doc silenced, dehumanized, and killed thousands of civilians. The male character was part of a youth federation in an act against Papa Docs ruling, has fled Haiti and is on his way to the United States. His lover writes, “all the other youth federation members have disappeared. No one has heard from them. I think they might all be in prison. Maybe they’re all dead.” (Danticat 4-5) she also writes to him, “a group of students got shot in front of fort Dimanche prison today. They were demonstrating for the bodies of the radio six. That is what they’re calling you all. The radio six. You have a name. you have a reputation. A lot of people think you are dead like the others.” (Danticat 7). These quotes in some way relate to Dr. Martin Luther kings quote because egalitarianism would never be given but this man tried to demand it, although there were many deaths because of this, it still shows the measures that people will take for equal rights.
In today’s society, a great example of people fighting for egalitarianism is the equality for women in society. Throughout history, women have been seen as the lesser gender, still today, there are fights for equal pay. There are many cases in which women and man who work the same job, have different salaries. Before even reading the book Equal Means Equal : Why the Time for an Equal Rights Amendment Is Now, by Jessica Neuwirth there was an interesting dedication to her mother. “This book is dedicated to my mother, Gloria Neuwirth, who graduated from Yale Law School in 1958 only to be told when she interviewed with a New York law firm, “We don’t hire women, but you’re a pretty girl so we’d be happy to talk to you”” (Neuwirth, page 5) This quote alone shows the inequality that has been a relevant issue in this country since ancient history. People have lost lives and have gone to extreme measures to do what Martin Luther King Jr. says and demand what we want. Egalitarianism is what most people fight for.
Work Cited:
Neuwirth, Jessica. “Equal Means Equal : Why the Time for an Equal Rights Amendment Is Now”. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=5da80339-c41b-4789-9d99-82a0a1c6f63e%40pdc-v-sessmgr01
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