The Assassination Of Martin Luther King Research Paper

The Assassination of Martin Luther King
On the 4th of April 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated by the convict James Earl Ray. He was shot on his hotel balcony though his neck and spinal cord at 6:05 in the evening; he died an hour later in St Joseph’s hospital, Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 39. James Earl Ray was locked in a bathroom of a motel less than 200 feet away from where Martin Luther was standing. It is thought that he killed him to be remembered or because he was extremely racist. Martin Luther was staying in the Lorraine Hotel, Memphis to lead a non-violent march of sanitation workers protesting against low wages and poor working conditions.
James Earl Ray grew up in the state Illinois; he was part of a poor family and had to move around a lot. He dropped out of school at 15 then went on to join the US army and served in Germany just after WW2 ended. James committed his first crime of a burglary and was convicted in California in 1949. This led to further convictions
throughout his life: an armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois 1952 followed by a conviction of mail fraud for stealing money orders in Hannibal Missouri 1955 which led to a 3 year sentence in Leavenworth Federal Prison. James Earl Ray later escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1967 by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.
Martin Luther was raised a Christian by his mother and believed in non-violent protests. His father was born a slave and so he was confronted with violence throughout his life. He believed that black and white people could live in harmony without conflict and violence. He took inspiration people like T booker Washington; who was an educator, biographer, auto biographer and race leader between 1856-1915, and Mahatma Ghandi.
On the 28th of August 1963 Martin Luther led The March on Washington which saw 200,000 black Americans participate, it was the biggest demonstration the capital had ever seen. The march was organised by a group of civil rights, labor and religious organizations. They were marching to stop segregation, get better jobs, have general freedom and equal rights alongside the white people. After the march Martin Luther gave the inspirational ‘I have a dream’ speech where he said ‘one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.’ His speech was televised so millions of people watched as he spoke. One of the most well-known things that Martin Luther was involved in was the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
During the 1950’s blacks and whites were segregated on buses. The segregation led to blacks having to sit at the back of the bus and if all the white seats were full the black people were expected to give up their seats or they could be fined or even arrested. When a black American in Alabama called Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man she was arrested. This started a 13 month bus boycott where black people were asked not to use the buses. Because the blacks most commonly used the buses it was hoped that the bus companies would go bankrupt. Martin Luther King also encouraged young people to take part in freedom rides. Freedom rides were where blacks and whites rode together on buses through the states in America where the buses were segregated. Unfortunatly freedom rides often caused the buses to be burnt and beaten, in some places even riots were
started.
In 1964 Martin Luther won a Nobel Peace Prize for actively helping stop the hatred between black and whites, he showed people that non-violent protests could work as well as violent protests and he played a big part in stopping racial discrimination throughout the southern states of America. Thousands of black and white people across the world have been inspired by his speeches and actions. Another one of his greatest achievements was leading the African-American civil rights movement. The African-American civil rights movement included things like resorting votes for blacks, stopping racial discrimination, and freedom rides and sit ins. One of the most well-known sit ins happened in a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina where four black students, called Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College, an all-black college came and purchased items from other parts of the store. They then came and sat in the segregated lunch canteen and asked to be served, they were denied. They showed their receipts and asked why they had been served everywhere except in the canteen. They sat quietly, dressed professionally and occupied all the other seats so that others could join in. This inspired many other sit ins were begun throughout Richmond, Virginia. Although these things are very important many people have argued that Martin Luther’s main achievement was standing up for what he believed in throughout his life and never giving up no matter what anyone had said.
Martin Luther was an important man in American history because without him there would still be segregation and discrimination throughout America. He inspired so many people to act as he did and stop the hatred between the blacks and whites. He changed many people’s lives by leading peaceful protests and showing the world exactly what was happening in the southern states of America. He helped pass the civil rights act and lead the biggest organized march the country had ever seen. He will be well remembered because he played such a key role in changing the American culture.