Martin Luther King Jr was brought up in Atlanta, Georgia, in a middle-class black family. Regardless of his better placed economic class than most black people, he still experienced racism. He witnessed as his father was racially discriminated against by a Caucasian shoe salesman and a Caucasian police officer. When he joined school, he was warned by his white friend’s parents against playing with their son. He witnessed followers of the Ku Klux Klan passing through African American neighbourhoods to terrify residents (Burrow, 2002). Growing up, Dr King witnessed and experienced how disproportionate the justice system was against black people and the extreme racial profiling of African Americans by the police. These and several other encounters with racism gave him the determination to fight for the dignity of black people. Martin Luther King Jr.’s contribution to the civil rights movement had a great deal of influence on the fight against racial segregation. His contribution to the movement was founded on the Christian principles he learnt as a young boy. He believed that everyone was loved equally by God as his children and, therefore, their life is invaluable to God (Burrow Jr., 2002). He advocated for a non-violent approach to fighting against racial discrimination in the United States.
The Civil Rights Movement led by Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
The 1960s were a decade that stood out from the previous ones in the United States due to the rapidly unfolding developments. The decade was characterized by institutionalized segregation in the south that faced massive resistance through protests and boycotts. The Civil Rights Movement drew purpose from the mistreatment of African Americans to create a movement that is now recognized all over the world. The modern Civil Rights movement was born out of the end of World War II, which prompted movements for national liberation in several formerly colonized countries. Many African Americans drew inspiration from the decolonization movements in the Third World to challenge the White World and seek redemption for the United States (Bush, 2003). Dr King was thrust into the limelight after Rosa Parks was arrested for declining to give her seat to a Caucasian passenger in December 1955. Martin Luther King Jr, who was only twenty-six years old, was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association organized by local black leaders. He organized carpools and weekly prayer meetings to speak out against injustice (Ware, 2013). In November 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that the Jim Crow rules in public transportation were illegal, giving the Black Rights Movement led by Dr King a victory (Ware, 2013). His leadership after the bus boycott gave him prominence both in the United States and on the international stage. He capitalized on that success and on his role as a church minister to advance his religion-based activities against injustice and oppression on the global stage. His experience in the Montgomery case renewed and validated his belief that non-violent resolution of disputes was more potent than using violence. Having experienced violent protests within his community of African Americans, he committed himself to non-violence, a method which he had intellectual assent, and better represented his Christian values.
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Dr King also saw the church as an institution that held the conscience of the community, nation and state. He was of the opinion that the church should be involved in all critical issues that were happening then, especially in civil rights. Throughout his career in civil rights activism, he was clear in terms of his religious self-understanding of being a clergyman and a Baptist preacher (Mulhal, 2014). His Christian background was based on the prophetic heritage of the Bible, his black church origins and his interactions with liberal and progressive minds during his time at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University (Mulhal, 2014). This background prompted him to challenge the status quo that the church held. Dr King challenged the church to develop and pursue a new and more critical sense of social mission. Several liberal protestant churches, Jews, and Catholics heeded his call to action and helped him carry out intense lobbying, ultimately leading to the landmark ruling in 1964 by the Supreme Court. The enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was proof that religious communities indeed influenced social issues.
In 1963, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. launched the Birmingham campaign, which started as a boycott but evolved into sit-ins and marches (Card, 2018). Birmingham’s Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene Connor gave orders that allowed police officers to use police dogs, high-pressure water hoses and tear gas on protesters (Ware, 2013). The outrageous levels of brutality meted on the protestors, mostly made up of children, were featured in the news all over America. The Birmingham protests led to the arrest and incarceration of Dr King. While in prison, he wrote a letter popularly known as the Letter from Birmingham, in which he emphasized the moral responsibility people have to disobey unjust laws just as he did by leading a protest without the necessary permits. After several weeks characterized by tense negotiations, civil right groups and the government reached an agreement that prohibited racial segregation in Birmingham’s public utilities. The successful campaign at Birmingham inspired a surge of black activism in the south during the summer of 1963. In August 1963, King convened another historic march in Washington with the help of other rights and denominational groups. The rally became the most significant civil rights march in American history due to its large attendance and massive local and international media coverage. The march was attended by over 250,000 individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. The attendees gathered peacefully on the Mall in Washington D.C. Dr King spoke persuasively on behalf of the church and himself and, without doubt, charmed the audience with the historic “I Have a Dream” speech. King acknowledges that 1963 was the year the Civil Rights Movement was able to make more significant strides due to the collaborative efforts of several groups (Mulhal, 2014). By 1963, King’s leadership in the interpretation of the civil rights struggle in all its moral urgency to white people in America and the rest of the world was beginning to bear fruit.
