Martin Luther Kings Role in Shaping the American History - Article Example

Martin Luther King’s role in shaping the American History Martin Luther King, in his short lifetime, was successful in playing an extremelysignificant role in the civil rights movements in American. His deep-rooted dreams of achieving a nation free from racism and segregation were reflected in his nonviolent ways of demonstrating protests. He has been the recipient of the Nobel Peace Price in appreciation of his large scales efforts to bring difference in the lives of the African Americans. In 1957, King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which soon became a national level organization championed by the African Americans although it was initiated with Southern roots. He also participated in movements protesting economic discriminations and warfare. Introduction Martin Luther King is a prominent figure in the history of America for his significant contribution in the civil rights movements of the African Americans. His influential role received proper recognition when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, and the event caused massive repercussions across the country. The paper focuses on King’s nonviolent measures of demonstrating his protests against the prevailing segregation based on race and color. It was the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt who had suggested that the right to freedom is not only prerogative of the Jews in Nazi concentration camps but also to all sections of people who are dominated by the Western power. However, such stage of liberalization was not expected by the American leaders in the near future. During the late 1940s and the early 1950s when America was preparing the stage for the Cold War, many groups who were major activists in social reform movements began to disassociate themselves from movements that advocated antiracism. The major propagandists of civil rights in order to prove their allegiance towards the country severed their ties with the oppressed people. For this reason, during the second half of the previous century there was little awareness among the general Americans about the impact of liberal movements in Africa on the movements in America. The organizations that existed during this period and participated in such civil rights movements did not gain any kind of momentum by way of public support or political intervention. However, in all the years such connections between liberal movements had profound yet subtle impacts on how the broader sector of the American society perceived their country’s role in the global arena (Minter et al., 2008, p.12). The liberal movements against racism and colonists in Africa and Asia, and their success stories like India gaining independence in 1947 and the nonviolent activities in Africa in the 1950s acted as inspiration to American national leaders like Martin Luther King and other advocators of civil right movements. For instance, the Bandung conference which was held in Indonesia was an immense success with an attendance of delegates from 29 Asian and African countries. The positive response received by the conference that advocated national liberation provided momentum to the African Americans in the United States. In their effort to bring justice to the downtrodden, King and other civil rights leaders adopted strategies that shifted from the cautious approaches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Urban League. It was the decline of McCarthyism era that brought about favorable conditions for the augmentation of civil rights movements in the United States. In late 1955, African American civil rights movement started full fledged. It was the broad scale boycotting of buses by the African Americans that provided fuel to the American civil right movements. On December 1, 1955 a seamstress from Montgomery Mrs. Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to the whites in a public bus. This infamous incident triggered the wrath of 50,000 residents from Montgomery. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King wide scale protest movements began against segregation in public transport. The protestors demonstrated by walking on foot and boycotting all buses. King led the struggle for almost one year after which the bus company was almost on the verge of bankruptcy. The city was forced to abolish segregation system in buses and even the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to practice racial segregation in public transport. Thus, the African Americans under the leadership of Martin Luther King succeeded in their mass protests against racial segregation. The 1960s witnessed many more victories in the legal context; however the progressive movement of civil rights occurred at extremely slow pace. This already worn out movements were further ruptured after the assassination of King (Minter et al., 2008, p.1; Zhang, 2014, p.147). Although Martin Luther King was born when his father was already a prosperous minister, it was nevertheless true that his family’s history was steeped in poverty. During the Great Depression, King witnessed people struggling to get the basic amenities like food. By the time he reached his teens, he had realized that the “inseparable twin of racial injustice was economic injustice”. This realization was the root of his “anti-capitalistic feelings” as he quoted in his 1950 autobiography essay. In spite of his own family’s economic stability, he could not remain ignorant about the growing poverty and misery in his surroundings as he witnessed first hand hunger and lack of basic amenities among his peers (Jackson, 2007, p.25). He played a pivotal role in abolishing the racial segregation system faced by the African Americans in the South and in other parts of the United States. It was through King’s efforts that Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 (Lezama, 2014, p.14). His immense contribution towards racial justice and harmony through nonviolence was honored by offering him the Nobel Peace Prize. He made verbal protests by making strong speeches against the Jim Crow laws and the inhuman treatment bestowed on the African Americans for decades. On March 7, 1965, Martin Luther King was leading a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery when the participants experienced violent attacks from the police force on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Till date, this event is recognized as “Bloody Sunday” as it reflected the viciousness of the American police. The achievements of King were possible because of the support he received from other great leaders of America. Even after 50 years of his “I have a dream” speech his dreams, ambitions and aspirations are kept active across the globe. His philosophy of “life, liberty, justice, peace, love, inclusion, and civil rights” (Lezama, 2014, p.14) is not just believed by the Americans but is the focal point of all anti-racism activities in the global arena. King held strong belief that the Americans have the ability to rule the world by their inclination towards bringing positive changes and their pioneering effort for bringing justice not only to the best interests of the American people but also for the greater interests of the world. In all the years that King fought for equality and justice for the African Americans, he was the leader of marches in different cities of America including Chicago, New York City, Washington D C, Birmingham and Mississippi. He did not waver from his fight for justice even though his efforts were most of the times subjected to violence and threats. His spirit is still kept alive even after decades of his assassination (Lezama, 2014, p.14). King’s nonviolent manner of protests and demonstrations were strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolence regime in India which helped