Martin

Luther

KING
Alan C. McLean

Oxford Bookworms Factfiles

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
GDP

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2

Oxford University Press is a department the University's of the University objective of

No unauthorized Ali rights reserved. reproduced,

photocopying may be

of Oxford. excellence

It furthers

No part of this publication

in research, scholarship, and education by publishing world wide in Oxford New York Cape Town Chennai

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in 3n)' form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as express ly pennitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriatc rcprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction olltside thc scope of the above shnuld be sent to the EL T Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulare this book in any other binding or

Auckland

Rangkok

Buenos Aires

Oar es Salaam Oelhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Taipei Tokyo Toronto English are registered Shanghai

Oxford

and Oxford

trade marks

eover and Y0tl must impose this S3mc condition on any

acqlllrcr

of Oxford

University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

Any wcbsites referred to in this publicatioll

arc in the

Oxford Database

University

Press 2001 Press (maker)

public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only. Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility content. for the

right Oxford

University

First published 2001 Second impression 2003

ISBN O 19423363
Printed OXFORD BOOKWORMS series, please refer to the Oxford

in Hong Kong

For a full list of titles in ali the Oxford Oxford Original Bookworms readers Facdiles

Rookworms

English catalogue.

giving varied and

Stage 2 (700 headwords) Football Steve FIi1,ders Forty Years of Pop Steve Flinders Ireland Tim Vieary !-Iopkins and Oxford Andy Joe Potter Polluti0l1

Recycling Rosemary Border The USA Alison Baxter Stage 4 (1400 headwords) ~isaster! Mary Mcl11tosh Escott Libr3l'Y Great Crimes john Oxford Bookworms

interesting information abollt a range of non-fiction topics. Titles available include: Stage 1 (400 headwords) Animals in Danger and joe Potter Andy !-Io/lkins

Rosemary

Border

Rainforests ROtUena Akinyemi Seasons and Celebra tions jackie Maguire UFOs /-Ielen Brcoke Under the Ground Rosemary Border

Diana, Princess of Wales Tim Vicary Flight Michael Dean Kings and Queens of Rritain Tim Vicary London john Escott New York John Escott Scotland Steve F1inders Titanic Tim Vicary

Original stories and adaptatiolls of c1assic and modern fiction. Oxford Bookworms Playscripts

Original plays and adaptations of c1assic and modern drama. Oxford Bookworms Collection

Stage 3 (1000 headwords) Australia and New Zealand Christine Lindop Escott The Cinema john

Fiction by weil known c1assic and modern 3uthors. Texrs arc not abridged or simplified in any way.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author and publisher wOllld like to thank the following for the use of photographs and artwork:

Art Archive p 4 (slave ship, slave market); Associated Press pp 11 (King speaks to media), 13 (George Wallace), 24 (strike); Camera Press PP 1 (porrrait by Karsh), 15, 20 (Malcolm X); Corbis, co ver and pp 6-7 (WWJl), 7 (jazz), 9 (Alabama), 10, 11 (jail), 18 (march), 19 (church, Nobel Prize), 20 (Huey Newton), 22, 26, 27; Hulton Getty pp 5 (L'Ollverture), 6 (Lincoln, Williamsburg), 14-15, 23 (ghetto); Magnum Photographs PP 3, 9 (King and family), 13 (LinJe Rock), 17, 20 (dolis), 23 (Vietnam protesr); Popperfoto l' 8; Redfems l' 21; Topham Picturepoint pp 16 (police, hosepipes), 25; Martin Ursell l' 5 (map).

1 A man from Alabama

In 1963 a Baptist minister from Alabarna in the South of the United States led a march of 250,000 people to Washington, the nation's capital. There he made a famous speech. '1 have a dream,' he said. He dreamed of the day when black people and white people would live together in peace. The marchers cheered him. Some cried. The speech was shown on television aU over the world. The minister became famous. MiUions of people loved this man. Yet there were als o people who hated this man. Less than five years after his speech in Washington was shot dead. he remembered as one of the greatest century. Americans of the twentieth

Who was this man? Why did so many people love him? Why did others hate him? This man's name was Martin Luther King.

