In the 1900’s segregation was a large problem throughout the U.S. As the nation started to progress, the people who lived there wanted equal. Though many white Americans did not want to give other races the same rights, seeing it has always been a certain way throughout history. Since then, many steps have been taken to make everyone equal, most of these steps were influenced by segregated people.
Martin Luther King was one of these Americans who stood up for himself throughout his lifetime, he did this with no violence or force. Mr. King lead many rallies, marches, and assemblies to make the segregation known to people who may have never seen his perspective. Through his activism and inspirational speeches he played
a vital role in ending the segregation of African American citizens, as well as the creation of the Civil rights act of 1964 and the Voting rights act of 1965. He was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be thought of . His speech “I have a Dream” inspired many after him to fight for their rights, even though it might be hard. He was a large part of the civil rights movement, most don’t know that he was a simple church minister from Atlanta, Georgia.
Another large movement that brought also around the creation of the Civil rights act of 1964 was the Freedom Summer Murders. In this section of history, three young civil rights activist went missing in Mississippi near Nashoba County. The only reason the investigation was put into effect was because two of the three boys were white. As time went on in the investigation more than ten bodies were bodies throughout the swamps of Mississippi, the three boys were found last. The president later signed the Civil rights act but the murderer was not convicted until 2005. Edgar Ray Killen, a former KKK member, was found guilty of manslaughter because there was not enough evidence to support the murder conviction. Seven others were put in jail after him but did not serve more than six years in jail because of insignificant amount of evidence. In the end the United States still has segregation, there just isn’t much of a light on it anymore. African Americans are still pointed out by police because of their skin color, even though they may have done nothing wrong. The activist that died for this cause have yet to have their dreams achieved because of how the world works.