Martin Luther King Research Paper

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Explain the contributions Martin Luther King made in an attempt to outlaw racial discrimination.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the main leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968. He was a promoter of non-violent protesting to achieve civil rights. He was a leader if MIA; Montgomery Improvement Association and became a national figure as a result to this. King, in a fight for civil rights, was arrested multiple times, stabbed and in the end assassinated. He took part in many events which contributed to outlawing racial discrimination. During the civil rights movement from around 1950 to 1980, he was a well-known leader that made steps to contribute to this cause.
In 1955 Martin Luther King was a major leader in the protest for integration of white and black people on the Montgomery buses. When a woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white man, King was one of the leaders who pursued a non-violent process in order to change the constitution so that this was not illegal. He was the leader of a group called the Montgomery Improvement Association also known as the MIA, this group was put in charge to help organise the protests. A local historian said that “He was able to galvanize the black community and articulate the goals of the people of Montgomery,” saying that King was able to stimulate and activate the black community and made the goals clear of what the people wanted. During this campaign his family home was bombed and the lives of him and his family were put in danger. With the help of Martin Luther King Junior running the MIA, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional for there to be segregation between ‘white’ and ‘black’ people on busses. On the day that Rosa Parks was arrested, King had been speaking at a catholic church. When he returned home there were ‘blacks’ outside his house with guns and weapons. King calmed them down and in his want for non-violent protesting convinced them to discard there weapon and not use physical force in the campaign. National attention was brought to racial segregation through this campaign with 17,000 ‘blacks’ protesting for 13 months. When this protest ended he wrote a book, “stride towards freedom” which told the Montgomery story, this inspired many people to stand up for their rights during the civil rights movement and take actions to outlaw racial discrimination.
1963 was believed to be a year of many protests and campaigns for civil rights. Martin Luther King was involved in many of these protests. The Birmingham campaign which took place in spring was organised by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC was an organisation formed in 1957 with the aim to end racial segregation and bring attention to unjust actions towards ‘blacks’ which had occurred previously in Birmingham. It was formed so that protests could be organised to achieve this and form a ‘regional organisation’. King said "The purpose of ... direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation”. Previously in Birmingham there had been great segregation and racial discrimination between ‘blacks ‘and ‘whites’. Adult volunteers were running low in the march, so high school, college and elementary students became involved. This received some scrutiny as the police used force such as high-pressure water hoses against the protesters and some felt they were putting children in harm’s way. Martin Luther King aimed for the protest to be violent free as were his others, which he mostly succeeded in during this process however some protesters did attack police. From this protest public places became more open to ‘blacks’ as well as Martin Luther King becoming better known. On August the 28th, 1963 a march in Washington took place which Martin Luther King was one of the organisers for in. It was a protest for “meaningful civil rights legislation;
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