When people heard of his death, there was much sadness. But there was also anger. Black people in cities like Chicago and Washington rioted. They burned buildings and fought the police. Many black people were kiUed in the se riots. Fifteen years after his death, the American government made his birthday a national holiday. Today he is

Growing up in Atlanta
Change would come. The young Martin did not agree with his father. He had already known racism. When he was very small, he played with a little white boy who lived across the street. When Martin started school, he looked for his friend, but he was not at his school. After school, he went to his friend's house. The boy's mother said that Martin could not play with his friend any more, because he was black and his friend was white. When Martin came home that day, he was crying. He told his mother what had happened. 'No matter what the rest of world thinks,' she told him, 'you're as good as anyone else. Don't you ever forget that!' Martin never forgot his mother's words. But he saw how badly white people treated black people in Atlanta. Once when he was in town he walked into a white woman. She hit him on the face. When someone

Martin Luther King was born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was the minister of the local church. The King family were not poor. They lived in a good part of Atlanta and they had enough money to live comfortably. When Martin thought about his childhood, he remembered a loving family and a friendly neighbourhood. But the Kings were black and in the South black people did not have the same rights as white people. Blacks and whites lived in different worlds. On buses in the South, blacks had to sit in the back of the bus. They could not sit beside whites. Most restaurants were closed to black customers. There were different schools for black and white children. This way of keeping blacks and whites away from each other was called 'segregation'. Martin's father said that segregation was wrong, but that things would get better. He said that white people would change. Black people had to be patient and wait.

asked why she had slapped him, the woman replied, 'That little black bastard stepped on my foot.' The slap hurt Martin, but the name she called him hurt even more. When he started high school Martin began to speak in public. He was used to speaking in church, but at school he talked about the need

Martin was fourteen years old, for change in the South. When he wan first prize in a speaking competition. He went to Washington to get his prize. On the way back to Atlanta a white man gat on his bus. The bus was full and the driver asked Martin to get up and give the white man his seat. Martin refused. Why should he give up his seat for someone else, just because he was white? The bus driver was angry and called him names. At la st Martin gave up his seat because he did not want to make trouble for his teacher. But he was angry. He did not want to hate white people, but it was hard not to. He realized that things would not get better unless black people fought for their rights.
Segregation

3 Slavery and the South

In 1929 when Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, most black people in America lived in the South. In every way their lives were worse than the lives of Southern whites. They were poorer, they lived in worse houses, their lives were shorter. Most blacks in the South could not vote. Some black people who were alive in 1929 had been slaves. They had belonged to their white owners. They were treated like things, not people. Slaves could be bought and sold like houses or land. Sla very was not new. Thousands of years ago there were slaves in Rome and Athens. They worked on farms and in the houses of rich people. But in the sixteenth century people from European countries like Britain, Spain, and Portugal began to move into North and South America. Men and women were taken from their homes in Africa and brought to the Americas to work on farms and on roads. Between 1500 and 1800 European ships to ok more than twelve million slaves from Africa to North and South America. The sIaves were crowded together on the ships. They did not have enough food, water, or air. Thousands of Africans died on these
A slave ship A slave market

slave ships. When African sla ves

arrived in America, they were sold to farmers. Of ten people from the same

Martin Luther King

5
II

family were sold to different owners. They never saw each other again. ~ Most sl~ves were soldTheylandowners III the South. to worked on big farms. The work was so hard that many slaves died after a few years. If slaves tried to run away, they were beaten and sometimes killed. Many slaves fought against the slave-owners. 1791 a slave called Toussaint L'Ouverture led an army of black slaves against French soldiers on the island of Haiti. Toussaint died in a French prison, but in 1804 Haiti became the first free black country. More and more people in Europe and America thought that slavery was wrong. Britain
Toussaint L'Ouverture In

