Martin Luther King, Jr. There Are People Research Paper

Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are people in this world who are self-interested and live with a single purpose: to promote themselves and better their living situation. Then there are other people who work and sacrifice in order to make the lives of other people better. Martin Luther King, Jr. is most assuredly one of the latter types of people. He is revered as a person who made the ultimate sacrifice in order to secure the civil rights of African-Americans. King was imprisoned, arrested multiple times, suffered physical injuries, and was then assassinated because of his actions as a leader of the period. Martin Luther King is a heroic person because he led fellow African-Americans on successful boycotts and protests in order to oppose segregation and prejudice, organized the March on Washington where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech which inspired all those who heard it then and subsequent generations who have read it, and because he advocated peaceful means of fighting for justice as opposed to the violent methods favored by other groups and by their opposition.

During the Civil Rights Movement in the middle of the twentieth century, African-Americans fought for rights which were already guaranteed to them by the constitution. Despite being Americans, African-Americans were treated abysmally. In the century following slavery, they had been treated as second-class citizens. Many parts of the country, particularly in the south, made it difficult for African-Americans to hold any kind of substantial jobs, to attend adequate schools, to eat in diners alongside white people, or even to sit in the front seats of buses. They were denied the right to vote and were unable to receive fair treatment under the law. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought to end this iniquity through protests, demonstrations, and boycotts. One of the most successful boycotts was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. It was expected that if a white man or woman entered the bus and there were no seats in the front, then an African-American would get up and give their seat. King organized the boycott following the arrest of Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white man (Manheimer 103). Most of the people who rode the bus were African-Americans who used public transportation to get to and from work. When they stopped riding the buses, the companies took a huge financial hit. Martin Luther King told his comrades not to compromise, but to continue the boycott until they were allowed to sit wherever they wanted. He did this despite the offers of bribes and despite physical threats to himself…