Nearly three centuries ago, African slaves were brought to the New World and putinto slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in anyother country that had ever practiced slavery, and ever since its prohibition,African-Americans have fought oppression. Martin Luther King Jr., would aidimmensely in this fight. He was born in Atlanta Georgia in 1929. His father,Martin Luther King Sr. Was a Baptist minister and also preached for civil rights.
By the time he was 17 he had decided to follow his fathers footsteps, so hehimself was ordained as a minister. After his graduation from the CrozerTheological Seminary, when he began postgraduate work at Boston University, hestudied the works of Indian nationalist Mohandas Gandhi, from whom he derivedhis own philosophy of nonviolent protest. He moved to Alabama to become pastorfor a Baptist church. Just after he received his Ph.D. in 1955, King was askedto lead a bus boycott in Montgomery. It had been formed after Rosa Parks wasarrested for refusing to give her seat to a white passenger. Throughout the 381days which the boycott lasted, he was arrested and jailed, repeatedly threatened,and his home was bombed. The boycott ended later that year when the SupremeCourt outlawed segregation in public transportation.
This was his first victoryand alone made Dr. King a highly respected leader. When he went to India in 1959,he studied Gandhi’s principle of “Satyagraha” or nonviolent persuasion, which heplanned to use for his social protests. In the following year he decided to moveback to Atlanta to become copastor with his father. In 1963 he was back inBirmingham, Alabama, where he led a massive civil rights campaign, organizingdrives for black voter registration, desegregation, and better educationthroughout the South. During that time he led the unforgettable March onWashington where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to millions ofviewers across the nation. The next year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
He went on to launching his first major northern campaign in Chicago. BlackBaptists were there opposing him, and a mob of club carrying Ku Klux Klanmembers and Neo-Nazis met his marchers. With all that he had said and done, onApril 3, 1983 he said “I have been to the mountain top and seen the promiseland.” This was the day prior to his demise. Sadly, the following day he wasshot to death in Memphis Tennessee. Nearly 500,000 of his loyal admirersattended his funeral. It was the end of his civil rights crusade. “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live” he had once said. That day he died forcivil rights, he died for his dream. Prejudices have always and will alwaysexist among people. The prejudices this nation faces now, and has faced foryears is racial oppression and segregation. Martin Luther King had a dream. Hedidn’t want people to be “judged by the color of their skin, but the content oftheir character.” He was determined that the dream would become a reality, andin most ways it did. The rights of the people are now equal. Any person,regardless of his race can do anything. No longer is the African-Americancommunity limited in their rights or segregated from society. We have all growncloser to racial unity. Despite all of this, racism remains in the minds ofpeople, and hate crimes as well as white supremacist organizations still exist.
If racism itself is ever eliminated, it will only fade away with time, beingreplaced by another prejudice belittling a part of society. Prejudices haveproven to be inevitable in human society and will continue until the end of time. Martin Luther King Jr.played a major part in today’s problem, and will have animpact on what is to come.
