Why does Martin Luther King Jr. have a holiday?

Answer 1

Doctor King led the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Taking his philosophy from Gandhi, he determined that the movement would be nonviolent...at least from the point of the African American point.

You see, in those times the Jim Crow laws were in effect. Schools were black and white, bus stops were segregated, even drinking fountains were labeled "white" and "colored". While the Civil War had officially ended slavery, the black citizens were treated as second class citizens. They had to pay to vote, get up on a bus when a white passenger wanted their seat, wait to eat if there were not enough seats labeled "colored" at a lunch counter, in essence they were still treated as slaves.

In the US, the laws had changed, but the attitudes had not. There was a small minority who still thought that people of color were not equal. They had been slaves, were stupid, and did not deserve the rights that white people had. Of the other people, most just never thought about it. They lived their lives and didn't think about how the black person felt trying to raise his/her family in dignity.

Dr. King changed that. He made the laws discriminating against African Americans very public and then pointed out that these people were war heros, entertainers, and public servants. In short, he made white people face the very real fact that they were no better or worse than the African Americans and that they needed to change the laws...and attitudes.

It was a very troubling time in the US. There was news coverage from the national television services showing peaceful African Americans protesting and being attacked by the police with water cannon, dogs, and the police themselves. We saw the footage from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and were outraged.

When Dr. King was assassinated, the country was shocked and dismayed. Laws were changed in short order, and the nation became more aware how it treated it's citizens. Some short years later, the unofficial celebration of Dr. King's birthday became a national holiday.

The reason is that his was the most influential contribution to civil rights in the US in the 20th century. We remember his contributions on that day, and celebrate the man who had the courage to speak out against laws which made second class citizens of a large minority of US citizens.

Answer 2

Doctor King led the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Taking his philosophy from Gandhi, he determined that the movement would be nonviolent...at least from the point of the African American point.

You see, in those times the Jim Crow laws were in effect. Schools were black and white, bus stops were segregated, even drinking fountains were labeled "white" and "colored". While the Civil War had officially ended slavery, the black citizens were treated as second class citizens. They had to pay to vote, get up on a bus when a white passenger wanted their seat, wait to eat if there were not enough seats labeled "colored" at a lunch counter, in essence they were still treated as slaves.

In the US, the laws had changed, but the attitudes had not. There was a small minority who still thought that people of color were not equal. They had been slaves, were stupid, and did not deserve the rights that white people had. Of the other people, most just never thought about it. They lived their lives and didn't think about how the black person felt trying to raise his/her family in dignity.

Dr. King changed that. He made the laws discriminating against African Americans very public and then pointed out that these people were war heros, entertainers, and public servants. In short, he made white people face the very real fact that they were no better or worse than the African Americans and that they needed to change the laws...and attitudes.

It was a very troubling time in the US. There was news coverage from the national television services showing peaceful African Americans protesting and being attacked by the police with water cannon, dogs, and the police themselves. We saw the footage from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and were outraged.

When Dr. King was assassinated, the country was shocked and dismayed. Laws were changed in short order, and the nation became more aware how it treated it's citizens. Some short years later, the unofficial celebration of Dr. King's birthday became a national holiday.

The reason is that his was the most influential contribution to civil rights in the US in the 20th century. We remember his contributions on that day, and celebrate the man who had the courage to speak out against laws which made second class citizens of a large minority of US citizens.