How Martin Luther King would have Viewed Comments about Hurricane Katrina

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If Martin Luther King Jr. was still alive today, he would not agree with a lot of social justice issues of our present times. Martin Luther King would be proud of how far we have come from his time and day. Mr. King was a man of peaceful dealings and longed for interracial equality. He had great moral standards and was an incredible hero of the nineteenth century. Recently in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there have been many controversial things said and done that Mr. King would have frowned upon; for example, the speech given by the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, at a celebration of Martin Luther King day in New Orleans on January 16, 2006. The mayor said many controversial remarks which seemed to be extremely racist in regard to rebuilding New Orleans back. If Martin Luther King was alive today he would have a lot to say about social justice issues, but would have a lot more to say about this speech alone, because in some sense it goes completely against many of things that he tried to teach America when he was alive.

Martin Luther King has given America a plethora of great advice, speeches, letters, and memories. He has tried to make America a better place and has wanted the United States to live together in harmony with each other no matter our race, religion, or beliefs. Mr. King was a very peaceful man and believed in nonviolent protests, marches, boycotts, and sit-ins. He did not believe in social injustices though and would go to stand up for what he believed in. In his letter from the Birmingham jail Mr. King is quoted saying, "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here." Mr. King believed in facing social injustices wherever they were. He stated in the letters that "Injustice anywhere is a thre...

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...s grave to hear mayor Nagin saying that he would agree with him. Mayor Nagin went against every principle that Mr. King had ever taught the public. Mr. King would definitely be concerned with New Orleans and would be handling the situation no matter how bad it got with a professional and well thought out plan of decisive action.

In conclusion, if Martin Luther King Junior was alive today, he would have stuff to say about many of social justice issues but would have a lot more to say about mayor Nagin's speech alone because in some sense, it goes completely against a lot of things he has tried to teach America when he was alive. Mr. King was a great man and his philosophies on life were greater. Mr. King would be proud of our progress. While we will never know how much more could have been accomplished if he were still alive, we will always remember him.

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