Martin Buber's work of I and Thou has had a profound and lasting impact on modern thinking, as well as the field of psychology. Great figures in American history have been influenced by this work, including one of the founding fathers of modern humanistic psychology, Carl Rogers. In 1957, Rogers and Buber engaged in their famous Dialogue, where Buber's philosophy of "I and Thou" was discussed. Rogers compares his person-centered therapy and the necessary psychological contact to the I–Thou relationship; while Buber does not completely agree, pointing out that the therapist-client relationship is on somewhat unequal footing, they do concede that there are momentary, true connections made between therapist and client that are "reciprocal" and have a degree of "mutuality".[4] Rogers expressed that in moments where clients undergo true change, there is a distinct connection and understanding between client and therapist, as in I–Thou relationships.[4]
Buber's work also influenced the Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The "I–Thou" relationship is quoted in his Letter from Birmingham Jail and his sermon, "A Testament of Hope." In that sermon, King describes the cultural and legal climate of segregation in his time as an "I–It" relationship, and that only when the divinity within the African American population is seen is the relationship transformed to "I–Thou."[5] King says, "I cannot reach fulfillment without thou".[5] He also mentions this unique relationship in his Letter, reiterating the "I–It" relationship inherent in segregation does reduce human beings to "things".[6]
