First, allow me to start by saying that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a GREAT man. Not only for obvious reasons like his leadership or his relentless push for racial equality, but also for his patience and endurance when it came to racism. I, for one, could not see myself living back in those days. The prejudice that African-Americans had to endure on a daily basis is beyond belief, and I’ll NEVER understand how they tolerated it for so long. It baffles me sometimes how people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks fought for racial equality for SO long, and endured SO much discrimination, but never became violent. Every time they were discriminated against, they turned the other cheek, and took a non-violent attitude. I would’ve probably taken a different approach to say the least, but without peaceful figures like Dr. King, who knows where society would be today.
Dr. King’s tranquility really came through in the letter he wrote from Birmingham jail. In this letter, he explained himself, although he shouldn’t have had to, to 8 clergymen who had criticized his actions in Birmingham. So, let me get this straight: Dr. King went to Birmingham to take a stand against racism, gets thrown in JAIL for fighting for equal rights, which the Declaration of Independence “supposedly” ensures, and then, instead of “losing it” like I probably would’ve, calmly EXPLAINS himself to the racists that believed his imprisonment was fair. That in itself shows how GREAT of a man Dr. King was. His determination to stand up for what was right, regardless of the consequences, played a tremendous role in the advancement of African-Americans; and although racism still occurs today, I’m sure it’d be MUCH worse if people like Martin Luther King Jr. never came along.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Post a Comment