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What effect did Dr. Martin Luther King have on my life
By Lauren Hoff/6th grade student, Smithton Middle School
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a big effect on everyone's life. He wanted
sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners to come together and
sit at the table of brotherhood. One day he wanted his children to be
judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character. All of this would happen in a nation where freedom rings for
not only whites, but all races. These ideas were all expressed in his "I
Have A Dream" speech. This spectacular speech was given in Washington,
D.C. in 1963. If he hadn't selflessly given his life to the fight for
equality, my life wouldn't be the way it is now.
There are a lot of things that are different for me now than they would
have been, say, 60 years ago. I have the opportunity now to go to schools
with different races than my own. A while ago that wouldn't have been
legal. Different races didn't go to sc hool with whites. They got the
books whites threw away! But I am really glad now that I go to schools
with different races because they make just as good of a friend, if not
better, than my own race. I don't care what anyone says about that,
either, becau se I know from my own experiences. I've learned that what
makes a good friend is a person's character and not the color of their
skin.
Martin Luther King fought for justice, which has also affected my life.
Justice or the lack of justice can affect me by making me happy, sad or
confused. For example, seeing justice given in a courtroom to any race
makes me very happy. Justice is importa nt to all of us, every race.
People besides whites were allowed to vote sixty years ago. But when they
did, some other race would often have the nerve to go burn down their
house for it! That doesn't happen any more because we have laws that
protect every one's right to vote freely. If someone tried to prevent
someone else from voting now, they would be arrested and possibly
imprisoned. No one has the right to take away other people's rights
because of their race.
Because of Martin Luther King Jr., now I can go to movies, restaurants,
the mall & other things like that with anyone I want!! How about with some
of my best friends ever? Well, sure I can! At least I can now. I couldn't
60 some odd years ago. You know why? Because some people actually thought
that just because you have a different skin color that meant you were
weird, scary, crazy, etc.! But Dr. King proved that that wasn't so. He
encouraged whites and blacks to become friends with each other so they
could learn that they were more alike than different. So, now that you
know that, wasn't it silly that I couldn't have gone to the movies with
whoever I wanted to? Wouldn't that have been great? As far as I know, we
still can't change the past, but we can m ake and create a better future!
So, just think for a minute ... if one, just ONE man had all that affect
on my life, wow, think about how much he changed and affected the world!!
He was a pretty amazing guy. If everyone just did one thing to make the
world more like Dr. King's dream, this world could be almost perfect.
Imagine a world in which all races, I mean every single Iarge and smalI
race, got along together, just like best friends. Imagine a world of
people that weren't afraid of each other's skin color or looks, where
everyone was nice and almost all violence was eliminated! If you can
imagine that world, then you can imagine Dr. Martin Luther King's
wonderful dream. It is up to each one of us to change his vision from a
dream to a reality.
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