x
~~~:~ '/ ~

~(tlves

{Soo

..
~./J>;

dd

+~.-= ~

~'tvv

Pil7Q ~77-hb

/h

ended the buying and selling of slaves in 1807. A year later America did the same. But it was still possible to own slaves. White slave owners in the South of the United States of America refused to free their slaves. And they were ready to fight for their right to own slaves.

4 War in America
Abraham Lincoln was elected South was ended in 1865. Now there were no more black slaves in America. But black people in the South did not have the same rights as white people. Blacks could not go to white schools and there were very few schools for blacks. Blacks could not go to the same shops or resta urants as whites. When blacks did try
Abraham
Lincoln

President of the United States in 1861. He wanted to end slaveowning in America. The South wanted to keep their slaves. The Southern states decided to leave the United States of America The North and South went to war 1861. More than 180,000 black soldiers fought for the North. In five years of terrible fighting, more than haH amillion soldiers were killed. The North won the war and slavery in the
The Battle of Williamsburg, 1862

to speak up for their rights, they often faced white violence. In the 1890s more

Martin

Luther King

than 1,000 blacks were killed by whites. Most blacks were too frightened to tell the police. Many moved to the cities of the North. In the twentieth century, blacks

entered the Second World War. Black soldiers fought bravely for their country, but the American army was segregated. Black soldiers did not fight beside white soldiers. But black soldiers had seen countries where black people had the same rights as white people. When these black soldiers returned to America, they wanted equal rights for themselves. World War II was a war against racist ideas. Many whites in America realized that their own country was racist. Blacks began to vote and white politicians began to listen to them. Black people in America were ready for some one to lead them toward'S freedom and equality. They were ready for Martin Luther King.
Jazz

began to play a more important part in the life of America. New schools and universities for blacks opened.

J azz, the music of black people, became popular alI over the world. Harlem, a black part of New York City, bec ame the centre for black music and black writers. The great black runner, Jesse Owens, won gold medals for America at the 1936 Olympic Games. But once aga in the greatest changes in the lives of black people carne from a war. In 1941 America
Black soldiers in 1944

5 Learning
When Martin was fifteen, he went to Morehouse College in Atlanta. He was a clever young man and he did weIl at school. Martin's father wanted him to be a minister, but at first Martin said 'No'. He was in the North. There were many white students at the college, but they were friendly to Martin. Martin realized that black people and white people did not have to hate each other. But how could he make white people in the South see this? He wan ted to change their minds. But how could he do this? In his last year in college, Martin went to a hear a ta lk about the Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi and his followers had fought against the British in India. But they had not
Non-violent protest

fought with guns. They used non-violent ways of fighting. Gandhi thought that love was more powerful than hate. 'If you love your enemies, you can beat them,' he said. Martin was excited by Gandhi's words. Could black people in the South end segregation using violence? Martin continued without

learning exciting new ideas from his teachers at Morehouse. Perhaps he would be a teacher himself one day? But slowly Martin began to change his mind. He would be a minister like his father - but he would be a teacher too. He went to a college for ministers in Pennsylvania,

his studies at

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King's life, he and Coretta worked together to fight segregation in the South. In 1954 the Kings moved back to the South. Martin became minister of a church in Montgomery, Alabarna. Things were beginning to ch ange in the South. New laws against segregation were passed. But white people in the South decided to fight against these laws. Clearly, there was going to be trouble in the South. And the trouble began in Martin Luther King's new home Montgomery, Alabarna.

Martin Luther King, Coretta, and their first child

Boston University. He completed a Ph.D. Now he was Dr Martin Luther King. His family were very proud of him. But Martin was lonely in the North. He felt far from his home. Then some friends introduced him to a young woman from the South. Her name was Coretta Scott. They fell in love and married in 1953. Soon they started a family. For the rest of
White protesters

ALA6AM WHIT

10

