The Story Behind Martin Luther King Jr.’s Boycott Essay Example

Luther King went to make his speech which was meant to support the protest of the sanitation workers (Fandel & Bascle, 2006). The protest took more than 60 days, and different state agencies called for an end to the discriminative practices and increase in salaries for the sanitation workers. The strike received close attention from the national media which caused others to join which include the community leaders. This major protest changed the working conditions of the workers in the country as other workers demanded higher pay and improved working conditions and since then living standard of the workers was improved.

As Kazin (2009) explains, racial discrimination was practiced even in city buses in the 1960s. African Americans were not allowed to sit in the seats that were reserved for the whites. Martin led spearheaded a boycott in Alabama in opposition to the city buses that did not allow African Americans from occupying the front seats. The boycott gained many supporters which resulted in a boycott in the whole city against the buses that applied such rules till they were changed. Even though King and his supporters were jailed, the boycott succeeded, and the racist law that allowed segregation in public transport was changed (Miller, 2013). It was a great achievement for the civil rights movement by then since they were not much effective. After the change of the segregation rules, the blacks were allowed to seat in front seats when traveling with the city buses.

In 1963, Martin together with civil rights movement leaders led a massive protest for equal rights. The March had more than 200,000 followers and protested against racial segregation in schools and

discriminative practices in employment and demanded a hike in the minimum wage for the workers (Miller, 2013). The 1963 gathering was the largest in the history of Washington DC. During this meeting, he delivered a speech that had a great impact on the African Americans and the entire nation at large. The speech motivated the supporters and started to put pressure on the government under the leadership of Kennedy to ensure that the civil rights laws were passed by the Congress and gain national recognition (Romano, 2006).

King had a great influence on the Civil Rights Movement for the Blacks that took place between 1955 and 1968 (Fandel & Bascle, 2006). The goal of the movement was to stop racial discrimination in the nation that includes areas such as employment, education, voting and public transportation. Peaceful demonstrations resulted in many crises that compelled the government to intervene. Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 which banned discriminative practices in employment as well as public accommodation. As a result, Blacks and ethnic minorities were considered for the job opportunities than before. The percentage of the blacks in absorbed in factories increased significantly. African Americans were also able to afford better housing as they secured employment. In 1965, Voting Rights Act was passed, and this gave the right to African American to vote (Kazin, 2009). Blacks were also allowed to vie for various elective political positions to represent the interests of their people. Since then, African American political leaders have increased to serve the interests of the citizens. A great achievement of the Voting Rights Act took place in 2009 when Barack Obama became the first African-American president.

Conclusion

Martin

Luther King was an important figure in the history of America. He led Civil Rights Movements to agitate for equality for everyone notwithstanding race, religion, creed or sex. The peaceful protests he organized together with other leaders resulted in the ban of discriminative practices in schools, public accommodation, and transport among others. As a result, Blacks and other ethnic minorities were granted rights that they had not experienced in the American history.

References

1. Fandel, J., & Bascle, B. (2006). Martin Luther King Jr: Great Civil Rights Leader. Graphic Library.
2. Kazin, M. (2009). Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Meanings of the 1960s. American Historical Review, 114(4), 980-989.
3. Miller, W. J. (2013). “Don’t Turn Back”: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr. African American Review, 46(2/3), 425-438.
4. Romano, R. C. (2006). The civil rights movement in American memory. Athens, Ga. u.a.: Univ. of Georgia Press.