Martin Luther King, Jr.
What did his protests have in common?
Martin Luther King, Jr. got involved in civil rights activities in Montgomery Alabama in 1955. At that time, the bus system was segregated, and a city law required that black people give up their seats on buses when white people wanted to sit in their seats or in the same row. King encouraged black people to boycott (refuse to use) the city buses. In a speech during the boycott, King emphasized that he did not want black people to use violence. He believed that a peaceful protest was “the only weapon we have.”
Terrorists bombed King’s home, but King still insisted on nonviolent protests. The bus boycott lasted over a year. In 1956, the US Supreme Court decided that segregation on Montgomery’s buses was unfair, and ordered the bus system to provide equal seating for all. The success of the boycott helped King become famous as a civil rights leader.
See a picture of a crowded bus station during the Bus Boycott
In 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. again helped organize peaceful protests. In Selma, Alabama, white officials were preventing black people from voting in elections. King organized a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to let people know of the problem. Police officers responded by using tear gas and clubs against the marchers. When this violence was seen on television news, people were shocked! King was determined to try the march again, but the President Johnson asked Congress to pass a bill that would make voting rights for blacks fair in Alabama and throughout the south. Within a few months, this bill became a law.
See a picture of King leading the march from Selma to Montgomery
In 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. began a protest in Chicago, Illinois. He wanted to help black people in Chicago who suffered from unemployment, bad housing, and poor schools. He wanted to stop the unfair rules that kept black people from living in many neighborhoods. With King leading them, many black people marched through white neighborhoods to let people know about this unfairness. Angry people in these white communities threw bottles and rocks at the marchers. Chicago officials promised King that they would encourage fair housing rules if King would stop the protests. King agreed to stop, and the Chicago protest ended.
See
a picture of parents protesting unfair schools in Chicago
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