6 The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks to give up her seat to a white person. Rosa Parks refused. 'I'm tired and my feet hurt,' she said. 'I'm not going to give up my seat for anyone.' 'If you don't give up your seat, I'm going to call the police,' the driver said. 'Then call the police,' said Rosa. 'I'm not moving.' So the driver called the police and Rosa Parks was arrested and put in
jail.

The arrest of Rosa Parks made the

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was a young black woman who worked in a shop in Montgomery. Every day she took the bus to and from her work. She worked hard and at the end of the day she was tired. One day in December 1955 Rosa Parks got on the bus and sat in a seat at the front. More and more people got on the bus. Soon there were no more seats. White people were standing. The driver stopped the bus and asked

black people in Montgomery very angry. Black leaders turned to Martin Luther King for help. What could they do to end segregation on Montgomery's buses? The leaders met in Martin Luther King's church. Martin said that black people should boycott the buses in Montgomery. If black people refused to ride in the buses, the bus company would have to put an end to segregation on their buses. When the meeting finished, Martin was worried. Would the bus

Martin Luther King ta/ks to the newspapers

boycott succeed? Most black people did not have cars. How would they get to work? Perhaps many black people would lose their jobs. Martin Luther King did not sleep weH that night. Next morning Martin and Coretta got up and looked out the window. There was a bus stop in front of their house. They waited for the first bus to come. How many people would be on the bus? The first bus carne - and it was empty. Then the second bus carne - and it was empty too! It was the sa me aH over Montgomery. Black people walked Martin. They thought he was One night someone left a but luckily no one was dangerous. It exploded, hurt.
Martin Luther King in jai/

bomb outside the King family home.

The bus company was losing money, but it would not change its policy. The boycott leaders took their case to a judge. On 20 December, 1956, the judge said that segregation in buses was against the law. The boycott had succeeded!

to work or stayed at home. The bus boycott lasted for a year. Many black people, including Martin, were arrested and put in jail. Some white people were angry with

12

7 Big trouble in littie Rock

The Montgomery bus boycott made Martin famous. But Martin knew that Montgomery was only the but there only way to win the fight for black rights. In Montgomery, the boycott had been non-violent. The black people of Montgomery had not

beginning. Black people had won their fight in Montgomery, were other fights to be won in the South. Black people needed to organize themselves if they wan ted to win their rights. In 1957 hundreds of Southern black church leaders met together. They discussed their ideas. At the meeting Martin said that black people had to work together to fight for their rights. They had to be united. 'United we stand, divided we faU,' was one of Martin's favourite sayings. The church leaders formed an organization Christian caUed the Southern Conference

fought the police. They had simply refused to accept unfair treatment. They had won because they were right, not because they were violent. There were many other things in the South which needed to change. Schools were segregated: white children went to aU-white schools, black children went to aU-black schools. Although there were more black children than white children, much more money was spent on white schools than on black schools.
In 1954 the law was changed. Now

Leadership

it was against the law to have different schools for black and white children. The new law said that black and white children had to go to the same schools. But change was slow in coming to the South. In many Southern states, white people refused to obey the new law. In Alabama and Arkansas, the state governors tried to stop black

(SCLC). Martin Luther King became the president of SCLC. Their aim was to fight for the rights of black people in the South. Martin wrote a book to explain his ideas. In his book, he talked about the teachings of Gandhi. Martin believed that non-violence was the

Stopping black children entering school in Alabama

children entering white schools. In Little Rock, Arkansas, white people rio ted on the streets. The President of the USA sent in 1,000 soldiers to stop the riots.

Every morning nine black children walked to Little Rock High School. Every morning soldiers guarded them as they walked through of angry whites. crowds

Going to school in Arkansas

14

A new start?

The year 1960 was important for black people in America. Martin was busier than ever. He decided to move back to his father's church in Atlanta. He spent half of his time working in his church and the other half working for SCLC. Martin's policy of non-violent protest was becoming more popular with those who wanted to end segregation in the South. In this year black people found a new way of protesting - 'sitting-in'. Black people in the South could not eat in the same restaurants as whites. One day in February 1960, four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina, walked into a restaurant. They sat down at a table and asked for lunch. The waitress refused to take their order. The students refused to leave the restaurant. They began a 'sit-in'. Soon other students joined them. The Greensboro students were arrested, but the sit-ins did not stop. Soon there were sit-ins at white restaurants aU over the South. White

