preview

How Did Martin Luther King Contribute To The Pursuit Of Equality

Decent Essays

Many individuals view America as a place of equality and ample amounts of opportunity. However, America has not always been the image that it portrays. For example, the Declaration of Independence states that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But, these, “unalienable rights,” were not granted to women or the other minorities. Thus, the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, and nearly 200 years later, African Americans were still being discriminated against because of their skin color. Thus, Martin Luther King Jr. became one of the most influential people of all time to try to create true equality for all. Growing up, Martin Luther King Jr. was always part of some church. His father was a pastor of a local Baptist church and Martin functioned as a co-pastor. This means that he would sometimes have to speak to large crowds of people. This experience of being a co-pastor would help aid his leadership style because he was considered a great speaker. Growing up, Marin Luther King attended segregated …show more content…

utilized faith to help aid his movement. For example, he stated that, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” I believe that he tries to utilizes faith to demonstrate that Jesus tried to teach that everyone should be treated equal and not judged on their skin appearance. Furthermore, I believe he utilized faith because many people back then were associated with the church. Therefore, by appealing to the people associated with the church, he could connect to them on a religious level and could challenge their beliefs, by comparing their actions to Jesus’s teachings. Thus, he was able to alter views because he was able to show that segregation and not being treated equally based on skin color, went against what Jesus

Get Access