Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About Slavery

• One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Animal, Soul, One Day

• As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Powerful, Self Esteem, Night

  Martin Luther King, Jr. (2016). “MLK on "The Other America" and "Black Power"”, p.15, Beacon Press

• The time has come for America to hear the truth about this tragic war. In international conflicts, the truth is hard to come by because most nations are deceived about themselves. Rationalizations and the incessant search for scapegoats are the psychological cataracts that blind us to our sins. But the day has passed for superficial patriotism. He who lives with untruth lives in spiritual slavery.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Spiritual, War, America

  "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam". Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, www.informationclearinghouse.info. April 30, 1967.

• A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will "thingify" them and make them things. And therefore, they will exploit them and poor people generally economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and it will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I'm saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, "America, you must be born again!"

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Wisdom, Military, Years

• If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Freedom, Destiny, America

• Slavery in America was perpetuated not merely by human badness but also by human blindness. ... Men convinced themselves that a system that was so economically profitable must be morally justifiable. ... Science was commandeered to prove the biological inferiority of the Negro. Even philosophical logic was manipulated [exemplified by] an Aristotlian syllogism:
  All men are made in the image of God;
  God, as everyone knows, is not a Negro;
  Therefore, the Negro is not a man.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Money, Philosophical, Men

• Racial segregation must be seen for what it is, and that is an evil system, a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Covered Up, Evil, Slavery

  Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood, delivered 26 February 1965

• I think in this phase, after the Negro emerges in and from the desegregated society, then a great deal of time must be spent in improving standards which lag behind to a large extent because of segregation,discrimination, and the legacy of slavery.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Thinking, Legacy, Lag

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Winning, Independence, Majestic

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.104, Beacon Press

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