Sitting-in at a white restaurant

students from the North traveUed to the South to join the sit-ins. When students held a sit-in at an Atlanta restaurant in October 1960, Martin Luther King joined them. He was arrested and put in pnson. Martin was not sorry to go to jail. Like Gandhi, he believed that bad laws should not be obeyed. If the law is unfair, he argued, then it is right to break it. It is better not to obey a bad law than to obey it.

15

John F. Kennedy becomes President

If this means going to prison, then you have to accept that. But Martin's Martin's family and friends were afraid for him. They knew that life was in danger in prison. He had many enemies and some people wanted to kill him. In the South in 1960 it was not difficult to kill a black prisoner. Coretta King went to Senator John F. Kennedy for help. Kennedy asked the judge to set Martin free and the judge agreed. One month later, in November,

1960, John F. Kennedy became President of the United States. The country was filled wi th hope. The new young President pro mis ed a new start. Surely now the bad laws would be changed and black people in the South would be free at last? But most white people in the South still did not wa nt change. They were ready to fight to keep their way of life. The road to freedom was not going to be short or easy.

16

9 The march on Washington

In 1963, Martin began to work in Birmingham, Alabarna. Birmingham was one of the worst cities in the country for black people. The chief of the Birmingham police was a man called Bull Connor. When the SCLC organised protests in Birmingham, Connor's policemen beat the protesters and set dogs on them. Hundreds of protesters were hurt. Young people wanted to join the protesters in Birmingham. Students carne from universities all over America to join in the protests. School children wanted to help too. Freedom was as important to them as it was to their parents. Some black leaders were afraid that these young children would be hurt by the police. But Martin's reply was,
Protesters in Birmingham

Martin Luther King

17

'Segregation will hurt them even more.' On May 2, 1963, a thousand children joined a protest march through Birmingham. At first the police were too surprised to do anything. But next day the police carne with powerful hoses. Men, wo men, and children were knocked down by the power of the water. When the protests were shown on television, people were shocked by the violence of the Birmingham police. Americans saw police attacking black people just because they wanted the same rights as white people. People alI over the country knew that this was not right. They realized that things had to change. In the summer of 1963, civil rights leaders organised the biggest protest march of alI. They wan ted people from alI over the country to go to Washington DC and ask for equal rights for black Americans. More than 200,000 marched on Washington. Martin Luther King stood in front of the statue of

'1have a dream ... '

Abraham Lincoln and made the most famous speech of his life. '1 have a dream,' he said. His dream was of an America where blacks and whites would be equal and live together in peace. The speech was shown on television alI over the world. People cried when they heard Martin's words. Things must change now, they thought. Martin's dream would surely come true. The country was full of hope in the future of America. But later in that year, 1963, America was once again shocked by violence.

18

10 'This country is sick!'

A month after Martin's Washington speech, there was more violence. Again the place was Birmingham. bomb was thrown into a black church and four little black girls were killed. It was hard to believe that there was so much hate in America. And it was hard for Martin to persuade people that non-violence was the best way to fight those who hated. Especially when more violence followed. On 22 November, 1963, President A Kennedy weIl and worked wi th him. They had argued about the be st way of getting equal rights for blacks, but they had agreed that equality must come soon. Like most Americans, Martin was

shocked by Kennedy's death. 'This country is sick,' he said. There were times when he thought he too might be killed one day. He wondered about the new president. Lyndon Johnson came from or would

the South. Would he follow Kennedy's policy on ending segregation he change it? Only time would tell.

John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas, Texas. Martin had known
The march

to

Montgomery

19

Birmingham.

A church stood here

