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Debate Score:48
Arguments:26
Total Votes:52
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 Who was/is the greatest civil rights leader? (26)

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DaWolfman(3324) pic



Who was/is the greatest civil rights leader?

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6 points

Hands down I would have to say Mohandas Gandhi. You could say MLK but did MLK not look up to Gandhi and did MLK not follow the path of Gandhi?

Gandhi followed the right path in the Indian independence movement, that path was non-violence. Gandhi was a great political leader. He used non violence to help aid the corrupted minds of the British with there racist thoughts toward Indians.

Gandhi lead many different marches, rallies, and told many speeches to his followers. One of the more important marches would be the Salt March. Gandhi and many of his followers marched all the way from Ahmedabad to Dandi which was around 250 miles just to make his own salt in protest to the new salt taxes.

Gandhi was the main leader in the Quit India movement caused great entropy in India. There was a plethora of arrests going into the hundreds of thousands. Gandhi stayed strong behind non violence and was thrown into jail for 2 years. After Gandhi was released ( due to health issues ), and after Quit India had run its course, he called off the struggle as the British had made it clear that a transfer of power was approaching finalization.

Gandhi was a great man who burned his life into the ground for the people of India and he rose as a phoenix out of the ashes to a free India. W/O Gandhi's help India would not have been freed from Britain's control which is why I believe Gandhi was and in spirit still is the greatest civil rights leader.

Side: Gandhi
1 point

I have to agree with you. Every time I see the words greatest civil rights leader my mind wants me to have a quick reaction and say Malcolm X or MLK. I do not know much about X but I do know that MLK followed in the foot steps and teachings of Gandhi. MLK did not live to see equal African Americans, Gandhi accomplished his life work during his life. That is deserving of merit.

Side: Gandhi
TruthStings(1) Disputed
1 point

"..He used non violence to help aid the corrupted minds of [the British] with there racist thoughts toward Indians. .."

Whoah! Watch where you spray that blame gun. You probably will not understand my point at this moment in your life, but the human species is still in a primeval consciousness exemplified by the use of a language that is cursed by its richness.

In the hands of infants, language is a virus.

In one phrase you damned a nation. Germinated in the corridors of power this expression would likely have taken on a life of its own. How simple it is to plant a seed that incites conflict.

Side: Gandhi
5 points

Thurgood Marshall was one of the best civil rights lawyers of the 1900s. He was the chief counsel of the NAACP he won 29 of 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 which was a huge case in the rights for those black children to attend that school. He served as Solicitor General under Lyndon Johnson. served as a Justice of the Supreme Court from 1960s to the 1990s, making a record of support for the rights of criminal suspects. I think to me that Marshall was one of the greatest of all time. Definately the best civil rights lawyer.

Side: Thurgood Marshall
1 point

I had kinda forgot about him he was a great man.

Side: Thurgood Marshall
3 points

Well, who knows, but using the example that Ghandi inspired MLK,

I think the furthest you can trace a call to civil disobediance in the name of a greater good is in Plato's Republic.

Rome based their democracy on his teachings,

and our forefathers were heavily influenced by philosophy and many aspects of rome.

And the ideas of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" were embraced by both MLK and Ghandi,

I think I have to give this one to Plato, or Socrates.

Side: Plato's Republic
3 points

Although I love Plato's Republic, I think using Plato's Republic as an example of civil rights might be off.

First of all, he believed in a society ruled by the elites. This would make some better off than others.

Socrates might be closer, but still, little to do with it. Socrates was killed for his teachings and Plato thought up the idea of a Republic because Democracy killed Socrates. It was more about power than it was about civil rights.

Side: John Locke
Mahollinder(900) Disputed
2 points

You should re-read Platos' Republic. Rome looks... looked nothing like it. And neither Plato nor Socrates (though they are arguably the same person: Plato utilizing the pseudonym of Socrates to express his ides) were civil rights leaders - like literally, they weren't.

