Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay, Research Paper
Martin Luther KingThe most of import individual to hold made a important alteration in therights of Blacks was Martin Luther King. He had great bravery and passionto licking segregation and racism that existed in the United States, and itwas his influence to all the Blacks to withstand white domination and his beliefin passive resistance that lead to the success of the Civil Rights movement.Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgiawhere the metropolis suffered most of the racial favoritism in the South, and, in add-on, the Ku Klux Klan had one of it’s central office at that place. Butit was his male parent, Martin Luther King Sr. who played an of import function inshaping the personality of his boy. M.L. Sr. helped to recommend the ideathat Blacks should vote. He was involved with the National Association forthe Advancement of Coloured People, an of import Civil Rights group. Theseefforts to better the manner of life for Blacks could be seen by his son.In December 5, 1955 King began to be important in the altering ofthe Black adult male’s manner of life. The boycott of the Montgomery Bus was begunwhen Rosa Parks refused to give up her place on a coach to a white adult male onDecember 1st. Two Flatfoots took her away to the constabulary station where shewas booked. He and 50 other ministered held a meeting and agreed to get down aboycott on December 5th, the twenty-four hours of Rosa Parks’s hearing. This boycottwould likely be successful since 70% of the riders were black. The buscompany did non take them earnestly, because if there was bad conditions, theywould have to take the coach. The Montgomery Improvement Association ( MIA ) was established to organize the boycott. They had a particular agreementwith black cab companies, in which they were allowed to acquire a drive for amuch cheaper monetary value than normal. Blacks had to walk to work, and so they didnot have clip to make any shopping and hence the gross revenues decreaseddramatically. On January 30, while M.L was doing a address, his house wasbombed. Luckily his married woman and babe had left the life room when the bombexploded, but a black rabble formed and was angry about what had happened, andPolicemen were sent to the scene to command the state of affairs, even though theywere outnumbered. King, nevertheless, because of his strong belief innonviolence, urged the crowd to non utilize their guns and to travel home.The intelligence coverage increased on the Montgomery boycott as monthspassed. He travelled to many topographic points and made addresss in order to raisemoney for the MIA’s legal fees. When he returned he found that he wascharged for interrupting an anti-boycott jurisprudence. He and the others were foundguilty, but they appealed the sentence. When in November 13, the MIA wasfined $ 15,000, at the same clip, the Supreme Court found the Alabama’ssegregation Torahs were unconstitutional. That dark the KKK looted 40 carsin hopes of frightening the Blacks. But the black people did non conceal in theirhomes and turn the visible radiations off. They stayed on their porches and wavedshowing that they were non afraid of them at all. By 1957 Martin LutherKing became a national figure. Time magazine wrote a narrative on him, and hisideology of passive resistance began to distribute throughout the state. The boycottgave a strong psychological push of bravery that would go on untilBlacks obtained what was morally right.What made Martin Luther King contact was his strong belief onnon-violence. He believed that this belief could give inkinesss a superiorlevel of morality over Whites. This political orientation was of import for his successin subsequently old ages. As a consequence, it helped keep the usage of force fromwhites to inkinesss and frailty versa. This doctrine was tested during theMontgomery coach boycott. Before the successful boycott, inkinesss used violencein order to protest racism. During the boycott, nevertheless, on both sidesviolence was non a step to be taken. When person bombed King’s place, the fact that force was used against a nonviolent group made the thought ofthe black adult male’s do more agreeable.Whites, as a consequence of the boycott, realised the menace for inkinesss tobe equal was increasing. They used legal steps to interrupt up the NAACP ( National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People ) . In clip theNAACP became really weak, and so the SCLC ( Southern Christian LeadershipConference ) became more important to the black adult male’s cause. It was leadby King, Rustin, Levison, and Baker, and was a Negro church whichrepresented “the most stable establishment of the Southern Negro community”.
The party gave a enormous morale strengt
h in the goal for the equality ofblacks. The SCLC was stronger than the NAACP because it did not depend onstate officials. Because there were no membership lists, it was difficultto single out individual black followers.It is noteworthy to mention one incident that occurred in 1958 when hemade visits to promote his book. A demonic woman attempted to stab him.When he was rushed to a hospital, he later found out that if he had triedto take out the knife or if it moved in any way, he would have died becausethe tip of the knife was touching the aorta of his heart. King’s will andcourage to fight for civil rights was affected by the achievements ofGandhi’s philosophy. On February 10, 1959, he toured India and admiredGandhi for his achievements in breaking down the caste system, which was asystem in which the hierarchy of social classes dominated the country.His influence onto black students was incredible. They felt thecourage to revolt against segregation. For example, on February 1, 1960,there was a group of black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina,who sat down in a lunch room for whites. This tactic became popular and wasbeing used everywhere. As a result, King suggested that they create apermanent organization. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC) was formed.One of the instrumental factors which aided King to his role in theCivil Rights Movement was Senator John F. Kennedy’s support for hisbeliefs. Kennedy showed his support when King, for example, was foundguilty of driving with an invalid license, and was find $25 plus one year’sprobation. When police arrested him again during the probationary period,he was sentenced to four months in a jail which demanded heavy labour. Thisjail was also the home of KKK criminals. Senator Kennedy promised to helpKing and by doing so, won the support of 75% blacks. King urged for Kennedyto help the Civil Rights Movement, and so the Congress of Racial Equality(CORE) decided to see for themselves whether the banning of segregation wasactually working. These civil rights activists were called Freedom Riders.But white activists beat them and burnt the buses they were on. Kingrealised that the media was a very powerful tool when they covered the useof violence by the KKK.The continual effort to strengthen the message for rights can beoutlined in Birmingham, Alabama. After King and three other leaders werereleased from jail (they were arrested because during one of his organizedprotests), they were surprised to find that 1000 youths were protesting.Though 900 were arrested, the next day 2500 children were protesting. Waterhoses were used by authorities to fight the blacks. Attack dogs were alsoused to control the mob. But when the public was shown of the violentmethods, it increased the sympathy onto King’s cause. Despite this, 3000youngsters demonstrated the next day. There was no more space in the jailsand finally the business leaders of the community realized that the wouldneed to start negotiating, or they would suffer financially.The height of King’s career was in 1964, when the Civil Rights Act wasenacted. It was sent through Congress by President Kennedy in 1963, but hedid not live to see it go through. He was assassinated on November 22,1963. His successor, President Johnson, passed it through Congress. Itallowed the federal government to enforce any racial discrimination inpublic areas like restaurants and hotels. It allowed the government to holdfederal funds from places where racism existed. It also prohibiteddiscrimination in the voter-registration procedures. Whites previouslydiscriminated Blacks from voting if they were illiterate, but the Actforbade this. M.L.’s success was acknowledged when he was awarded the NobelPrize in the same year.A tragic day struck on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn.. He wasplanning to participate in a Poor People’s March to Washington. Whilestanding on the balcony of the motel where he was staying with hispartners, he was killed by a bullet which was shot by James Earl Ray. OnMarch 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced 99 years in prison.Martin Luther King was able to achieve the impossible. He was anambitious man who wanted to make a difference in the lives of everyAmerican Black. Step by step, he organized demonstrations and made speechesto further strengthen his cause. His philosophy of non-violence played akey role in the success of the right to be free. Carved on his crypt is aphrase he said many times:Free at last, free at lastThank God AlmightyI’m free at last.
