You may be wondering why you don’t have classes next
Monday. The reason for this day off is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
But who is Martin Luther King Jr.?
Those of you who have taken the 1960’s class may already be familiar
with the Civil Rights Movement. Martin
Luther King Jr. was a major leader of this movement. The goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to
end racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. While slavery had ended a century before, African-Americans
continued to be treated differently and unequally from white Americans.
While there were also many other important figures
in the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. is perhaps the most
well-known, because of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In this speech, he expressed his dreams for
the future of the United States, with respect to equal rights and treatment of
everyone, regardless of skin color. As
one of the leaders of the movement, he encouraged non-violence in achieving the
movement’s goals.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 because of his controversial political actions. Every year, we honor him on the 3rd
Monday of January (close to his birthday) because of his bravery and the
changes that he helped make in this country.
Vocabulary:
Discrimination: Unfair treatment of a person or a
group of people differently from other people.
Segregation:
Keeping people of different races, religions, or other groups separate
from each other
(e.g. separate schools for African-Americans and whites)
Assassination:
Surprise murder of an important person, often for political reasons
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