Fisk Kolvenbach and King Response

 Kolvenbach and King Response 

Both of these readings tackled the same issues, but the one that stuck out to me the most was the necessity of hands-on or first-hand experience in order to better understand how oppression impacts people and how to better fight for justice.

King writes that “I don’t believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen the angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don’t believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys, if you would observe them, as they did on two occasions, refusing to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together” (King 5). The lack of experience that the religious leaders criticising him have with regards to the real treatment of black people at the hands of police officers leads to them discrediting and overlooking the reasons for which King and other civil rights activists were advocating for change. By refusing to see the treatment of black people in American society, these religious leaders and all white people can act as though the system of white supremacy is not really as bad or as pervasive as black people are making it out to be, and can sleep easy at night doing nothing to prevent the continued oppression of people of colour. If something is not directly seen and experienced by people, then it is easy for them to overlook and ignore it, to just pretend that it's not a real problem and that someone else will do something about it.

Kolvenbach echoes this need for direct first-hand experience in his work. He writes that “when the heart is touched by the direct experience, the mind may be challenges to change. Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice others suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity which gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection. Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively” (Kolvenbach 34-35). This need for one to see the suffering in the world speaks to the ability of ignorance––in the sense that one is purposefully or subconsciously ignoring the truth––to cloud the judgement and perception of someone as to how the world actually works and how others experience it. By confronting the suffering and oppression of peoples throughout the world and refusing to look past it, the necessity of action comes to the forefront of one's mind and to the forefront of human experience; to feel solidarity with all humans and to feel compassion then means to agitate for change and fight––non-violently, both authors would argue––for change and justice for all oppressed peoples throughout the world.