Men will rise from the dark depths of prejudice... What is prejudice? The Websters dictionary defines it as "a biased opinion based on emotion rather than reason." This is most certainly the case. Through out history groups of people of the same race, religion, color, etc. have had unspeakable acts committed against them by others who think with their "...emotions[s] rather than reason." Because one is a different color they think that that person is odd, or inferior. Or they see some one of a different religion as a person who is rejected by God. These are both examples of prejudice.Many people have seen the effects of prejudice and sought to put an end to it. one such person was Dr. Martian Luther King. By the time Dr. King became involved in civil rights he was already an ordained minister. He had married and he and his wife had four children. His civil rights activities began with the protest of an incident that occurred on a public bus. Rosa parks had broken the law by not getting out of her seat to allow a white person to sit in her seat or row. An organization was formed to boycott the buses and Dr. Martian Luther king was asked to be president of it. In his first, and in my opinion, most powerful speeches Dr. Martian Luther King stated "First and foremost we are American citizens...We are not here advocating violence...the only weapon that we have...is that of protest...The great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right." Dr. King and the organization succeeded. The Supreme Court ordered the city to have equal, integrated seating. This was only the first in many battles lead by Dr. Martian Luther King.Dr. Martian Luther King had a dream. A dream to unite all mankind as one. A dream to see an end to prejudice. A dream to reach the promise land. Although many of his goals as far as discrimination have been met, Dr. Martian Luther King never got to see this. He was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. In 1983 congress passed a national holiday in his honor. It celebrated on the third Monday in January. Dr. Martian Luther King Became the second person to have a national Holiday, the first being George Washington, the countries first President. One of his Ideals that has not yet been achieved nor properly addressed is that of brotherhood.The Majestic heights of brotherhood. Anyone who has ever experienced prejudice can appreciate the significance of this idea. All men of all races, colors, ethnicitys, religions united peacefully as a single world brotherhood. The one reason we can not come to peace with those who are different than us is that we, as humans, have a natural fear of the unknown. Some turn this fear into curiosity and learn about others and come to have a respect for other cultures and their respective peoples. On the contrary, some people take this fear and turn it into something dark and evil, Prejudice. Prejudice is what denies us the chance to truly be viewed, and view others, as brothers.
