The
greatest civil rights leaders of the world are strong, committed
people who fight fearlessly for social justice.
One
of the most successful crusaders for racial equality was
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King, a Baptist minister, was
outraged by a policy in Montgomery, Alabama that forced black
people to give up their bus seats to white people. In 1955,
he organized a bus boycott and a year later, the United State
Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to provide equal, integrated
seating on public buses. King preached non-violence in his work
to end racism and discrimination in public schools, transportation,
recreation and public facilities. Despite his peaceful approach,
white racists bombed his home and police dogs, fire hoses and
tear gas often interrupted the protests he led. These violent
responses, along with King's eloquent pleas for social justice,
won him the support of blacks and whites alike. Several civil
rights laws were enacted due to King's efforts and in 1964 he
won the Nobel Peace Prize. The world mourned in 1968 when this
civil rights pioneer was shot and killed in Memphis. Fifteen
years later, Congress established a federal holiday honoring
Martin Luther King.
Susan
B. Anthony was raised in a strict Quaker home, where she
was taught to value herself and her accomplishments and where
men and women were treated as equals. However, as an adult,
she discovered that 19th century American society was less fair-minded.
Anthony was fired from her first teaching job when she protested
that she was paid only one- fifth of what her male colleagues
earned. Later, she was denied the chance to speak at temperance
society meeting because she was a woman. These experiences fueled
her desire to fight for social change.
Anthony
was a tireless crusader for the women's suffrage movement, calling
for women's right to vote and own property. Her efforts were
rewarded in 1860 when New York State passed a law allowing women
to enter into contracts and control their own earnings and property.
However, when she and her supporters tried to vote in the 1872
presidential election, they were all arrested. Anthony continued
her campaign, writing about the women's movement and organizing
a national suffrage association. Her dedication opened many
professional fields to women by the end of the nineteenth century,
but she died before seeing her ultimate success. In 1920, Congress
adopted the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women throughout America
the right to vote.
He
wore the loincloth and shawl of the lowliest member of society,
but Mohandas Gandhi remains an immortal figure in civil
rights history. Gandhi developed a peaceful doctrine for political
and social change, which he first used after seeing the discrimination
of his fellow Indians in South Africa. Inspired by the teachings
of Jesus Christ and writers Leo Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau,
Gandhi began a campaign of civil disobedience to what he regarded
as unjust laws. He was imprisoned many times but his methods
were so successful that the South African government granted
the Indians some basic rights. Back in India, he worked to achieve
independence from the British, who had exploited his country
into poverty. He encouraged a boycott of British goods and institutions
and urged a return to Indian cottage industries, like spinning.
Gandhi also preached against the injustice of India's caste
system, especially the treatment of the Untouchables. He became
the symbol of a free India, living a simple and spiritual life
of prayer, fasting and meditation. In 1947, Gandhi saw his nation
finally free from British rule. The next year, he was assassinated
by a Hindu fanatic and his death was universally mourned. However,
Gandhi's ideas of non-violent protest endure and still inspire
civil rights causes around the world.
One
of the most successful crusaders for racial equality was
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King, a Baptist minister, was
outraged by a policy in Montgomery, Alabama that forced black
people to give up their bus seats to white people. In 1955,
he organized a bus boycott and a year later, the United State
Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to provide equal, integrated
seating on public buses. King preached non-violence in his work
to end racism and discrimination in public schools, transportation,
recreation and public facilities. Despite his peaceful approach,
white racists bombed his home and police dogs, fire hoses and
tear gas often interrupted the protests he led. These violent
responses, along with King's eloquent pleas for social justice,
won him the support of blacks and whites alike. Several civil
rights laws were enacted due to King's efforts and in 1964 he
won the Nobel Peace Prize. The world mourned in 1968 when this
civil rights pioneer was shot and killed in Memphis. Fifteen
years later, Congress established a federal holiday honoring
Martin Luther King.
Susan
B. Anthony was raised in a strict Quaker home, where she
was taught to value herself and her accomplishments and where
men and women were treated as equals. However, as an adult,
she discovered that 19th century American society was less fair-minded.
Anthony was fired from her first teaching job when she protested
that she was paid only one- fifth of what her male colleagues
earned. Later, she was denied the chance to speak at temperance
society meeting because she was a woman. These experiences fueled
her desire to fight for social change.
He
wore the loincloth and shawl of the lowliest member of society,
but Mohandas Gandhi remains an immortal figure in civil
rights history. Gandhi developed a peaceful doctrine for political
and social change, which he first used after seeing the discrimination
of his fellow Indians in South Africa. Inspired by the teachings
of Jesus Christ and writers Leo Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau,
Gandhi began a campaign of civil disobedience to what he regarded
as unjust laws. He was imprisoned many times but his methods
were so successful that the South African government granted
the Indians some basic rights. Back in India, he worked to achieve
independence from the British, who had exploited his country
into poverty. He encouraged a boycott of British goods and institutions
and urged a return to Indian cottage industries, like spinning.
Gandhi also preached against the injustice of India's caste
system, especially the treatment of the Untouchables. He became
the symbol of a free India, living a simple and spiritual life
of prayer, fasting and meditation. In 1947, Gandhi saw his nation
finally free from British rule. The next year, he was assassinated
by a Hindu fanatic and his death was universally mourned. However,
Gandhi's ideas of non-violent protest endure and still inspire
civil rights causes around the world.