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Jan 14, 20225 min read

Martin Luther King Day: A History and What We Can Do To Further His Legacy

Updated: Jan 26, 2022

By: Parker Zhang

“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. at the March on Washington.


Every year on the third Monday of January, Americans remember Martin Luther King Jr. They remember a time, not too long ago when one couldn’t vote because of the colour of their skin. When it was perfectly legal to educate Black children in poorly-funded schools, while white students, not too far away, had all the amenities. This is a time worth remembering, because people of different races drank from separate water fountains - similar to how a dog and its owner drink from separate cups.


Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time to remember the near-past, reflect on its similarities to the present, and to safeguard the future through activism, dialogue, and legislation.




Historical Context:


Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, banning slavery nationwide in the United States. When he issued the Proclamation, America was still in the midst of a bloody civil war. Prior to the announcement, the international community saw it as battle over states' rights (states’ rights to allow slavery). Afterwards, however, it became a fight against slavery. It then became clear which side was just in its fight. All international attempts to establish diplomatic relations with the Confederate States ceased.


After the civil war, during Reconstruction (1865-77), the South was placed under military occupation to rebuild. During this military occupation, Black Americans were given the right to vote and to pursue liberty in earnest. With no autonomy to discriminate, the South, was slowly becoming more hospitable to Black Americans during Reconstruction. The 14th Amendment gave birthright citizenship and ensured that all people were subject to equal protection under law, and the 15th Amendment prohibited states from restricting the right to vote due to race. It was following these reforms that 16 Black men were elected to serve in Congress during Reconstruction.


Sadly, one aspect of Black liberation was not realized: economic independence. While political independence was achieved, financial security unbeholden to white men did not happen. Previously promised, black men were supposed to get 40 acres each to settle around North Carolina and Georgia. But President Andrew Johnson, the successor to Lincoln, scrapped the plan and returned all the land to white landowners. With no farm to own, many Black families became sharecroppers of their previous slave owners; little difference in treatment beyond the title of being “free."


As the 1870s began, Republicans who previously championed multi-racial democracy began to shun their old positions. The political environment turned against the Black community with the Supreme Court ruling to weaken the powers of the 14th Amendment. As Rutherford B. Hayes took office, federal troops stationed in the South to ensure racial equality left. African-Americans were on their own, once again.


Until the 1960s, Blacks were largely employed in low wage jobs in the agriculture sector with little hopes of advancement. State institutions enacted literacy tests and voting laws such as the poll tax disenfranchised many African-Americans who were too poor to pay the tax. Conversely, they were too poor to vote. Poor uneducated white men however got around paying the tax via the grandfather clause. This clause stated that so long as one’s grandfather had voted prior to a set date (set before Black men had the right to vote, bypassing the racial equality clause). Black voter suppression was legal.


However, the Black community never forgot the days after the war when a brighter future seemed possible, when Republicans were still championing racial egalitarianism. The event, seen as rekindling the desire for enfranchisement, was when President Truman issued an Executive Order to racially integrate the Army in 1948.


Slow, steady progress through the 1950s provided hope to Black Americans. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education declared that racial segregation of schools was unconstitutional. Effective integration was symbolically achieved when the “Little Rock Nine," a group of nine black students, were integrated into a previously whites-only school with military escorts. And in 1955, Rosa Parks took her stand against having to sit at the back of a bus, prompting the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott. Events promoting social change gained the attention of politicians who realized that civil rights legislation was coming to the forefront of American politics.


In 1957, Black pastors and civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr, met to plan events raising awareness of the Black community and the injustice they faced. In the following years events such as Freedom Rides and restaurant sit-ins took place in the South, building momentum and support for the eventual March on Washington - 250,000 strong.


At this event, Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream Speech," which highlighted the mistreatment and discrimination that Black people faced everyday, but also the message that children should be judged on the basis of their character and not by the colour of their skin. He called upon God, the people, and the government to right its wrongs by fighting for racial justice. His message was heard loud and clear, eventually leading to President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the establishment of Voting Rights Act of 1965, prohibiting discrimination based on race and re-establishing election oversight on Southern states with a track record to disenfranchise Black voters.


Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is a day celebrating the accomplishments of MLK and the Black community as a whole. Martin Luther King (MLK) was the most influential activist who pushed for desegregation and is widely remembered for his “I Have A Dream” speech, which pressured John F. Kennedy to advance civil rights legislation.


When Martin Luther King was assassinated, many people mourned the death of one of the Black community’s greatest proponents. A gifted orator was taken away and many sought to eternalize his legacy through a holiday.


“Almost immediately after King’s death, there were calls for a national holiday in his honour. Beginning in 1970, a number of states and cities made his birthday, January 15, a holiday. Although legislation for a federal holiday was introduced in Congress as early as 1968, there was sufficient opposition, on racial and political grounds, to block its passage. In 1983 legislation making the third Monday in January a federal holiday finally was passed, and the first observance nationwide was in 1986. The day is usually celebrated with marches and parades and with speeches by civil rights and political leaders.”

-Excerpt from Brittanica


Actions for Youth to Take:


In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prevented southern states from changing their election laws without approval from the federal government. As soon as it was overturned many southern states began making plans to close down polling places - in areas where Black voters primarily live.


Voting rights legislation to re-establish these protections have passed the House of Representatives but are held up in the Senate where Joe Biden is negotiating with Senators to pass. The Senate has a 60-vote threshold to override the filibuster, largely preventing voting rights legislation from passing and being signed into law. Anything promoting the passage of voting rights legislation and the end of the filibuster through social media should be re-shared and distributed.


Educating oneself on current racial injustices will respect the will of MLK - to live in a world where one is judged by their character and not their skin tone. It is only when the injustices and disparities have been addressed that society can move forward.



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