Main text
Martin Luther King lived in the middle of the 20th century facing the problems of the American society of that time. First, the primary issue was open racism against African Americans that was supported by law. For instance, on March 2, 1955, a pregnant African American woman refused to give up her seat on a public bus, which was a violation of the law in Montgomery (Ling, 2015). This led to Martin Luther King starting a boycott to fight for women’s rights. Second, the US society was segregated, and children studied in separate schools for whites or African Americans (Ling, 2015). Third, the majority of African Americans in the south considered themselves deeply religious (Ling, 2015). These three features are common to the society of the middle of the 20th century.
Today, the situation has changed considerably as racism is not as open. First, the USA no longer supports laws discriminating against race. Second, schools and public places are not segregated, and white people study with students of different races. Third, according to personal experience, black people are no longer associated with being religious.
Conclusion
However, there are still some similarities between today’s society and people’s lives during the time of Martin Luther King. First, people still discriminate against racial minorities but less openly (Ballard, 2019). Second, African Americans are still seen as people with fewer possibilities, as whites are more prosperous in general (Thorpe, Simonsick, Zonderman, & Evans, 2016). Third, there are still churches only for African Americans where white people can be hardly seen. In summary, even though the life of an average American has changed since the middle of the 20th century, some similarities can still be traced in the life of communities.
References
- Ballard, J. (2019). 75% of Black Americans say racism in the US has gotten worse under Trump. YouGov.
- Ling, P. J. (2015). Martin Luther King, Jr. London, UK: Routledge.
- Thorpe, Jr., R., Simonsick, E., Zonderman, A., & Evans, M. (2016). Association between race, poverty status and grip strength in middle to old age adults. Ethnicity & Disease, 26(4), 493. doi: 10.18865/ed.26.4.493