Martin Luther King and Race
40 Years after His Death, Race in America is Still an Issue
Martin Luther King sought justice and total racial equality for everyone. So, 40 years after his death, would he be satisfied with America's progress, or disappointed?
April 4, 2008 will mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, a tragic event in one of the darkest years in American history. King did more than anyone to improve race relations in this country. One can only wonder, however, how the civil rights leader would view race relations in 2008. Would he be happy with the progress over the last 40 years, or would he saddened by it?
The United States was obviously a very different time in the 1960s than it is today. African Americans were heavily discriminated against as a separate-but-equal philosophy permeated the country. They were denied the right to vote in many places with literacy tests and racists voting practices, ended only by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They were forced to eat in separate restaurants, sleep in separate motels, and forced to live in certain areas of town away from whites.
Forty years later, race relations are perceptibly different and things have changed for the better. Blacks and whites, regardless of the state, vote together, eat together, live together, and go to school with each other. African Americans hold high positions in both business and government. Currently, there are 40 congresspersons who are African American; there were only seven when King died. An African American currently holds a seat on the United States Supreme Court, and one—Barack Obama—has a legitimate chance at being the next president.
What this points to is an undeniable difference in American race relations and the fact that African Americans have overcome a great deal of adversity, thanks largely to the groundwork laid by King and other civil rights leaders.
King, while he would be happy with the country’s progress in the last 40 years, would also recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done to achieve the society that he so desperately sought. Hate crimes are still high, with over 66% of crimes based on race aimed at blacks, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI. Radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klan still exist, and wounds are continually opened up by comments similar to those of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And nothing is as great a reminder of how far the country has to go than incidents in Jena, Louisiana and Jasper, Texas.
Stepping back and taking a look at the big picture, America—sometimes in spite of itself—has made great strides in racial equality. After all, this is a country that condoned slavery for nearly 100 years and endorsed the principle of separate but equal for over 160 years. However, prejudice and animosity still linger. There are many who still face discrimination and bigotry for nothing more than the color of their skin. This should trouble all free-thinking Americans, not just those who are the brunt of the persecution. As King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
