Martin Luther King Jr and Louis Riel

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The similarities between Martin Luther King Jr and Louis Riel Martin Luther King Jr (African-American) and Louis Riel (Métis) are both famous men in history, mainly based on their actions and attitude towards racism and discrimination. Despite a few of their differences, both men had very much in common. Martin Luther King and Louis Riel both fought for the rights of their people. They became threatened by other people/groups and so decided to stand up for their people and do what was right. Martin Luther King was angered by the signs all over the streets that he lived near which said “Whites only”. He, along with Rosa parks led a boycott against Montgomery busses, which made African–Americans sit in the back and white people to sit in the front. This law was later abolished by the Supreme Court, since bus companies were losing a large amount of money. Martin Luther King also did lots of other things to stop racism. Louis Riel and his Métis followers felt threatened by Thomas Scott, an Irish Protestant who was against Métis and Roman Catholics being involved with the Government. He began to spread his views in the Red River. Angered and scared, with Riel’s approval, the Provisional Government arrested Thomas Scott and executed him by firing squad. Both men were hated by many people and were in danger of getting killed. Martin Luther King gave many speeches about racism and how people should not be judged by the colour of their skin, but on the basis of their character. Days later after he presented some of his speeches, his relatives’ houses were lit on fire and were completely destroyed by rebellions. His relatives begged him to stop but he did not listen but continued and kept persevering. Since Louis Riel had given the Provisional Government permission to arrest and kill Thomas Scott, he was labelled as a criminal and was issued a warrant

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