Throughout all the obstacles he was faced with he was able to shed light on the situation and the treatment of African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. was born into a middle class family on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was Martin Luther King Sr. and his mother was Alberta Williams King. King parents where big disciplinarian that believed that this would teach their kids to be respectful and grateful for everything in life. King attended a segregated public school in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen and received his B.
In June 1951, Martin graduated with an “A” average and delivered the valedictory speech for his class. For his efforts in throughout his time in school King received the Pearl Plafker Award for being an outstanding student. In 1954, King’s status in society was changed from Mr. to Doctor. In 1955, Dr. King began his involvement with the Civil Rights movement following the arrest of Rosa Parks for not allowing a white man to have her seat on a Birmingham bus company. Dr. King and other African American leaders decided to boycott the Bus Company.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. He was so bright that he skipped two grades. Inspired by his father he became a minister. Martin Luther King is one of the most known activists around the civil rights movement.
Black History is a reminder of the work that still needs to be done here in America between all races. Instead of erasing Black History month, it should used to focus on other issues for the rest of the 337 days. Kelley states in her article, “Black history is American history, no doubt. But Black History Month is a measure of how fully or accurately our story is being told and a reminder of the work yet to be done.” I agree with the author. I understand where Freeman is coming from, but he doesn’t seem to fully grasp or understand the meaning of Black History Month.
Firstly, Martin Luther King’s campaigns for desegregation were mainly a success. The Montgomery bus boycott was King’s first major success; he became the leader of the civil rights movement after giving a spell bounding speech in a church where the boycott meeting was held. The end result of the 382 day campaign was the bus company and the city authorities finally accepting a Supreme Court decision (Browder v Gayle) that bus segregation was unconstitutional. As well as this, the lunch counter sit-ins in 1960 led to the desegregation of public facilities in cities all over the South. Furthermore success of the Birmingham campaign in 1961 and the March on Washington in 1963 (including the significant “I have a dream” speech) led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964 and perhaps marked the high point of King’s career.
In What Ways Did Black Americans Secure Improved Civil Rights: 1945-1964? Black Americans had often been looked down upon by White Americans and always suffered racial prejudice. Their struggle for equal racial rights had begun from the end of slavery in 1865, only until the late 1960’s did significant improvement was made. Following the events and ending of World War II, Black Americans began what would become known as the Civil Rights Movement. In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home.
On the 5th December 1955 Martin Luther King officially started his campaign for equal rights in America. He was a charismatic figure head and had great success with marches in Washington & Selma, however also had some failures in Chicago & Albany. King was made president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association after an incident concerning a woman called Rosa Parks an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person. King organised a bus boycott in Montgomery, black citizens would no longer travel with the buses but instead use other means of transport, the boycott lasted eight months until a case Browder v. Gayle took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional. Another major accomplishment of Martin Luther was the institution of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an American civil rights organisation in 1957.
In an attempt to desegregate buses throughout the south, a challenge against segregation was needed. King, along with the NAACP challenged this in Montgomery, until segregation was abolished. The boycott lasted just over a year with the black population, walking and car pooling, where they would usually use buses. The bus company lost 65% of their revenue and after King was arrested, on December 21, 1956, the Montgomery Bus Company desegregated all their buses. The boycott led to wide media attention which signified King’s leadership qualities.
Often times the portrayals of the lives of African Americans preceding and during the Civil Rights Movement are inconceivable to the more youthful generations that have followed. The incredulousness that our generations regard past treatment of African Americans is a mark of progress, but the Civil Rights Movement is a continual movement and requires that this generation participate with the same level of dignity that has taken us this far. The movie “The Butler “ serves to remind us of the movement and to witness how the discipline and temperance mixed with humility has kept the Civil Rights movement intact in comparison to some other movements that sought a less tempered
Using the Law In 1947, President Truman told the Committee on Civil Rights that it was time to make sure civil rights laws were enforced. He said ‘We have been trying to do this for 150 years’ However; many state laws enforced only change these laws if they could show they were unconstitutional. This should have been easy; the fourteenth amendment to the constitution made black people full American citizens. Many people in government (especially people of southern states), fought to keep these laws in place. In 1896, in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, the Supreme Court had ruled that facilities, transport, and education could all be segregated as long as they were kept separate but equal.