Martin Luther King Jr.: Ideal Of Segregation Or Desegregation?
Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and an activist in the African-American Civil rights movement. His impact on history is a testament to his legacy as a man. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. MLK was established as a federal holiday in 1986. He has numerous streets named in his honor in 730 cities in the u.s. and a memorial on the National Mall in D.C. He was won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and the American Liberties Medallion the next year. King has earned so many honors for his dedication to this movement that I could spend the duration of this paper covering them. However, for one to truly be able to appreciate the efforts of Dr. King, we must make a critical analysis of important foundational
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in which he stated the goal is genuine intergroup and interpersonal living -- integration." He goes on to say "Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation". Integration is a much more inclusive, positive and optimistic approach than desegregation or separation. Desegregation can be brought about by laws and more negative in that it eliminates discrimination against blacks in those aspects of social life that can be corrected by laws. King believed that desegregation will only produce "a society where men are physically desegregated and spiritually segregated, where elbows are together and hearts apart. It gives us social togetherness and spiritual apartness. It leaves us with a stagnant equality of sameness rather than a constructive equality of oneness." Black separatism advocated the perpetual physical separation of black people from other races. Separatism would call for a separate nation for black people. Separatist views encouraged blacks not to agitate for social, intellectual, and professional equality with Whites and instead surpass them as a tribute to and redemption of their African heritage. Integration, however, is "the positive acceptance of desegregation and the welcomed participation of Negroes in the total range of human activities." Integration involves a change in attitude of personal and social relationships. It fosters bonds that are created by love that turns one's enemy into an eventual
in which he stated the goal is genuine intergroup and interpersonal living -- integration." He goes on to say "Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation". Integration is a much more inclusive, positive and optimistic approach than desegregation or separation. Desegregation can be brought about by laws and more negative in that it eliminates discrimination against blacks in those aspects of social life that can be corrected by laws. King believed that desegregation will only produce "a society where men are physically desegregated and spiritually segregated, where elbows are together and hearts apart. It gives us social togetherness and spiritual apartness. It leaves us with a stagnant equality of sameness rather than a constructive equality of oneness." Black separatism advocated the perpetual physical separation of black people from other races. Separatism would call for a separate nation for black people. Separatist views encouraged blacks not to agitate for social, intellectual, and professional equality with Whites and instead surpass them as a tribute to and redemption of their African heritage. Integration, however, is "the positive acceptance of desegregation and the welcomed participation of Negroes in the total range of human activities." Integration involves a change in attitude of personal and social relationships. It fosters bonds that are created by love that turns one's enemy into an eventual