Martin Luther King jr. was an important person during the civil rights movement and his work for racial justice have contributed to him being a central person in our society today. In this text, I’m going to write about what impact Martin Luther King had on the civil rights movement, and what relevance King has today.

Martin Luther King jr. was a pastor in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, as well as an activist who became an important spokesperson and leader for the civil rights movement from 1954 until his assassination in 1968. King was inspired by his faith and the peaceful teaching of mahatma Ghandi, who is considered one of history’s greatest champions of non-violent protests. He used the powers of his words as well as peaceful demonstrations, protests, sit-ins, boycotts in an effort to reach equality for all people.

King was a strong worker for the civil rights for members of his race and became a member of the National Association of the Advancement of colored people in 1944. (Nobelprize, 2020) Before the civil rights movement started in 1954, the segregation between blacks and whites were something that had become a part of the culture in the US. This kind of separation was the main cause to the civil rights movement. Blacks were tired of not having the same equal rights as the whites. 

Even though slavery was officially abolished, the discrimination towards black people continued to endure the effects of racism. (History, 2009)

During the time when Martin Luther King lead the civil rights movement, he accomplished numerous things, where The Montgomery bus boycott was one of them.

 In 1955, King was elected to lead a boycott against city buses in Montgomery in Alabama. The boycott was targeting the law that refused blacks to sit in the front of the bus and made them give up their seats. Many of Kings followers were sent to jail and suffered consequences for the boycott. In the end, the boycott succeeded which resulted in changes of the unfair, racist laws allowing segregation aboard the buses. This was the “start” on the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King as the movement leader.

In the years from 1960 to 1965, kings influence on the American people reached its highest point. (Britannica.com, 2020) King realized that he could use the media, more particularly, the television to nationalize, internationalize and forward the message about the struggle for civil rights. This connects to Martin Luther King’s famous speech which was aired on television and gained sympathy amongst both blacks and whites.

Kings famous speech “I have a dream” was connected to an organized march for equal rights in Washington DC, protesting racial discrimination in school and the workforce. The protesters were demanding minimum wage for all workers as well as equal justice for all citizens under the law. As a result of the protest and Martin Luther King’s speech, the citizens of Amerika came together as one to push the civil right laws to pass through the congress. This resulted in the passage of the civil rights Act of 1964.

Martin Luther King’s involvement in the civil rights movement had a big impact on how discrimination is being handled today. Protests against racial discrimination have not stopped after King’s death. 

Black Lives Matter is a movement inspired by the civil rights movement. The movement started 13th of July 2013 and is now a global network of members who protests for a non-discrimination society around the world. In contrasts to the civil rights movement, led by Martin Luther King, some supporters of the BLM use violence to express their anger and frustration about the discrimination in today’s society. The BLM movement have recently gotten a lot of attention by the media and have been a big part of 2020 after the death of George Floyd. 

The difference between Martin Luther King’s movement and todays black lives matter movement, is that King’s movement had a leader. A group who had control over what happened and how to make racial justice common thing in Amerika. In today’s society with Black lives matter, they do not have a leader who can guide them through what is right and wrong to do during protests and fights for racial justice.

Martin Luther King, oldest son says “ If he were to just arrive today as if he had been gone for a number of years, I think he would be greatly disappointed in the America that he left” “I think, though, he would be very pleased that in his era, you had demonstrations that were largely Black but often whites joined, and in this era, it seems like there are many cities where there are very few blacks and the overwhelming majority of those demonstrations are white.” – Martin Luther King III (Nytimes, 2020)

Martin Luther Kings impact on the civil rights movement has played a big role in how racial discrimination has played out today. If King hadn’t participated in the movement, the outcome could have been different. The civil rights movement lead by Martin Luther King jr. was an important historic event which changed the course for blacks’ equal rights.

Kilder:

Nobel Prize [Internet] Updated 15. October 2020. Available at: <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/lecture/ > [Found October 16th]

History [Internet] Updated 21. February 2020. Available at: <https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr>  [Found October 16th]

History [Internet]Updated 23. June, 2020. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement [Found October 18 th]

Biography [Internet] Updated 2018. Available at: https://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/martin-luther-king-progress-civil-rights-movement.html [Found October 26]

Britannica [Internet] Updated 27.juli 2020. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr/additional-info#history [Found October 28]