Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr

Contents

Historic context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The March on Washington . . . . . . . . . . .

The Speech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Assassination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Conspiracies behind the murder . . .

The Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About the author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

04

12

18

22

24

26

28

30

31

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.

Historic context

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery after the Civil War and freed four million African Americans held as property. The influx of uneducated and unemployed individuals posed a challenge for Southern states, and control over these states was a subject of ongoing debate. The federal government deployed troops and passed civil rights laws, but faced resistance from white Southerners who passed discriminatory laws and formed groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

After the Civil War, Reconstruction brought changes that suggested newfound freedom for former slaves could lead to prosperity. Federal legislation, including Civil Rights Acts, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment, enabled some black Americans to achieve economic independence and win local offices. The political landscape also saw black Americans elected to Congress, marking a significant shift in the nation's history.

After Reconstruction ended in the mid-1870s and federal troops withdrew from the South, progressive changes were reversed. "Jim Crow" laws enforced racial segregation, including voting qualifications that prevented black individuals from voting. In 1896, the Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson upheld "separate but equal" services and facilities for African Americans, perpetuating economic subjugation and effectively replacing legal slavery with a new form of economic slavery.

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois emerged as the most prominent African American leaders during this era. Washington argued for self-improvement through manual work before specializing in professions, which some embraced while others dubbed it the "Atlanta Compromise." DuBois advocated for faster change and attacked Washington's approach. This leadership style division foreshadowed a similar division between pacifist and militant leaders in the 1960s.

The NAACP is a civil rights organization in the United States focused on promoting justice for African Americans. It was founded on February 12, 1909 as an interracial effort to thank President Abraham Lincoln for his role in abolishing slavery and advancing civil rights. The Brownsville Affair and the Scottsboro Boys case are notable incidents that highlight racial tensions and injustices faced by African Americans. The Scottsboro Boys collectively served over 100 years in prison despite a series of retrials and reconvictions. Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born leader of the Pan-Africanism movement, was a notable black activist who fought for civil rights and founded the Negro World newspaper, the Black Star Line shipping company, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association.

IMAGE CAPTION Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

During the Great Depression, African Americans were particularly vulnerable, with many losing their jobs and struggling to find new sources of income while facing continued discrimination in various social aspects. However, President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program, which aimed to increase state intervention in economic issues, brought some positive changes to the African American community.
Despite these improvements, discrimination persisted in areas such as employment, education, and housing, leading some to feel that the New Deal did not do enough to promote equality. The post-World War II era saw an increase in awareness of racial inequalities, and the civil rights movement gained momentum. After a long struggle led by African Americans and their allies, civil rights were eventually achieved. Although progress was made, the fight for equality continued in the decades that followed.

After World War II, civil rights became a crucial national issue due to emerging discrimination. Key moments in the fight for equality were the Brown v. Board of Education case and the Montgomery bus boycott, which led to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerging as the leader of the civil rights movement. His nonviolent activism led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination based on race, color, gender, religion, or national origin in education, employment, and more, significantly improving the position of minority groups in society.