long-time friend would vanish from his life. The boy could only give the explanation that the decision was made by his parents, but King's friend did not mind the decision they had made for the young white child. King ran home to his parents to find out why his good friend did not want to play with him anymore. Martin Luther King's parents told their son that all their lives blacks suffered through many unjust situations because of the racist whites. They even informed young King about how under 100 years ago the majority of blacks were held prisoners as white people's slaves to do the work that the white people did not want to do. King's mother made it very clear that no matter what else anybody said to King, he should never believe that anyone else is better than he was (Shuker, 28). King was incredibly upset by the recent events that occurred and the news, which he had just learned. As a result, King decided that he would not be a friend with any white person until !
they treated him and his race as equals, as they should be treated. As King grew up, he may have become friends with whites, but stuck to his belief that all people should be treated equally, an incredible influence to his later involvement with the civil rights movement.
Along with how King suffered due to racism and segregation, the people and his religion were also great influence to his later actions. Growing up, King was always very involved in the Baptist church, in which his father was a minister. Other ministers who were also great influences to King were his two professors at Morehouse College. They were the school president, Benjamin Mays, and King's philosophy professor, George Kelsey. The men both succeeded in showing Martin Luther the great intellectual side of a church career (Current Biography Yearbook 1965, 234). Therefore, during King's junior year there in 1947, he was ordained a minister at Ebenezer Church. As a minister, he was brought closer to his highest idol, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was an exceptional inspiration to Martin Luther King due to his non-violent protest. King completely agreed with Jesus' actions, which proved that a goal could be accomplished without the physical abuse of one's opponent. Yet, anot!
her strong inspiration to Martin Luther King was Gandhi, who used only a passive form of rebellion to successfully break his country, India, away from British control (Current Biography Yearbook 1968, 220). Throughout working to achieve his goal of equality, King stuck to this theory of non-violent protest. When King's house was bombed in January of 1956 because of his civil rights involvement, King became even more aware of how ridiculous and unnecessary violence was (Preston, 56). As a result, in every attempt he made to achieve his goal of equality no violence was used, instead his followers relied on peaceful ways such as the bus boycott of 1956, after the Rosa Parks incident to send a message (Current Biography Yearbook 1968, 220). Many powerful, but peaceful, attempts were made by King and his followers to gain equality for all people in America due to his religion and religious figures.
After all of King's many years of passive rebellion and over a dozen arrests, the African- Americans were beginning to see results. In November of 1956, the Supreme Court was greatly influenced by all the civil rights fighters and made the decision that previously standing segregation laws in Alabama were unconstitutional. However, it was just a start because in 1963 a bill was passed by congress for equal rights to all whites and blacks that then simply needed to be approved by President Kennedy. To demonstrate the complete support of the bill, a march through the streets of Washington, D.C. was organized by Phillip Rudolph. The march was to finish directly in for of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, the late president, who was responsible for abolishing slavery 100 years ago. This was the site where King was to be the last speaker that day on his equality beliefs. Although the authorities were worried that the 100,000 participants would prove with acts of violence that Ke!
nnedy should not approve the bill, King had faith that there would be no problems whatsoever within the crowd. King made his "I have a Dream" speech to all the people present, and millions watching on TV (Moritz, 220). The incredible impact of the speech left everyone almost positive that King had gotten the civil rights bill passed, and in fact, he had. From that decision on, white and blacks were to live as equals within the American borders, and King was viewed as the hero.
To all of the segregated black people along with many liberal rights, Martin Luther King Jr. truly was a hero. All of his efforts resulted in much better, lives that were equal with the whites and much greater opportunities for the African American people. Unlike when King himself was growing up, his own children would not have to suffer from "white only" signs and secondary places that were neglected by the whites. Although in reality, not all racial discrimination stopped with the segregation laws, conditions could only improve from that point, which was exactly what occurred. For once, the African American people who were treated so unfairly were able to see a light at the end of a long tunnel in which the whites regarded them as the lesser, weaker race. Today, blacks are seen holding jobs at equal levels with whites in all areas of the country (Shepard, 7). With King's great accomplishments came many awards. King was named Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1964. !
In addition, King was presented with the Noble Peace Prize that same year. These amazing awards were given to King, the hero, because of his great effect on the black American population, but his positive influence did not stop there.
Not only were the black people in the south better off to lead more fulfilling lives after King succeeded, but also King benefited every single person who was ever aware of his success. After gaining the knowledge of King's amazing triumph over the white racists and previous laws, people were more willing to dream and establish their own goals. Being aware of the facts that King was an average minister growing up, they could parallel their own future success with his. People were free to think that if King can take on such a challenging task, and pursue it with patience and victory to finally achieve his goal, that they could, too. Through Martin Luther King's success with his equality movement, people everywhere encountered a growing awareness of the fact that with motivation, their highest goals and dreams can be achieved. Even today after King's assassination, the results of his work are still clear throughout the country (Valentine, 24). King influenced all people.
Martin Luther King Jr. devoted an incredible amount of time in his life to fight for something he truly believed in, equality between all people, regardless of races. Due to harsh racial discrimination he witnessed during his childhood along with influences from religious figures in his life, King was passionate to achieve his goal, and achieve it peacefully. Because of King's hard work, life was not only better for his fellow African-Americans, but also all people who heard of his triumph. King truly was an amazing hero, expressing his complete feelings in the summer of 1963, with his famous, "I have a dream…" speech.
