King In The Civil Rights Movement

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of many men in history that have impacted the lives of many around the world. He helped fought to bring awareness to help abolish segregation within the United States and within the hearts and minds of many.

African Americans have undergone unimaginable hardships in this land and were powerless to effect change in the system with their vote. I find this to be great injustice. Another example of injustice in this reading is King’s arrest. He writes, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance, which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and deny citizens their First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.” As King explains how a just law can become unjust through capricious or malicious application, I find myself confused by the situation. African American citizens are struggling for the equality America was founded on, and these people are being arrested for improper parading. After exhausting many other approaches, African Americans moved to peaceful protest and even that was stifled. I find myself asking where else were they to turn, how else could they effect change, and where is their justice? Would anyone have blamed Dr. King for being angry with his situation? I doubt it. King made a wise choice to remain optimistic, to address those who questioned his motives with reverence. In fact, he defines how he will respond to his critics in the opening paragraph of his letter: “I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” This statement demonstrates King’s commitment to

‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be

King Jr.'s contributions to society were significantly more radical than that of Gates, since he played a part in effecting a social transformation that affected the lives of virtually everyone in the country. The former was able to make strides towards the full-fledged civil rights of African Americans which, by extension, made it easier for other racial minorities to fight for and attain similar rights. Specifically, King Jr. was able to overturn racial segregation and implement a nationwide integration in virtually all areas of life. He was a convincing speaker who moved people with the power of his words. (Powell, 2008). The Civil Rights campaign of the late 1950's and 1960's resulted in an increasing parity of

Although Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both provided exceptional leadership during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, both took different paths in fighting for African American rights. The two, separately, were the defining figures of the 1960's black freedom struggle. On one side, you had a comfortable middle-class family southern Baptist: King, who advocated nonviolence learned through the studying of Gandhi juxtaposed with X, advocating social awareness who learned by experiencing injustice in society while studying lessons on Islam and black power. Popular understanding has King on top of the list as the more influential leader during the Civil Rights Movement but is this really the case? Through the study of analyzing each

King justifies these sit-ins and other campaigns by talking about two kinds of laws: just and unjust. The unjust laws, which exploit the minorities, should be broken in public and done with love so their point will be made in the best manner. The greatest opponents of the civil rights movement, though, are the white moderates. King believed this because they were willing to agree with their cause, but were unwilling to deal with the tension and sacrifices to achieve their goal.

In the 1960’s when events such as the Rosa Parks case and with leaders like King and Malcolm X, the Civil Rights Movement became fairly dominant. However, these sources display several perspectives that imply that King has not always been so influential. Source 2 demonstrates that many African-Americans originally did not support King and his views. For example the text states, ‘Martin Luther King Jr. was not so popular among African-Americans in his day…’. King also shared a rivalry with Malcolm X. It is stated in source 2 that ‘Malcolm X described King as a white man in his thinking, and described black integrationist as bourgeois’. Malcolm X was an extremely powerful leader and the source suggests that King’s ambitions were only shared with a minority of the black race. However, both source 1 and 2 demonstrate that King was to gain most of his praise after his assassination. Source 1 states ‘The odd thing about assassins, Dr. King, is that they think they’ve killed you’. This suggests that regardless of King’s death, his values will still be recognised and supported by many. ‘King… was not popular among African-Americans in his day as he would be in the decades following his assassination’, this text from source 2 also implies that King’s views were going to become popular and he would develop legacy that has lasted to this day. Regardless of the fact that one source was from a positive perspective and the other from a negative, they both have established that the most influential time of King was going to come after his

With stagnation there would be no awareness to a social issue. Looking further into King’s letter, another crucial point that he brought up is that without significant activism the oppressing party would never give up what they wanted them to. Also, to make the problem politically present they had to present the problem in a way in which everybody would see the growing tensions in the community. This is later talked about in King’s “direct-action program” with him creating an issue that makes for a political change. He felt that the direct-action would create direct changes to the current problem. A crucial point that really brought me to an emotional thought is when King mentioned his daughter crying. The mention of his daughter and her not being able to go to theme parks was an upsetting moment. This point brought up a relatable perspective that added a unique thought to his argument. In summary King makes some very relatable points that when looking back now make’s us see how he really helped move the civil rights movement along and cause real change for black communities.