And has anyone told you that you're pretty close to (666)?

Side: John Locke
1 point

You're right, I was thinking of Plato's account of Socrates trial, not the Republic.

I haven't read any of it for years, my bad.

Thanks.

Side: oops
pvtNobody(645) Disputed
1 point

I'd like to point out that Rome didn't ever have a democracy, they did however have a representative republic. There is a distinction after all.

Side: oops
2 points

>< I get the message.

Call off the dogs.

I'm aware Rome was a Representative Republic, kind of like us, and kind of like we call ourselves a democracy when we're not, so I called them one.

Side: oops
3 points

William Wilberforce.

After his conversion to Christianity and motivated by his new faith, he fought for the abolition of the slave trade as a Member of Parliament in the British Empire starting in 1787 and continued until the Slavery Abolition Act was signed into law in 1833, three days before he died.

Side: Wilberforce
I4gotmypass(10) Disputed
1 point

I do not believe I had even heard of William Wilberforce but he does sound dedicated.

Side: Wilberforce
3 points

MLK he put into effect the Civil Rights movement and without him maybe the USA would have turned out different. I am well aware of Gandhi's influence on MLK but I am sure Gandhi was influenced by another also so really it is not who you take your advice from its what you do with the advice.

Side: Martin Luther King Jr
2 points

To me it would be John Locke with MLK second.

John Locke believed in a free society where the people were the rulers, not a tyrant. He believed that the people should hold social contracts keeping their best interest at hand.

He fought for the civil liberties of all people.

Side: John Locke
2 points

gandhi was the greatest civil rights advocate of our time,all people interested in civil rights would do well to follow his wisdom!

Side: Gandhi
2 points

I think we confusing the greatest leader with the most charismatic. MLK was the most Charismatic along with Malcolm x but Gandhi was probably the more influential of the 3. Malcolm X was the more impressive when you consider that he was a criminal and had to turn his life around. Lets not forget that towards the end of his career his views were different from the views that made him famous. Finally the greatest civil rights leader was Jesus Christ, think about it.

Side: Gandhi
1 point

I would rather go with M.L.K not only because I am an African American myself, but because he helped improve for everyone, for equality, not just the one people. Though he did not meditate on things as Gandhi did, he had a rational thought process and a vision.

Side: Gandhi
classof011(68) Disputed
1 point

Well if there was no Gandhi would MLK have taken that same approach? MLK looked up to Gandhi and studied his tactics vigorously.

Side: Gandhi

I think they're all great- I think the questions is a bit off- like there's some kind of contest or something. Should we take the final four candidates and have them slug it out? I think a better way of thinking about the subject would be to ask "who are some of you favorite civil rights leaders, and why?". A small distinction, perhaps.

Side: Gandhi
DaWolfman(3324) Disputed
1 point

Then that is not a debate. Do you know what the name for a debate like this is under? A popularity CONTEST. We are not writing analytical papers this is not a prompt it is asking your opinion on the matter. which you did not state who you think IS so stay on topic or get out. Make you own debate, the question was stated perfectly fine.

Side: Gandhi

I would say Malcom X. He did great things, has the coolest name ever, and is rather funny

Side: Gandhi
ThePyg(6738) Disputed
1 point

He believed in racial segregation. He encouraged blacks to be violent.

In short, he wanted to eliminate whites.

Side: John Locke
DaWolfman(3324) Disputed
1 point

Do you have any idea who Malcolm X really was? He may have been one of the most influential African Americans of all time but he was a preacher of violence and racist acts. Hell he was a criminal! He was sentenced to jail for a decade where he decided to follow the path of Shiite Muslims. Why was he funny?

Side: Gandhi
1 point

technically he used to be racist but then started realizing that whites and blacks can work together. I just studied Malcolm X.

Side: Gandhi

I will say Gandhi. He was a world leader and his words of wisdom hold true today.

Side: Gandhi