Martin Luther King Reflection Essay

Was Martin Luther King s approach to gaining equal rights effective? What methods did he use, and what methods competed with those of King for the attention of Black activists and the American Public during the 1950 s and 1960 s?

Martin Luther King Jr. Used a very effective, non-violent form of protest, which helped African Americans gain equal rights. The first major action in the civil rights movement was when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat for a white person in Montgomery, Alabama. This event inspired 50, 000 blacks to boycott Montgomery s buses as King led the protest. After this event, in 1957, King and other civil rights leaders formed the Southern Leadership Conference, which organized boycotts and sit-ins across the country. King gained national attention by using the press and television to denounce segregation.

Under King s leadership blacks started acts of civil disobedience against discriminatory laws. King followed the methods of Mohandas Ghandi and Henry David Thoreau. King and his followers held sit-ins at lunch counters and rode on segregated buses. Others in the country boycotted discriminatory companies and their products, that practiced legal segregation and discrimination. The largest ever non-violent protest in Washington August 23, 1968, where 200,000 people attended. This was where King gave his famous " I have a Dream " speech.

Although King insisted on nonviolent ways, violence persistently occurred. Marchers and protesters were attacked by dogs and shot at with water hoses. Riot s brike out in black ghettos, and some people were even beaten to death. The violence was also expressed in black nationalist groups. The largest group was made up of people who lost faith in America, hated Christianity, and concluded that the white man was the "devil".

King was a major attribute to the civil rights movement. Eventually the civil rights movement led to some freedom for blacks, even though racism still exists today, and most laws were passed due to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.