Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. championed equality, justice, and nonviolent resistance in order to make a change. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 standing up against oppression. Reflecting on his legacy and the illustration above, what are some areas in which we have made progress since that day? What are some areas we still need to fight to achieve equality and justice? Do you think that activism has diminished since Dr. King's time? Why. or why not?
32 Comments
Chanci Phillips
1/20/2025 09:16:08 am
Our society has made a lot of progress towards equality but we still have a lot to work on. We are still trying to make progress on gender equality in workspace. It is important that we speak out on what matters most to us to really make a difference and better our world. I don’t think that activism has diminished over time, but I do think the topics have become more varied and popular.
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Megan Aiello
1/20/2025 09:20:25 am
I agree, I think as a society we should help spread the word.
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Brylee Ganske
1/20/2025 09:21:18 am
I agree, speaking out about these things are very important and can help bring attention to them.
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Mariah
1/20/2025 09:25:52 am
I agree that activism has become more varied in topics. The activism from MLK and the Black Lives Matter movement has given other groups the courage to speak out for their rights as well.
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Nicolas Sessions
1/20/2025 09:34:57 am
I totally agree about how spread out topics have gotten.
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Abbigail Williams
1/20/2025 09:44:09 am
I agree with you, if we have a voice we should use it to talk about how we feel.
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Megan Aiello
1/20/2025 09:19:10 am
Some few progresses since Dr. Kings time is human rights and rights for women. This has changed over the years as well as equality for everyone in work pay and employment as well as education in some amounts. Some other factors would be gender and race equality where today we don’t treat others differently based on their race or gender.
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Chanci Phillips
1/20/2025 09:22:06 am
I agree that education has made great improvements compared to the past. Everyone is entitled to a high school education in the U.S.
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Abby Williams
1/20/2025 09:48:45 am
I agree! I feel that women's rights have gotten better but there is still room for improvement.
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Brylee Ganske
1/20/2025 09:19:24 am
Some things that have improved since those days are the amount of racial opposition. Though there are still many cases of it that we need to improve on, it isn't like how it was in 1968. Many people are decent and accept people of color without any bad feeling towards them, I know that it isn't perfect and that people are still even killed over it. I also feel like we to to un-normalize the deaths of people of color, I feel like in news and other types of information platforms their deaths are often swept under the rug like nothing really happen.
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Megan Aiello
1/20/2025 09:21:28 am
I also agree with you and share a valid point.
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Chanci Phillips
1/20/2025 09:25:15 am
Our society has made many improvements toward the way we treat others with different cultures and skin tones.
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Daniel Davidson
1/20/2025 09:31:02 am
I think we have made enormous leaps, but, I also believe we still have quite a ways to go, before all people are treated equally.
Mariah
1/20/2025 09:28:10 am
I agree, deaths in riots and protests are often swept under the rug, but we should be more aware of the things that happen in our nation and be aware of the bad things that happen.
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Nicolas Sessions
1/20/2025 09:41:01 am
Yeah we need to stop being sheep without knowing who our Shepard is we need to think for ourselves. I will say that violence is not the best way to insight change. It feels like people use anger and hatred to stir crowds to act out violently. I believe this mindless violence is wrong.
Briella
1/20/2025 09:45:57 am
I love that you said most people are decent, it truly is a minority that ruins it for the rest of us just trying to live normal lives - every race.
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Mariah
1/20/2025 09:24:27 am
We have made progress in our society by creating more equality among races, but many people still discriminate openly. Since then, other races have also fought for equality and justice as well as other groups such as LGBTQ+. Activism has not diminished since MLK's time, but I think that it is hard for us to see this is Salmon because there is very little activism around us in Idaho and our surrounding states. Because of this, we do not notice the activism in our nation, but it is still present in places with many different races.
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Daniel Davidson
1/20/2025 09:29:53 am
To add to your list, I think immigrants, particularly those of Latino origin, in part because of national misconceptions and predispositions, are generally mistreated.
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Brylee Ganske
1/20/2025 09:31:45 am
I agree, at times because of the size of Salmon it's almost odd to think about how some of these things can be happening in other places but we hardly see or hear about unless we really try to know about. Almost makes us feel isolated from many of the changes of the world.
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Kennedi
1/20/2025 11:56:26 am
LGBTQ+ is a big problem right now with discrimination. I can see both sides, but some things have gone too far again, on both sides.
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Daniel Davidson
1/20/2025 09:27:26 am
I think that we have made immense leaps of progress in the areas of civil rights for minority groups in America (likewise for women, who, in spite of being a majority, are treated like a minority). I think that because of social media, and the internet in general, it is much easier than ever to get one's opinion out there, which helps these groups get their opinions out there. Suppression, though possible, is more difficult in the high speed world of WiFi and TikTok. Activism, on such a large scale, has diminished since the days of Martin Luther King, but that only makes since because basic human rights/ rights for opportunities have not been withheld at such a large scale within the recent century- that is, within our country. Honestly, although there are still holes in our system of equality (the page gap between men and women comes to mind), on a whole we are doing quite well in regards to rights. I think the bulk of the change that still needs to happen is within culture itself, not the law. If we continue to treat one another unequally, the nation will feel an unjust place to live, regardless of what laws are in place.
