Discrimination: Martin Luther King Jr., And Rosa Parks

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Discrimination, according to Merriam Webster's dictionary, is the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to differently. This term is used to highlight the difference of treatment between members of different groups when one group is intentionally singled out and treated worse, or not given the same opportunities. As attitudes towards minorities started to change the term discrimination came to be used to talk about the issue. Over the years, many forms of discrimination have come to be recognized including racial, gender, and sexual orientation, and almost everyone in America is indifferent towards it. In the 1800s the slaves were freed by President Abraham Lincoln. After this starting in about the 1870s Jim …show more content…
Figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks are just a few to fight back against the race based discrimination of their era. Rosa Parks took a minor stand it seemed like at the time. She decided not to get up and move to the back of the bus when a white person asked her for her seat. This one incident sparked a huge movement called the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which many people still look at with contempt. This one act against discrimination eventually leads to the laws on discrimination buses to be changed. Martin Luther King Jr., a peaceful activist lead many protests such as these, proving to the white society that was discriminating against them that they were a valuable part of society as well. King organized many protests that not only blacks but whites also attended. Eventually as was seen with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka the courts decided that it was a time to end racial discrimination. While King organized peaceful protests Malcolm X went a different route. He and his main supporters The Nation of Islam wanted nothing to do with white people. They can be considered examples of reverse discrimination in this case because they discriminated against whites, the same way whites discriminated against blacks. Even though Malcolm X's actions were radical he is still considered one of the pioneers in fighting back against racial discrimination. Ruby Bridges is an example of a child who dealt with discrimination. She dealt with parents as well as students constantly verbally abusing her. Most parents took their child out of the class because they didn't want their children near her. But rather than switching back to her old school she persevered and stayed. Eventually the parents sent their children back, accepting the fact that she wasn't leaving. Ruby Bridges
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