Historical Report On Race: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Historical Report on Race
Anjuli Rivera
ETH/125
Laurel Stanley
December 7, 2012

Historical Report on Race
Throughout history African Americans have been treated unfairly. African Americans were made slaves when first arriving with the first European settlers (Macionis 2012). The African slaves that were brought against their will to America were traded with little regard to whether or not he/she had family. Some families who were brought into slavery were separated to ensure obedience by his/her owner. African Americans have fought for equality against the majority group.
Even though slavery was abolished throughout the country in 1865 it did not change the mindset of the white’s in America. The treatment was the same regardless that
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were complete opposites when it came to their beliefs of what needed to be done in order to be taken serious. Malcolm X was known for his belief of “by any means necessary” where Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in non-violence. Both men were concerned with different issues during the Civil Rights movement. Malcolm X was a charismatic leader for the Nation of Islam who encouraged “black identity.” He also believed that African Americans were superior to their white counterparts. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted equality between the races. Separate but equal was not acceptable to Martin Luther King, Jr. Separate but equal was never equal for the subordinate group, especially for the African
was forced to integrate the schools allowing African Americans and other minority groups the same opportunities that are afforded to the white race. The Jim Crow laws were slowly abolished after the Civil Rights movement was it became clear that separate but equal would not work. The nation took notice when African Americans and whites who believed in the Civil Rights movement marched in Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous speech “I Have a Dream,” and excerpt from his famous speech reads: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) (“NAACP”