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Emylee Perkins
1/20/2025 09:44:23 am
I am grateful for the GOOD aspects of the Internet due to, as you stated, the amount of communication the web presents to people today. It is actually very interesting to think about how much content we truly take in on the daily, from people we wouldn't even know exist without the use of mediums such as YouTube, Instagram, etc. I always connect these sorts of topics to my lifestyle in Seattle, which I naturally learned as a child. I recognize that it is literally a simpler mindset for me to be accepting of other people because my neighborhood was extremely tight, like one large family. I feel sad when I see people with less exposure to diversity say or do things that are racist or sexist, and I do not defend their behavior, but it is unfortunate that they have been subjected to negative beliefs from a young age. It is indeed not your fault what you are exposed to, but it is our responsibility to grow and help others promote peace.
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Briella
1/20/2025 09:50:56 am
GREAT POINT with the culture instead of law! Laws are not always the gauge of what is just and what is not. Segregation was a just law after all, lynching was illegal, but it only stopped way after it was illegal when the public found it immoral.
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Emylee Perkins
1/20/2025 09:30:48 am
We have made a ton of progress since Martin Luther King's activism. Of course, racism and sexism still lurks because some people are unwilling to drop that or pass it on to their children over time. I would argue that the average normal person in America today views all races and genders as equal, unless you're crazy. I also believe that everyone experiences some sort of bias in their life, whether they are able to recognize this or not. What matters is that we notice that these things are happening and find a reasonable way to identify the cause. This will help us to set any hurtful beliefs aside, because paying more attention toward them will enable us to grow positively instead of ignoring the problem. As I stated earlier, racism and sexism still exists. However, some of this isn't noticed or simply has become ignored even by the average person because of our comfortability in our lifestyles. There is still racism faced by actors and other demographics, more or less depending on where you live in the United States. There are also enormous and disturbing crises such as trafficking, persecution, and fetishism towards different groups of people.
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Emylee Perkins
1/20/2025 09:34:21 am
Also, "alpha male" podcasts are the scum of the Earth. Thank you.
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Nicolas Sessions
1/20/2025 09:33:43 am
I believe that through his efforts he gave us the tools to move forward and progress and I believe that this has been happening through the years. I also think that people have been expanding to activism in a bunch of other things as well as racial equality and respect. I know there is still a lot to do in racial area. There are still actual racist people in the world but people have gotten better about treating others respectfully. I really liked King's quote. It really shows how he felt about being silent about this prevalent thing in his life. I would like that kind of devotion to things important to me. All in all King's dream is still alive in our society.
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Emylee Perkins
1/20/2025 09:38:19 am
I love how you identified that Martin Luther King gave us the tools to further our impact throughout time. This ensures that we can continue to progress through our efforts by collaborating with others through respect and partnership. It's like the saying about teaching a man to fish so that he can be fed for life and then in turn feed other people as well.
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Briella
1/20/2025 09:42:08 am
We have definitely progressed, but will regress if we forget the teaching of Dr. MLK and other activists. Progressing is good, but I feel that we are just working towards the state it should be, the state of things should never have been that bad. I blame almost no individual but I do blame our society as a whole. I think we have problems here because we are not as fearful of getting repercussion, which I feel misses the point of mutual respect, you shouldn't have to fear someone to love and respect them.“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. People are people, I'm ecstatic at the progress that has been made, I would not be as lucky without the rights I have today, but there will always be progress to be made, that happens as individuals. It's easy to forget that injustice still happens when it's not such a stark social contrast, also that these are still happening to minority's in a lot of areas in the world.
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Abbigail Williams
1/20/2025 09:43:02 am
Since Dr. King's time, we have gotten better at voting. In today's time, more races can vote, and they can have their own opinion. This is a big deal because there was a time when only a small amount of people were allowed to vote. I think there are still many places that have yet to enforce some of the laws. It may be your choice to use racial slurs, but there is no need to say it in a public setting. So, I feel that is something that could still be fixed. People just need to know their boundaries. I feel that activism has not disappeared but has changed where social media is a huge deal. When the whole Black Lives Matter thing was happening, many people were trying to spread awareness for the blacks. Many people were saying, "All Lives Matter," which is so true, and I feel like that is an awareness that needs to be spread around to many places. No one should be left out, and I feel that many people like to judge based on skin tone and color over who the person is.
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Kennedi
1/20/2025 11:46:04 am
I agree that boundaries should be acknowledged and respected. Many people are set in the thinking that what they believe is the right and only way. If people could have empathy and respect for each other, so many of our problems would be resolved.
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Deanda Lamping
1/20/2025 09:43:40 am
African American's have seen hardship throughout history, which is an understatement. Some things that have made progress towards their benefit is education inequality and employment. As a society we have transitioned where anyone can be appointed equal opportunity through education and any able body individual is allowed to work where ever he/she wants. There is also more representation from the African American community i.e. mayors, governor, and CEO's. As a country and community we still have a long way to go but it's a good start. There are still little things that have come into way of progression such as racism and distrust, but were we falter we all can still grow from our mistakes.The more recent events that have followed people have become acceptable of things but we lose the mutual respect for each other that MLK jr intended.
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Kennedi
1/20/2025 11:40:25 am
I believe that we have made much progress since his speech was given. For example, we have had a black president now. I think we are still not to that point of equality and justice, and I don't believe we will ever have it. I do think there is room to improve, including more leadership roles and the dispersion in our communities. We recently had the Black Lives Matter rally, but I believe it caused more fear than hope. Manu different views were shared, and relationships were ruined. I think with this last election, there were hopes of a black female president. However, that did not happen either. I do not think activism will stop, but I also believe it will lessen.
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