Daise Santana
Prof. Charles
Comp/Lit 1

Race and racism have a long and complicated history in the United States, from the institution of slavery to the civil rights movements of the 1960s and the efforts to the right and wrongs of the past with programs such as affirmative action. Martin Luther king faced a problem which involved segregation, this is because he was against the separation of the whites and blacks. He got arrested and sent to prison for demonstrating against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world by stopping segregation. Dr. King stopped it by his words, and he stopped it by not fighting. He changed the way that people used water fountains, the buses, and the segregation. Segregation has been going on in the past for years, and because of Dr. King’s speech he found a way to get through to everyone. Now in today's world most people are at peace with each other and segregation is no longer around today because of Dr. King whites and blacks are together today. Martin Luther King was the most important leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. The only place most Americans see "Whites Only" signs these days is in movies or old photos, but when the Rev. Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream speech" 50 years ago today, they were strewn across the South -- water fountains, movie theaters, churches, swimming pools, libraries, even ambulances. As of today colored people and whites are together without any issues, before that couldn't happen everything was separated. African Americans were kept out of “white” schools, parks, theaters, hotels, and restaurants. They had to sit in separate sections in trains and buses. “ I don't care how long I have to live with this system,” King Sr. said, “ I will never accept it.” He was a fighter and his son, Martin took on after him. For all its power, King's remarkable speech wasn't the beginning of the end of this shameful system. By then, the Supreme Court had ruled that separate schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional, and non-violent protests had been going on for years across the South, at lunch counters and in city streets. King's speech reflected the violence, the humiliation and the determination not to endure it anymore. Mixed with the inspirational poetry that everyone recalls was a warning that seems prophetic: "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America," King said, "until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights." King's speech and the events that inspired it led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which banned discrimination in public facilities such as restaurants and hotels. In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which began to stamp out the measures used to keep blacks from voting. The racism of 2013 is nothing like the American apartheid of 1963. Yet it persists, and helps account for the vastly different ways blacks and whites view incidents such as the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin. That speech was an inspiration to millions of African-American people. Martin Luther King Jr. led a protest against segregated buses. It started when an older lady named Rosa Parks, who is now famous for not giving up her seat, was arrested. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very powerful speaker. He knew how to lead protests, and how to get people involved. He is the main reason for the equal rights between races that we have today. King was elected the leader of a group called the Montgomery Improvement Association. After the protests started by the Rosa Parks issue, Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged others to boycott the segregated buses also.When King spoke, he reached people's hearts and minds at the same time. He dug down deep into issues of racial discrimination and presented alternatives of love and equality. Racists struck down his ideas, but others were moved and worked to better society as he wished. King was a loving man, one that wished people would listen and follow him