We live in a society where morality has become relative. Culture, traditions, religion, and sometimes individual characteristics now determine morality. Some practices that are deemed right in African society are criticized and considered illegal in American society. People do not have the right to judge the traditions of another culture if they are not willing to be judged for what deemed right or moral according to their culture. Relativism remains a popular ethical approach because it allows individuals to support their actions, even when they are hurting others. Relativism does not grant fairness, rights, and justice as it can justify wrong actions on the basis of individual or cultural beliefs. Martin Luther King's speech on universal human rights remains one of the most famous speeches fifty years later. King’s speech can be described as anti-relativist because he fought for liberty, freedom, rights of life, and the right to pursue happiness for blacks. King’s speech is powerful because of his dream of an equal society where freedom rings in every state and city for black and white men, Jews, Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics.
I agree with Dr. King’s appeal to universal human rights. Dr. King made the speech at a civil rights rally in Washington, DC on August 28th, 1963. Dr. King was a figurehead for the civil rights movement to end racism and segregation in American. In the mid-20th century society, blacks in America struggled to access education, employment, and social amenities because of racism, and yet slavery was abolished a century ago in 1865. Dr. King appealed to universal human rights because all human beings are the same regardless of their race, sex, language, religion, nationality, social status among other factors that differentiate human beings. Dr. King’s speech is persuasive because he considered all human beings equal, which is true. According to Dr. King, we should judge each other by the content of the character, rather than the color of our skin.
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The speech would not make sense if Dr. King used relativism to argue for freedom and justice for African Americans. Relativism justifies certain actions; for example, utilitarianism claims that an action is morally justifiable if it brings satisfaction to many people. Slavery remains a topic of contention even in the present American society, and in the 1960s, many white people still supported slavery because they thought their skin color meant that they are superior. If Dr. King used relativism to justify civil rights cause, other people would be allowed to use relativism to justify why they support slavery.
Moral relativism proposes that there are no absolutes to which one can be held accountable. Dr. King made his speech in Washington because he wanted to hold the government responsible for failing to fulfill its promise to the African Americans. The American government banned slavery and declared that everyone is equal, and yet African Americans struggled with racism on a daily basis. African Americans lacked equal opportunities as whites, and they were treated as second-class citizens because whites used their beliefs that they were the superior race. Moral relativism is responsible for phrases like, “this is true for me” and “that is true for you” (Choudhury, 2015). Moral relativism may work for small issues such as breakups, but it does not work critical human rights issues such as slavery and sex trafficking.
The core message of Dr. King’s speech was love; love for one another regardless of the skin color and cultural backgrounds. Dr. King managed to unify his audience, both black and white by talking about the unconditional love that fights injustice with the truth. Dr. King was a Baptist minister, and he made references to Biblical love in his speech. According to Dr. King, the love for one another enables human beings to speak against injustice and wrongdoings even when the victim of injustice is from another culture. Culture should not be the determinant of what is right and wrong; at the end of the day, human beings are the same when culture is stripped away.
In conclusion, Dr. King’s words are true today. African Americans are still dreaming of a society where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by their character (King, 1985). Systemic racism in America is still persistent because some people hold on to the assumptions that they better than others because of their race and ethnicity. It is easy to become tolerant of something as harmful as racism especially when one is not the victim; this explains why racism is still persistent in modern American society. The society cannot afford to rely on moral relativism because it implies that individuals are afraid to take a stand against wrongdoings. Dr. King acknowledged that people are different, but he dreamed of a society where blacks, whites, Jews, Latinos, and Protestants peacefully coexist because they are human beings with similar needs regardless of their differences.
References
Choudhury, C. A. (2015). Beyond Culture: Human Rights Universalisms Versus Religious and Cultural Relativism in the Activism for Gender Justice. Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. , 30 , 226.
King, M. L. (1985). I Have a Dream: A Speech . Thee Hellbox Press.
