Discrimination: Martin Luther King, Jr., And Rosa Parks

Discrimination. To me, discrimination is putting someone down or treating them badly because of their race, gender, or sexuality. African Americans were tormented for a long period of time just because we had a darker skin tone than everyone else. We have advanced in society since this time. There were some African Americans, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks, who have had an impact on how we live today. We came from being at the bottom of the totem pole during slavery to being at the top when Barak Obama became the first African American President of the United States. The culture has changed in the ways people were treated in the past compared to the present day. The African American culture has had many struggles to face; from the 1800’s to present time. Long before slavery was abolished, African Americans were treated like a piece of gum on the bottom of someone’s shoe. Yet, African Americans did not give up. They kept striving for a better life for their children and grandchildren. Even though slavery was abolished, some people still did not want African Americans around. This is when everything became even more segregated. Colored people were not allowed to drink from the same water fountain, sit in the same area in a movie theater, use the same bathroom or even to be served in the same …show more content…
Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and many other African Americans have had a part in this movement. Martin held nonviolent protests and rallies. He gave a speech called ‘I Have a Dream’. In this speech, he basically said ‘we are not being treated right, but maybe one day my kids will be able to live in a better world than what we are living in now’. Rosa Parks became known when one day she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man causing Parks to be arrested. This motivated King to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a protest against segregated public facilities in Alabama that lasted for 381