5-1 Discussion Contingency of Dr. King PDF

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The murder of Dr. King had two effects on the civil rights movement I will discuss. Dr. King's murder created a loss of distinct leadership. Many leaders looking to take his place lost sight of the goals that Dr. King kept in front of the country with precision focus. Various leaders were more concerned with cultivating their own agendas or becoming the "next Dr. King", than continuing his agenda of defending the poor and fighting for racial justice. Conversely, the anger sparked by Dr. King’s assassination resulted in the outbreak of violence nationwide, 125 American cities in 29 states were engulfed in violence. Some like Stokely Carmichael, called for a political revolution or Elijah Muhammad for complete segregation and denouncing the non-violent movement. Had Dr. King lived I believe the movement would not have been as effective. As much as I would have preferred for Dr. King to have lived, his death forced the country to act. The United States could no longer straddle the fence on racial equality. In order to quell the civil unrest in the country, President Johnson pushed the civil rights legislation. King's death also forced African Americans to abandon looking for a single leader to lead the movement for civil rights and racial equality. Ashamedly, it has taken close to 50 years for African Americans to reach that conclusion. However, the Black Lives Matter movement is a product of the loss of King's voice and has proven that many voices together can make real change. It has awakened and energized young activists to once again fight for equality. Today, as in the 1965 protest and yes, violence has advanced racial justice and equality more in the last three months than in 30-40 years....