As he’s remembered on today’s national holiday, most Americans will reflect on what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. did to improve the social circumstances of African Americans. But King’s goals for equality weren’t restricted to that one group alone. Neither were the successful results of his work.
While the discrimination present against that one sector of the population may have been the foundation of his work, King fought against all discrimination. And his efforts were not only successful, but continue to aid the entire public today, too. Note the examples of King’s efforts below.
Protecting All From Workplace Discrimination
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect African Americans alone from workplace discrimination; it protects everyone. Of all races and colors. And of all ethnicities and nationalities, of all faiths, and both sexes, too. And Martin Luther King, Jr. was a principal advisor to Presidents Jack Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson on the development of this Act.
The most recent court ruling that demonstrates this balance was offered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009’s Ricci v. Stefano case. White firefighters thought they were denied promotion based only on their ethnicity ? and won the case. The Civil Rights Act served as the platform of the complainants? argument.
Helping All Get A College Education
Educational programs that benefit those in need, such as Upward Bound, veterans? reintroduction to education, and Pell Grants, all come from the Higher Education Act of 1965, which was part of President Johnson’s ?War on Poverty.? And MLK was a principal advisor to LBJ on that Act, which continues to benefit millions of all races. Today, in fact, 46 percent of the 9.4 million Americans who receive Pell Grants, with eligibility determined solely by family income, are white.
Listen to President Johnson provide King with a brief update on the Act’s development by telephone in Nov. 1964:
Aiding All In Poverty
A program he suggested in 1965 to aid the poor would in turn benefit everyone, King said, and by expanding the U.S. economy and its marketplaces throughout. And while compensation for unpaid labor in slavery was its original goal, King said the benefits of this program should go to many more, too. In an interview on this subject, he said:
?In any case, I do not intend that this program of economic aid should apply only to the Negro:?it should benefit the disadvantaged of all races.?
Setting The Foundation For Peaceful Demonstrations By All
The late 1960s are known for protests and demonstrations that are today dubbed ?sit-ins? and ?love-ins,? and that grew in public acceptance at that time due to the peacefulness of their practice. It was King’s experience from earlier in that decade that set the foundation for others, though. And even though his public demonstrations were sometimes met with violent response, even from police, King remained adamant about the effectiveness of nonviolent protests.
Calling for ?peaceful protest and assembly? in his 1963 ?Letter from a Birmingham Jail,? King wrote:
?Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. [?] In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.?
King set the example that many others later followed, and continue today in practical, effective, peaceful demonstrations.
