Martin Luther Kings Last March - Essay Example

Martin Luther King’s Last March Question 1 The Story and the Source The story is about the civil rights movement in the United States, where martin Luther Kings organized a mass protest for the poor people. They intended to advocate for the rights of the people, from the discrimination and prejudice that they went through. Factually, the protest marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. Notably, Luther and his team held a march to the capital D.C to present their grievance to the government. The story is told by Shamar Thomas, who was a veteran sergeant of the Marine Corps (Shamar, 2011). Question 2 The Sociological Interpretation The sociologists would have various interpretations to the story. Mostly, they would argue that the story depicts the right to equality among the people. Considering the situation in the country at the time, the people were not treated equally because; prejudice engulfed the so called dominant racial class (Redakteur, 2011). The minority and poor people from the less dominant races were disregarded and not given equal treatment in accessing the social justice and employment opportunity. Second, the sociologists would argue in the line of racial discrimination as the other cause of the march. Martin Luther Kings was fighting for the rights of the social minority groups who were poor and discriminated. Particularly, the protest was to mark the largest in the country’s history (Martin, 1963). Other economists would argue in the aspects of economic power of the people, when Luther Kings called the march as “the poor people’s campaign” (Martin, 1963). His intention was to create a drama, in the capital, to signify the suffering that the poor people underwent. Furthermore, he preempted that the government would only consider the plight of the poor people, through mass action and widespread, but, systematic civil disobedience. During the period, there was economic injustice for the poor people (Shamar, 2011). They were segregated, with limited access to the economic gains in the country such as employment. Indeed, the country had achieved little regarding the economic justice, though the government had succeeded in the desegregation of the people and voting rights especially to the black community in the country (MNS, 2005). Literally, discrimination is a sociological problem that the country’s leadership needed to address urgently, to restore the harmonious coexistence of the people from different racial background (Redakteur, 2011). Through discriminatory practices, the government could not offer solution to poverty, which was the central social problem of the people. In essence, there was demand for fundamental changes in the governing structure of the country, to ensure that the people became economically empowered. Notably, economic power and social freedom are intertwined, meaning that the people cannot achieve social freedom, if they are economically incapacitated. Question 3 The Sociological Issues Discussed Some of the sociological issues that were discussed included social injustices including segregation, lack of freedom and discrimination and economic injustice, for example, poverty and others. Segregation During the time, the people were segregated on racial basis, thereby, affecting the social integration and interaction. The white people could not mutually interact with the Black community in America, creating a lot of discontent and suspicion among the communities. Remarkably, the segregation included access to public and social facilities, such as, schools, public transport, hospitals and the churches among others. Lack of Freedom The Black people did not have the freedom and rights to vote. As a democratic right, no one should be barred from voting. Notably, in 1863, the American government set the African Americans free, ending 244 years of slavery (Shamar, 2011). In addition, there was need for freedom for the racial and ethnic mix in the country that Luther was fighting for. Discrimination There was open discrimination and racial prejudice in the country. In fact, the people were classified according to the ethnic origin. Moreover, the Blacks were treated as incapable people, who had little contribution to the social and economic development of the community. Furthermore, they were not treated as real people in country and only deserved to be imprisoned for demanding their rights, even if they expressed it in a nonviolent manner (Martin, 1963). Poverty In the argument that Martin Luther Kings advanced, the federal government was not successful in addressing the economic injustice that the Black community faced, particularly, the issue of poverty (Martin, 1963). In fact, most of the Black people in America were in grave poverty, thus prompted for the fight for economic justice (MNS, 2005). Among the poor people, getting enough money to meet the basic requirements was a dream, signifying that they would not be free within the social interaction realm. In order to achieve the success, the people had to apply pressure in demanding for the economic justice that they were denied. Furthermore, Luther predicted that, achieving the war against poverty would not be easy compared to other civil rights such as racial discrimination and segregation Question 4 Creative Solution to the Problem The only solution to the problem of social injustices including segregation, lack of freedom and discrimination, and economic injustice, such as poverty is the government being responsive to the people. The policies, which the government implements, should aim at isolating each problem, gathering the facts and correcting the loopholes, without relying on the propaganda of the problem. This is important because, through gathering the facts about the problem, the government becomes able to identify its impacts to the people and, in running the daily activities of the government. The government can solve the social injustices through adopting non-discriminatory policies, which consider all the citizens equal and without racial or ethnic prejudice. Every citizen should be treated as an important person, who has a contribution to the developmental affairs of the government. For instance, no citizen should be barred from accessing a public utility because of the racial and ethnic background. In solving the problems relating to poverty, the government has to address the land question, giving the people the right to own and use land in enhancing the production. Besides, the government should subsidize the farmers in terms of inputs, to address the problem of high production cost, thereby, ensuring that there is increase in the volume of food production. As a result, the people would have enough to consume and the rest to be reserved for future use. Question 5 The Lesson Learnt From the story, one realizes that the social injustices including segregation, lack of freedom and discrimination and economic injustice, particularly, poverty are economic deterrents, to the development of the country. In addition, dictatorial regimes do not appreciate the efforts that the people make in fighting for the civil rights. For example, the assassination of Martin Luther Kings showed that, the government became curious of his bold steps in gathering massive support for the march in demand for freedom (Martin, 1963). Apparently, this threatened the government who thought that eliminating the leader of the civil rights movement would calm the uprising. Moreover, each occurrence has a sociological interpretation that differs among the sociologists. Question 6 Additional Comments Addressing the problems socio-economic injustices including segregation, lack of freedom and discrimination and poverty is an important undertaking that each government should consider. In fact, the injustices that the people undergo show the nature of their suffering, under the deaf ear of the government. Furthermore, the government does not appreciate the people’s struggle for liberation, thus, it would end any protest aimed at ensuring freedom for the people. Also, it is not easy to overpower the government, as doing this would result to assassination of the leaders. References Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963). Letter from Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from MNS. Encarta. (2005). People and Events in the American Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved from Redakteur. (March 17, 2011). Voice of Civil Rights. Retrieved from Shamar, T. (October 12, 2011). Occupy Washington: Martin Luther King’s Last March. Retrieved from Read More