On Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – remembering the contributions of the civil rights leader. In his most famous speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King spoke of his dream – a dream of racial equality. He spoke at a time when African Americans suffered indignities such as being refused service in restaurants, being forced to ride in the back of public buses, to drink from black only water fountains, and much more. While our country has made great strides in the areas of race relations and racial equality, few can deny that racism still exist – in some areas of the country more than others.
It’s fitting around this time of year to reflect on MLK’s life and work. One question that we often ask is whether or not his dream has been realized. Have we come far enough? Have the barriers to racial equality been torn down sufficiently enough? If King was alive today (he would be 83-years-old this year), would he be satisfied with the progress that has been made? Has King’s dream been realized?
Is it important that we set aside a day to remember the work of Dr. King? What is the best way to commemorate his life? As students, as a school, should we be doing something to remember King and educate the youth of today about his impact on our nation's history?
What do you think? Avoid simple answers. Give me real thought. Read the comments of those posting before you. Come back after you post, and continue to keep up with additional posts until the deadline. I want a real conversation. Invite your parents to read the blog, and they can even comment. Enjoy!
Note: I'm including King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306
(32-minute film that we watched in class)
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.
Important: Be sure to check back daily as I will be posing new questions and thoughts in the comments section.
I think it's very important that we set aside a day to remember him, and appreciate all that he has done for us. The best way to commemorate his life would be to really treat everyone with equality. Dr. King would be very proud to know that his dream came true, and that the majority of people treat everyone the same, no matter the race, or gender. As students, and as a school, I think that we should be doing things to remember King, and educate others about his life, and all that's he sacrificed so that we could be where we are today. I think that every year history classes should show a video or do something to represent who Martin Luther King is, so that everyone knows what he stood for, and all of the sacrifices he's made for our Nation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jasmine in that Dr. King should be remembered for the wonderful person he was, but I have to disagree that, while America as a whole has improved, a great number of it's citizens still feel much of the same racism that Dr. King dealt with. With some, it may even be subconscious, but unfortunately for us, it still exists. We, as a nation, should be proud that people like this are around, and prominent ones like King deserve to be honored. If it were not for Dr. King, I have been typing this on an "all white" blog, and would have none of the African-American friends that I have today, and would be expected to be their enemies. I am happy that schools are celebrating his birthday the way they are, but frankly, i think having a day dedicated to learning about him would be more efficient than a day off. (The student in me is strangling me) This way, people would be more aware of his doings. Some students did not even know that that was why we were out of school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Jacob and Jasmine. after he did change the world tremendously and it's important that we made a day for him so everyone can remember and aknowledge what he did. If Martin Luther King jr. didn't change the whole world would be so complicated not being allowed to hang out with a person because of their color. I'm very glad Martin Luther King took a stand a put the movement to action. It's also very sad that many african amercians were severly injured or killed during the movement and time. The holiday is important to everyone to aknwoledge what he did. Like Jacob said some people dont even really understand why we were out of school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jasmine, but not completely. I don't think that we have come far enough. Yes, a lot of places in the world treat people equally. But there are still places that treat people differently because of race. I believe that it is very important that we celebrate Martin Luther King every year. One reason for that is because it keeps the dream alive. If Martin Luther King was alive today, I believe that he would be traveling around the world to the places that still treat people differently to try and tell them that "all people are equal." I completely agree with Jacob when he says that we should have a day about his learnings.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with every comment above. King sacrificed everything for the right of his people. I day of to recognize his importance to his race is the least we should do. Dr. King is remembered only in positive ways. He did a tremendous job of showing us, color doesn't matter, God made all equal. So before anyone (speaking of 1940s-70s "people") need to put themselves in his position and everyone else's position of that race. He made a difference, and racism is still a problem but having this day and recognition at public schools definitely slows it down (racism). At least once a year we need to sacrifice, to think for a day, about all those who sacrificed following the Civil rights movement. in response to Jake- Everyone needs to understand.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with everyone above, I do think that it is strongly important to set aside a day to remember all that Dr. King did. He changed many peoples lives for good, not bad. I agree that as students, and as a school we should all do as much as we can to keep the dream alive and keep educating the youth about his impact on our nation.
ReplyDeleteMLK is the reason we have Afircan Americans enjoying life just as much as we do. He revolted against seegregation and ended up with a great campaign. A wise man once said "A man who will not die for what he believes in is not worthy to live." King lived by this quote and got shot on the balcony of a hotel on April 4th 1968. Martin would be proud of the prgress we have made up to this point. Even though racial slurs and comments are still thrown around, the relationship between black and whites are magnifacently different. King changed all of this for us, there is no reason not to have a day in his memory. His ability to persuay through speech was marvoulus the the 17th century. In my opinion the youth should have at one point in time a chapter of his life.. A appropriate way to learn about his life and he formed the way we live today. Martin Luther had a dream... And he cnoquered that
ReplyDeleteMartin Luther King played an important role in our country in striving for free rights for African American citizens. Without him those citizens would hardly be citizens in that their rights would be horribly cut down. It is very important to reserve a day specifically for his remembrance as he is responsible for so many great things.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Logan, he didn't live in the 1600's.
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ReplyDelete8.