the latter in opposing the British rule in his country. It was in 1957 that Martin Luther King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with the help of other ministers with the goal to wipe out racial segregation from the South. This organization was essentially founded as a response to the mass protests by way of bus boycott in Montgomery. When the protests became successful with the Supreme Court abolishing racial segregation in public transport, the SCLC was founded to make progress in anti-segregation activities. As the first President of SCLC, King was responsible for coordinating different anti-racism activities across the country. Although initially this organization focused only on the justice for the Blacks in the South, very soon King’s influence became a “central interpreter of the national agenda for racial inclusion” (Morrison, 2003, p.164). His messages which were mainly Christian themed along with his powerful personality attracted the attention of all Americans who dreamt of a land free from racial prejudices. After gaining significant successes in his anti-segregation movements, King began to focus his attention on opposing economic discrimination and warfare. Just like King led movements to claim justice for the African Americans, similarly he brought all the other impoverished classes under his wing. Thus, he was successful in winning the attention of a greater number of Americans even when he delivered his speeches on the racial segregation system. The members of SCLC became a medium of spreading information in their church congregations. By developing foot soldiers there could easily confront a “racist Mississippi school president, or an exploitative Chicago landlord, or a perpetrator of the Vietnam War like a secretary of defense” (Morrison, 2003, p.164). In this context, SCLC became a national level organization championed by the African Americans although it was initiated with Southern roots. King, under his leadership, had initiated many SCLC projects. The organization however had both its benefits and limitations. The major advantage was that SCLC received the vote of the common Americans since it was believed that nonviolence measures are far more effective in bringing radical changes in racial matters than any other stronger programs. Such public support compelled the Kennedy administration to find ways to fulfill the demands of King and his organization in spite of King and the SCLC being under surveillance by the FBI. The limitations of the organization became apparent after the tragic assassination of King. Although the organization continued to survive even after his death, the range of success became far in between which reflected the absence of a powerful leader. Moreover, finance became a core problem for the organization after King’s death since it was King who used to take the burden of generating more than half of the organization’s funding. Also, the organization has failed to change its strategic activities in response to the changing civil rights struggle. For instance, during King’s lifetime the issue was to provide equal opportunities to the blacks, and he was largely successful in this mission. Today, the focus is on equal allocation of resources and the old strategies of SCLC cannot bring success in this context (Morrison, 2003, p.165). However, like any other great leaders and reformists Martin Luther King was also subjected to many criticisms. King was often accused of being a publicity seeker. The young people of America who participated in the protest movements under the leadership of King often felt that he used his power to divert the media’s focus on his marches and speeches. It was not common in cases of a movement where he was not physically present he was called to give sermons regarding the purpose of the movement. There were even others who claimed that King gave more emphasis on his personal interests and gains rather than on the overall interests of the movements, and this was reflected in the media interviews that he always was so eager to give for national level magazines. Then there were others like J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI (federal bureau of investigation) who questioned the morality of King’s leadership due to his alleged sexual innuendos. Although there were no concrete evidences to prove his affairs beyond racial lines, except white prostitutes, the mere suspicions of sexual frivolity were sufficient to question his moral aspects (Harris, 2014, p.41). Martin Luther King once made the statement, “I was determined to hate” (Hinds, 2012, p.468). This reflected his feelings of hatred towards the practitioners of racism in the South. His personal dream of achieving a nation devoid of racism and segregations was influenced by his childhood experiences of naked racism. His mission of united America through nonviolent ways shrouded his hatred for the Southerners (Hinds, 2012, p.468). King’s passion for anti-segregation and anti-racism stemmed from the fact that he grew up in a violent environment where he was constantly subjected to physical and verbal abuses by the whites which however failed to instill a sense of inferiority complex in him. During his leadership years, King often shared his stories through his speeches and claimed that he has recovered from the feeling of hatred towards the whites. However, such claims are subjected to debates as all his life he fought against the whites. Such childhood experiences refrained from King the feeling of true humanity, and therefore all his adult life he focused on regaining his lost rights. Although Martin Luther King never failed to express his pride about his race, he nevertheless strived to establish that he had precious human qualities that were not confined to any particular race (Hinds, 2012, p.471). King was always against the principle of giving hate in exchange of hate. This was reflected not only on his emphasis on non-violent measures of protests but also on how he expected his fellow African Americans to resist oppression. During the pinnacle of his civil rights movements, King expected that his supporters would not exhibit the same level of hatred against which they were fighting. In other words, King wanted the members of SCLC to eliminate their feelings of hatred before embarking on the mission of fighting their oppressors (Hinds, 2012, p.483). Conclusion As conclusion it can be stated that the history of civil rights movements under the leadership of Martin Luther King were successful in forcing the ruling class of America to make amendments in their law and politics to provide the blacks equal treatment. King was motivated in his activities by his belief that all Americans need to be united and all separations based on race and color should be eliminated. With the help of large scale protest movements, some rights were achieved like equal voting rights for the African Americans. However, it was not easy to completely erase the deep rooted racial prejudices from the minds of the Americans which have become integral part of the lifestyles of the whites. The full realization of King’s dreams of equality is yet to be accomplished. References Harris, T. (2014) Martin Luther King Jr., Heroism, and African American Literature, Univ. of Alabama Press Hinds, J. (2012) The Prophet’s Wish: A Freudian Interpretation of Martin Luther King’s Dream. Pastoral Psychology, 61(4), 467-84 Lezama, D. (2014) From the Civil Rights Pioneers to the First African American President and Beyond, AuthorHouse Minter, W., Hovey, G. & Cobb, C. (2008) No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists Over a Half Century, 1950-2000, Africa World Press Morrison, M. (2003) African Americans and Political Participation, ABC-CLIO Zhang, A. (2014) The Origins of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Routledge Read More