The Nobel Peace Prize

After his Washington speech, Martin became famous alI over the world. When people thought of the fight for civil rights in America, they thought of Martin Luther King. In 1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights work. He was only thirty-five years old - the youngest person ever to win this great prize. Meanwhile Martin's work continued. In the South there were very few elected black leaders. This was because very few blacks were registered to vote. In Mississippi, for example, only 7% of blacks were registered to vote. When blacks tried to register, they were often turned away. Martin realized that getting blacks to vote was the best way of changing the segregation laws in the South. One of the worst states for registering black voters was

Alabama. More than 300,000 black voters were not registered. Martin was asked to help register black voters in Selma, Alabama. Day after day, black people marched to the law courts in Selma. The police tried to stop them. They beat the protesters and one man was killed. Martin decided to lead a march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama. More than thir ty thousand people joined the march. The state governor, George Wallace, refused to meet the marchers. But the government in Washington heard what the marchers were saying. Later that year, Martin Luther King was present when President Johnson signed a law to protect the rights of aU Americans to vote.

20

11 'I'm black and I'm proud!'

Proud

to

be black

Supporters

of Huey Newton

Malcolm

The 1960s were a time of great change in America. Young people aU over America were asking questions. parents. Young blacks were impatient for change. Although they knew that Martin Luther King had worked hard for equal rights, they thought that change was too slow in coming. They wanted power for black people and they did not want to ask politely for it. They did not wa nt to become just like their

If necessary, they would use violence.

In 1966 Bobby Seale and Huey Newton formed the Black Panthers.

The Panthers said that blacks should buy guns and defend themselves against attacks by whites. Seale and Newton were arrested and put into prison. After a few years, the Black Panthers broke up. But the Panthers made many young AfricanAmericans proud to be black. They started to learn about Africa, eat

African food, wear African clothes. Another group which wanted a different America for blacks was the Black Muslims. The Black Muslims had followed the teachings of Islam for many years. But in the 1960s they too changed their views. One of their leaders was Malcolm X. He did not agree wi th non-violent protest.

Like the Black Panthers, Malcolm X wanted blacks to be strong and defend themselves against attackwi th guns, if necessary. He thought that blacks should help themselves. They should not accept help from whites. Violence was necessary when you were fighting for your rights. Many young blacks agreed with Malcolm's ideas more than with Martin Luther King's. They were angry that they still did not have the same rights as whites.
POOT

Stevie Wonder

showed Americans what the lives of black people were like. In The Fire

Next Time, Baldwin warned of

terrible violence to come if whites did not change their ways. The black musician Stevie Wonder sang about a young boy who was born in the South but moved to Chicago to find work. He finds that in the North he is free - but free only to be were angry?
pOOT.

blacks

living in the big cities of the North did not just wa nt to be able to vote. They wanted better houses and more jobs. In the 60s, many important black writers and musicians became popular in America. Writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison

Was it any wonder that young blacks

22

12 Blackand white. unite

The late 1960s were a time of change for Martin Luther King too. He began to see that there were many different kinds of violence. Martin was from the South and he wan ted freedom and equality for the blacks of the South. But life for blacks in Northern cities was not

easy either. Blacks in the North could go to the same schools as whites, but many black children did not finish school. Most Northern blacks were poor. Many had no job to go to when they left school. Many carne from one-parent families and lived in buildings that were old and dirty. It seemed to Martin that there was a kind a violence in this. He took his marches and protests to the great Northern city of Chicago. He wanted to show people how badly black people lived in the cities of the North. And he saw that it was not just black people in the big cities who were poor. There was poverty among whites too. Martin wanted poor black and white people to work
Soldiers in Vietnam

together. 'Black and white, unite and fight!' he said. He led marches through the streets of Chicago. Just as in the South, the marchers were attacked by the police. Some black leaders did not agree with Martin. They felt he should only speak for black people. Poor whites had their own leaders. But Martin had made up his mind. He planned to lead a Poor People's March on Washington. But there was something Martin was thinking about: Vietnam. AlI through the 1960s America else

