What is social injustice? Social injustice is a generalized term that includes discrimination, racism, equal rights and more. According to Martin Luther King Jr in his “Letter From Birmingham Jail'' he brings up social injustice. The reason for writing the letter to my understanding is why he is in there, and why things like this happen to someone who is trying to change rights. King took a trip down to Birmingham Alabama for a non violent protest. Where people were treated unequally, where racism was a very real thing going on. Even today we still see racism around us. Many people among MLK, like Rosa Parks joined the movement to end segregation. A few years back all you would see on the news is a colored person being killed by white police officer. This being said, social injustice still exists today and we most definitely see it happening, but we are just too afraid to speak up. It’s almost like we have not grown out of the mindset from the 1960’s.
Martin Luther King Jr was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement. According to Clayborne Carson and David Lewis in “Martin Luther King Jr” he was the person that ended segregation for colored people. Racism was most definitely a huge thing back then, With every colored person being treated unequally throughout the states and perhaps the whole country. There would be “whites only bathrooms” like people having the privilege to actually use the bathroom. Why should there be different bathrooms for people with different skin color? After all we are the same right? Even on busses for instance, colored people were not able to sit at places they wanted. There were specific places for them to sit at, like why should this even be a thing. People who participated in the demonstrations were often harassed by police, the police would use fire hoses and dogs to hurt the demonstrators but they did not stop.
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In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr brings up really good points. It explains a lot on how he ended segregation for colored people, and led the Civil Rights Movement. King Jr explains why he was in Birmingham “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here”(King), for the most part we all know why he was doing this, was to end segregation. Another good point he brings up is that white power was so enforced that colored people really had no other options for anything but to listen and do what they say. King also stated “We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-Given rights”(King). Its crazy to believe that for this long they were not given their rights as humans and more importantly not being treated equally. Basically saying that even when they were born their rights were automatically taken away from them.
What the Birmingham Campaign led to was the March On Washington, which was one of Kings most famous accomplishments with many more to come. It was where more than 200,000 people crowded the Lincoln Memorial, whites, blacks and other races gathered to hear what King had to say, almost as if race did not have to be involved. It was just a man fighting for rights for colored people. This is where one of Martin Luther King Jr famous “I Have a Dream” speeches was spoken. In the speech he stated “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”(King).This is huge, our world should not even have came down to this. Everyone should be treated equally and not be judged by the way they look, everybody is born different. Of course many people will disagree with King and his movements and protest. I do believe that what he did for everyone was a very good thing. Everything he did gave colored people a purpose to fight for their rights, and not to be broken down by the “whites” every single day of their lives, both physically and mentally. King was trying to send a message to the world to end racism as a whole, and to let them know he will not stop till it ends.
Martin Luther King Jr's message to end segregation was one of the greatest in the history of segregation. According to Clayborne Carson, Both his speech and his non violent protest in Birmingham sparked a revolution to end segregation. His message clearly was sent with all of his protest he has led against racism, many people joined him and other leaders throughout their protest. After all of King's accomplishments, he was eventually assassinated by James Earl Ray, and he was sentenced to basically life in prison; 99 years.
According to Biography Editors, Rosa Parks got arrested for not giving her seat up to a white passenger. Rosa was fighting for her god given rights and not trying to be different from others. But it did not work out in her favor whatsoever. Eventually what this did for the people in Montgomery, Alabama was start the “Montgomery Bus Boycott”. Rosa was also someone who wanted to end segregation as much as MLK. For the “boycott” the African American people would not take the bus anymore to school or work. They would just walk or get a taxi to take them. After 381 days, the boycott put on eventually won, and what happened on the bus was deemed unconstitutional by the supreme court. With all the boycotts and protest, the whites would retaliate and burn down black churches and eventually they would bomb Kings house. The boycott was one of the successful protests in history to end segregation.
Social Injustice is still in our lives today, even though it has most definitely slowed down throughout the years. This should not even be a problem in our world at any point in time, we should all be treated equally and not be judged. We as a whole, still admire what Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks did to end segregation. Throughout their journey has been nothing but hardship and violence towards them. The “whites” did not see what they saw, what they saw was people that did not look like them trying to invade their own space and take their jobs. MLK and Rosa had a different vision, they wanted equal rights for colored people and in the end that is what they got.
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