Many people complain about the injustices in our world today. We look around and say things like, "What has the world come to?" But we are forgetting how messed up the world has always been. Our history is filled with shameful acts and events. The very men we give praise to for creating history are also the men who were holding society back.
One of the Jim Crow laws is about forbidding the promotion of equality. Martin Luther King Jr., among many other African Americans, wanted to be free from the many injustices of the time. In Letters From Birmingham Jail he explains that he is in Birmingham because of the injustice in Birmingham. Most people would readily flee Birmingham for that very reason. MLK says, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This is a very compelling part of his argument because it says a lot about the issue in a direct way. It is a concise, yet powerful statement.
The Jim Crow laws are the epitome of the ludicrous judgement our glorious leaders have used to "better" society for hundreds of years. From laws about textbooks to nurses to even lunch counters, they are all making the same argument: white people and black people should be completely separate. By this they also mean white people are superior to black people. Without the influential leaders, such as MLK, progress would have been nearly unattainable. They are the men and women that saved us from ourselves.
Our world is far from problem free, but looking back not only reminds of us what we have done in the past but encourages us to move forward. History holds the memories of many great men and women that have changed the world for the better. They are the real heroes in our story. There will always be people with the same mentality as those who created the Jim Crow laws. But there is promise in the fact that there will always be people like Martin Luther King Jr. to save us from those people.
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