Har/em, New York, 1960

was at war in Vietnam. By 1968 more than half a million American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam. Many of these soldiers were black and carne from poor areas of America. Vietnam was a terrible war. Thousands of Vietnamese and American soldiers were kilIed. Thousands more Vietnamese men, women, and children who were not soldiers were kilIed or injured. Villages were destroyed. Rice fields were burned. Many Americans were against the war. They thought it was wrong for America to make war on a smalI

Vietnam protesters

country like Vietnam. Martin agreed with them. He spoke out against the war. There were protests against the war alI over America. Protesters fought with police. The police fought back. 'Now we know what it feels like to be black,' said one white protester.

24

13 Death in Memphis
The protests against the Vietnam War grew more and more violent. Students who refused to join the army and fight in Vietnam rioted. Many people who wanted to change America began to ask if Martin Luther King's policy of non-violence could succeed. Was it possible to change things in America peacefully? The Black Panthers and the followers of Malcolm X did not think so. They thought that the only answer to white violence was black violence. More and more young blacks agreed with them. There were riots in the black areas of cities like Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Young blacks formed groups known as gangs to protect their areas of the city. Gangs fought against each other. Guns were used and many young black men were killed. These killings made Martin very sado But although he understood why young blacks were angry, he still thought that violence was not the answer. 1968 Martin Luther King was tired. He had been speaking and marching and protesting for nearly twelve years. He had won many battles. Black people were freer than they were in the 1950s. But there were many more battles to be won and many young black people did not want to wait for change. To these young people, Martin was no longer their leader. He belonged to the past. In March 1968, there was a strike
In

King marches with city workers in Memphis

of city workers in Memphis, Tennessee. These men worked hard to keep the city clean. Their work

Martin Luther King

25

was dirty and badly-paid. Most black. They asked 1 . ...!! were of these workers ~ Martin Luther King to help. Martin agreed to march with the city workers through the streets of Memphis. The marchers sang and held hands. They wanted to protest peacefully. But gangs of young blacks attacked the march. They broke shop windows and fought with the police. One gang member was killed in the fighting. After the march, Martin talked to the gangs. He explained what he was trying to do. He said that violence was not the answer. The gangs agreed to march with the city workers on their next march. They promised there would be no more violence. The next march was to take place on 5 Aprl, but Martin Luther King never saw that day. On 3 April, Martin made a speech. It was full of hope. '1 have been to the mountain top,' he said. '1

King the day before his death

have seen the Promised Land. 1 may not get there with you. But we as a people will get to the Promised Land.' A few ho urs later he stepped aut on to the bakony of his hotel. There was the sound of a gun. His friends ran aut on to the bakony. They found Martin lying on the ground. He had been shot. An hour later Martin Luther King died in a Memphis hospital. He was thirtynine years old.

26

14 Still dreaming
Martin Luther King's death shocked America. Black Americans could not believe that their leader had been taken from them. Shock was soon followed by anger. 'Go home and get your guns!' the Black Power leader, Stokely Carmichael, Washington, told a crowd in DC. There were riots in

all the big cities in the USA and more than forty blacks were shot by the police. James Earl Ray, a white American, was arrested for King's murder. He spent thirty years in prison for King's murder. But many people believed that Ray was in the pay of white politicians. They did not think that 'Free at fast, free at fast; thank God Afmighty, I'm free at fast.' What can we say of Martin Luther King today, more than thirty years since his death? Has his dream of a fair and equal America come true? There are more black Americans in positions of power than ever before. Jesse Jackson, who was wi th King when he was killed, ran for President of the United States in 1984 and 1988. More than 300 American cities are led Ray had acted alone. Martin Luther King's body lay in his father's church in Atlanta. Thousands of people carne to the
Coretta King at Martin Luther King's funeral

church to say goodbye to the man who led the fight for civil rights. Later, Martin Luther King's body was taken to lie beside his grandparents. On the stone above

