In both Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and the diaries of the Freedom Writers, the definition of equality is established as all people, regardless of race or other characteristics, having the same rights. King’s letter primarily addresses the segregation of blacks from whites in the 1950’s and 1960’s, while the Freedom Writers’ diaries discuss various discriminations and injustices faced in the 1990’s. Despite the two texts being from different eras, they portray the same meaning of equality. Rather than directly defining equality, both texts define the inequalities that are faced by minorities in order to show what must be changed to achieve equality. The authors themselves are among the minority groups that experience
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King brings forward that, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” He establishes that equality is a right, and ridicules the fact that simple tasks are still so hard to accomplish because of racial divides. In the same manner, the author of the Freedom Writers’ diary 29 explains discrimination that occurred after he had worked to earn his place on a field trip at school. He had been asked to live up to entirely different expectations than his peers, simply based upon his skin color. In his diary, he wrote that, “We were actually being denied the right to participate in the field trip because we were not wearing ties by that teacher that had talked to us a day earlier. I was in complete shock. I had worked so hard to get to the awaited moment only to be told that I could not participate because of my appearance.” This discrimination, though seemingly minor, left the author of diary 29 deeply hurt. Both authors used one minor event to represent the larger issues at hand regarding …show more content…
Despite being from two vastly different eras and numerous different backgrounds, King and the authors of the Freedom Writers diaries came to the same conclusion about the real meaning of equality. They believed that regardless of race, social status, economic status, or other characteristics, people should all be treated the same way. They shared their own experiences and insights to show the inequalities minorities face, rather than focusing on the privileges oppressors face. Today, we still have the same definition of equality. Yet, have we really achieved it? Discriminatory behavior and racism are still rampant in many places, and we still let both the large and small issues inhibit equal rights. While things have changed drastically and we have made progress in the past years and decades, we still have not come close to true equality as both King and the authors of the Freedom Writers diaries envisioned it. How long will it take for all people to be viewed as people, rather than just their skin color or economic
King brings forward that, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” He establishes that equality is a right, and ridicules the fact that simple tasks are still so hard to accomplish because of racial divides. In the same manner, the author of the Freedom Writers’ diary 29 explains discrimination that occurred after he had worked to earn his place on a field trip at school. He had been asked to live up to entirely different expectations than his peers, simply based upon his skin color. In his diary, he wrote that, “We were actually being denied the right to participate in the field trip because we were not wearing ties by that teacher that had talked to us a day earlier. I was in complete shock. I had worked so hard to get to the awaited moment only to be told that I could not participate because of my appearance.” This discrimination, though seemingly minor, left the author of diary 29 deeply hurt. Both authors used one minor event to represent the larger issues at hand regarding …show more content…
Despite being from two vastly different eras and numerous different backgrounds, King and the authors of the Freedom Writers diaries came to the same conclusion about the real meaning of equality. They believed that regardless of race, social status, economic status, or other characteristics, people should all be treated the same way. They shared their own experiences and insights to show the inequalities minorities face, rather than focusing on the privileges oppressors face. Today, we still have the same definition of equality. Yet, have we really achieved it? Discriminatory behavior and racism are still rampant in many places, and we still let both the large and small issues inhibit equal rights. While things have changed drastically and we have made progress in the past years and decades, we still have not come close to true equality as both King and the authors of the Freedom Writers diaries envisioned it. How long will it take for all people to be viewed as people, rather than just their skin color or economic