King was the leading voice in the fight against racial segregation and aided in amending the nation’s moral values. The way in which people thought

King did not hesitate to declare his distaste for a certain group by stating “the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice” (80). In this statement, King was acknowledging the way many whites who claimed they were in the movement to assist, were really there to shut the noise up and avoid conflict. In so many words King stated, he could not sit idly and allow injustice to be swept under the rug by these so-called peacemakers, and believed the white moderate was hurting more than helping the forwarding of the movement. King was also frustrated with people within the group he so lovingly was fighting for. King spoke about having two upsets when it came to African Americans. “One is a force of complacency… The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously closed on advocating violence” (81). These statements were used to point out that some blacks were accepting the fate placed on them by the superior whites to be impoverished and denied rights while others were so furious with the system in its current state they were willing to go further than the peaceful protests currently held and take justice into their own hands through violence, King was hurt by the current state of his people and felt something needed to

While there are moments when we can see the personality and intentions of King come through his words as he speaks for himself to explain his motivations, especially when he talks about his passion for the Civil Rights Movement and his willingness to die for it, other times are a bit more obscure and we are left to wonder why King did some of what he did. For example, Garrow writes that King had expressed some hesitation to be included on a petition to help activist Carl Braden out of a charge of contempt of court. The wife of Carl, Anne, was disappointed that she would likely not get King's support. However, King changed his mind and phoned her to ask that she place his name on the petition because he had prayed over it and decided it was

During 1955-64 USA was still going through racial inequality between whites and blacks. Black campaigns such as Student non-violent coordinating committee, felt that the civil rights movement was too slow and hence needed something to boost them up in order to succeed what they first rose up for, which was desegregation and equality for all. King was a highly charismatic and a gifted orator who helped promote non-violent tactics. His first use of this ‘non-violent theory’ was shown through the sit-ins and hence positively influenced a lot of the black campaigners. Leaders, countless activists, campaigners and ordinary black

King faced challenges when he did not achieve victory, and other activists began to question his role, so he decided to take precautions. According to Henry Louis gates, Jr and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "King alienated some activists when he decided to postpone the continuation of the Selma-to-Montgomery march until he had court approval..." (503). This example suggests that King knew that he had to act cautiously in order to continue his fight and stay out of jail. Also, King faced challenges with not only being questioned about his role, but he was also being criticized by other activists. Amy McKenna writes, "He was also criticized for failing in the effort to change Chicago's housing segregation policies. King was now being challenged and even publicly derided by young black-power enthusiasts." (328). This passage implies that enthusiasts derided King for failing and even though this is happening, he still stood for patience. Lastly, King also faced challenges because everyone's actions reflected on their leader, which was him. In Gates' and Higginbotham's words, "...black youngsters began throwing rocks and looting stores. This outbreak of violence led to extensive press criticisms of King's entire antipoverty strategy." (504). This example illustrates that everything that African Americans did tarnished the reputation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even though King faced many challenges, after death he still lead a lasting legacy as being 'the father of the civil rights

It has been argued that the “initial surge of civil rights scholarship depicted King as the leader of the movement ” however, Martin Luther King alone was not the most significant factor in improving the lives of Black Americans; without the underlying grass roots civil rights movement he would have been unable to achieve what he did. King was the facilitator for what was already there, rather than a catalyst. The definition of significant is to be “large or important enough to have an effect or to be noticed” and undeniably, King is recognised as a key figure in the Civil Rights movement. However, K. Verney has suggested “no serious historian” has been “naïve enough to explain the mass black civil rights protests solely with reference to King but he invariable occupied a centre stage position,”

“King was an amazing leader for the Civil Rights movement, because of him, men and women of all races supported Civil Rights” (Garrow). Eventually it got to the point where all races were behind him. Once this happened, winning Civil Rights was inevitable. King was later assassinated because he was such a good leader and this boosted the movement even further even though it had no