Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

1031 Words3 Pages

The 1960’s was a time period in which produced a plethora of social movements were taking place and consequently, laws were changed that affected our society as a whole. Some of those social movements were the Women Rights and Gay Rights movements, which were directly influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement produced many leaders, two of whom are Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). King’s call for little black children to play with little white children, his admonishment of a black revolution due to the detrimental effects it would have on black and white relations, and his support of white and black children receiving the same education, directly shows that he supported a united effort to tackle discrimination. Consequently, during the 1960’s racial, political, and socioeconomic divisions were abundant and only through inclusion of all people to promote unity could society become better. Therefore, Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy made the most sense for the 1960’s because he promoted the inclusion of people from all backgrounds to produce harmonious living within our society.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy included an effort between all people to spark legislative and social change in society. Martin Luther King often supported working together with different people to achieve success, and he worked with many people, organizations, and presidential administrations to achieve justice and equality for all citizens. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, he spoke of integration between people of different races. He starts every line with “I Have a Dream” to show that his dream in society right at that time was unattainable. He hoped that his children ...

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...country. However, civil rights leaders often disagreed on the ways to achieve their overall objective. Some leaders only advocated the promotion of one community, while King always supported the empowerment of all communities in the country.

During the 1960’s, racial divisions were evident through the separate but equal laws throughout the south. Whites passed all of those separate but equal laws. Nonetheless, Martin Luther King Jr. supported both the working with whites and black children being educated with white children. His philosophy did not punish whites for their malice towards including blacks, but his philosophy did include embracing those who he felt were doing harm to him. Therefore, Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy made the most sense because he advocated rights of people, without resorting to the divisions that the 1960’s were used to.

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