The “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr King at the march in Washington has been described as the most eloquent testimony to the American dream. While some sceptics were critical of the address, the momentum of the forces of progress seemingly overwhelmed the points of criticism to give people confidence that being determined and virtuous would ultimately give birth to a democratic American society (Bush, 2003). The “I have a dream” section of the speech was a deviation from Dr King’s original address initially drafted the night before (Card, 2018). The speech created a legacy that slowly recreated the American imagination and embraced a dream for a redeemed America.
Dr King also brought to attention the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the voting system by supporting the SNCC workers in Selma, Alabama. After their attempts to protest were halted by Police officers, Dr King led protestors walking from Selma to Montgomery to get the attention of authorities. The march began with around 3000 demonstrators, and they were more than 25,000 by the time they completed it (Ware, 2013). The march was triumphant as President Lyndon Johnson finally enacted the Voting Rights Act on August,6,1965 (Ware, 2013). The Voting Rights Act prohibited states from preventing any citizen from exercising their voting right. The legislation was another momentous victory for the movement.
Unfortunately, Dr King’s life was put to an end on April 4th 1968, while he was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where an assassin brutally shot him (Ware, 2013). His murder led to an eruption of riots in 130 American cities, with more than 20,000 arrests. During the protests, one of the movement’s legislative agenda’s, the Fair Housing Act, was enacted.
The Significance of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the USA played a pivotal role in generating movements both in America and abroad. The movement provided lessons to other civil rights movements that human oppression should not be inevitable and that collective action can create social change. The legislative achievements of the movement enhanced its capacity to build momentum for other new generation movements. The enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act created a platform for other civil rights groups. The women’s movement took advantage of the prohibition of discrimination based on race, colour, religion, national origin (Morris, 1999). This aspect helped them fight for the inclusion of the word sex in the legislation. The Civil Rights Acts helped formulate a legal framework that other groups used to demand constitutional changes.
The Birmingham campaign led by Dr King created precedence by other groups to use boycotts, sit-ins and marches to fuel collective action. New movements started using cultural repertoire that included freedom songs and mass meetings (Morris, 1999). The most visible organizations that participated in the civil rights movements provided contexts that provided a basis for training activists who later organized their people to create social movements.
The Civil Rights movement gave insights into understanding why oppressed groups develop the moral courage to confront their oppressor and make extraordinary sacrifices to free themselves from oppression. African Americans were willing to suffer for positive change while exuding unmatched levels of courage and dignity. This display of courage played a critical role in motivating other groups to challenge authorities to create changes that were favorable to everyone (Morris, 1999). The movement created a rippled effect even beyond the borders of the USA. Many people worldwide are now conversant with the Civil Rights Movement, which they employ in their own countries.
Conclusion
Without reasonable doubt, Dr Martin Luther King Jr role in the civil and human rights movement is conspicuous. He created hope for other troubled regions which needed social change. His non-violent methods and Christian values portray a man who was willing to fight for what he believed in to create positive social change. He challenged other citizens to take direct action to demand the justice they desire rather than wait for government agencies to act. His leadership activated a paradigmatic shift in the operation of social movements. Other movements were now inspired to locate their own agency who then hit the ground running to generate essential changes in America and around the world. The Civil Rights Movement has made progressive action since Dr King’s death which is proof of the power of organizing. Social change scholars had to reformulate their views and rethink the influence of the social movements in social and political settings. It revealed that oppressed people could find their voice if they believe that they are also Children of God. This paper is a reminder that everyone has the power to make a change and embrace Dr King’s vision for a more inclusive nation. We can use our voice to create positive change.
References
Burrow Jr., R. (2002). Martin Luther King, Jr’s doctrine of human dignity. The Western Journal of Black Studies , 26 (4).
Bush, R. (2003). The civil rights movement and the continuing struggle for the redemption of America. Social Justice , 30 (1).
Card, M. (2018). Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” Speech: An Exploration and Analysis of Personal, Cultural and Collective Complexes in the Foundation of the Dream and the Life of Dr King. Journal of Heart Centered Therapies , 21 (2), 3-27.
Morris, A. (1999). A retrospective on the civil rights movement: Political and intellectual landmarks. Annual Review of Sociology , 25 (1), 517-539. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.517
Mulhall, T. (2018). Making all things new. The Ecumenical Review , 70 (2), 247-263. doi: 10.1111/erev.12354
Ware, L. (2013). Civil rights and the 1960s: A decade of unparalleled progress. Maryland Law Review , 72 (4).
