How Did Martin Luther King Jr Impact On Race Relations

443 Words2 Pages
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Being both a civil-rights activist and a Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr. had an impact on race relations in the United States in the mid-1950s. King played a big role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation through his activism. This prompt the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Among other honors Martin Luther King Jr. received the Noble Piece Prize in 1964. In April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Martin Luther King Jr. life had a major role on race relations in the United States. Even years after his death King is well known…show more content…
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their skin but by their content of their character. “Martin Luther King, Jr. / “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963 Another famous speech from Kings legacy came on April 3, 1968 where he told supporters at a labor strike in Memphis “I’ve seen the promise land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promise land.” This would be his last famous speech. The very next day while King was standing on a balcony outside his motel room at the Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King was assassinated by a sniper bullet that was shot by James Earl Ray. In closing statements I will quote a piece from Martin Luther King’s Jr. first speech where King declared “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feelings that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and
Open Document