his grave are the last words of his most famous speech:

Martin

Luther King

27

by black politicans. But only 59% of black Americans are registered to vote. And the black vote is important, especially when In America votes for its president.

work, or dead in street violence than a young white American. The fight for civil rights in America had many leaders. It had many more people who worked quietly for civil rights. For more than ten years Martin Luther King was the voice of these people. During the bus boycott in Montgomery, one of King's followers said, 'Dr King, you have the words that we're thinking, but can't say.' And that is why we remember Martin Luther King.

2000, when George W. Bush beat Al Gore by a few hundred votes, more than 90% of African-Americans voted for Gore. Martin Luther King's dream has not yet come true. Blacks and whites are not yet equal in America. A young black in America is five times more likely to be in prison, out of
President

George W. Bush - and Secretary of State Colin Powell

28

Exercises
A Checking your understanding Chapters 1-4 Write answers to these questions. 1 How had Martin Luther King known racism in his own life? 2 Where did most slaves work in America? 3 What civil rights did white Americans have which black Americans did not have? 4 Where did most siaves in America live? 5 What happened when black soldiers returned from World War Two? Chapters 5-7 Are these sentences true or false? 1 Martin Luther King learned many things from the teaching of Gandhi. 2 Rosa Parks worked for Martin Luther King. 3 The Montgomery bus boycott failed. 4 Someone wanted to kill Martin Luther King with a bomb. 5 After 1954, all black and white children attended the same schools. Chapters 8-10 How much can you remember? 1 Where was the first 'sit-in'? 2 3 4 5 Where did the police set dogs on protesters? What did people feel when they saw the protests on TV? Where did Martin Luther King lead a march to register black voters? Who signed the law to protect the rights of all Americans to vote?

Chapters 11-14 Pind answers to these questions 1 How did the Black Panthers make many young African-Americans proud? 2 Why did Martin Luther King lead marches in Chicago? 3 What did many young black people think of Martin in 1968? 4 What happened when Martin Luther King marched in Memphis?

Martin Luther King

29

B Working with language 1 Put these sentences in the right order. Check your answers with Chapter 6. 1 A judge said that segregation in buses was against the law. 2 Black people walked to work or stayed at home. 3 Rosa Parks refused to let a white person take her seat on the bus. 4 Martin Luther King said that black people should boycott the buses in Montgomery. 5 Rosa Parks was arrested. 2 Write a sentence about each of these people. 1 President John F Kennedy. 2 Toussaint L'Ouverture. 3 Abraham Lincoln. 4 Mohandas Gandhi. 5 James Baldwin.
C Activities

1 It is 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. You are a black student on your way to school. Soldiers are guarding you. White people are shouting at you. How do you feel? Do you think things will get better? Or do you think they will always stay the same? 2 Martin Luther King used non-violence to fight segregation in America. He succeeded. Do you think non-violence always works? When would non-violence not succeed? Why?

Project work Choose an African-American musician, sportsman, or politician. Write a short biography of the person you've chosen.

30

Glossary
admire think weIl of someone attack (v) use violence against a person or a thing Baptist belonging to a Christian group cheer (v) shout because you are pleased civil rights the freedom that laws give to people competition situation when people try to win something defend protect divided not whole, in two or more parts elect choose a politician to speak for you equality (n) when everyone has the same civil rights form make an organization with other people freedom (n) when the laws of a country let you choose where and how you live, work, go to school or vote government group of people who run a city or a country grave (n) hole in the ground where dead people are put judge (n) someone who decides about the law law rules that people must obey . leader person who speaks for people who agree with his/her ideas minister leader of a Christian church politician person who works in local or national government, or person who wants to do this powerful strong prize something given to the winner of a competition protest (n/v) speak or act against something which you think is wrong; act of protesting proud pleased racism unfair feeling or action against people of a different race regis ter (v) write down yom name shock (v) be surprised by something bad slave (n) person who is owned by someone and has to work for him/her speech talk given to a group of people strike (n) action when workers will not work united standing together vote (v) choose a politician to speak for you