ANNCR:
PEOPLE IN AMERICA, A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH ON THE VOICE OF
AMERICA.
(THEME)
TODAY, SHEP O'NEAL AND WARREN SCHEER FINISH THE STORY OF CIVIL
RIGHTĄ¯S LEADER, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JUNIOR.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS BORN IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, IN NINETEEN
TWENTY-NINE. HE BEGAN HIS UNIVERSITY STUDIES WHEN HE WAS FIFTEEN
YEARS OLD, AND RECEIVED A DOCTORATE DEGREE IN RELIGION. HE
BECAME A PREACHER AT A CHURCH IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.
IN NINETEEN-FIFTY-FIVE, A BLACK WOMAN IN MONTGOMERY WAS ARRESTED
FOR SITTING IN THE WHITE PART OF A CITY BUS. DOCTOR KING BECAME
THE LEADER OF A PROTEST AGAINST THE CITY BUS SYSTEM. IT WAS THE
FIRST TIME THAT BLACK SOUTHERNERS HAD UNITED AGAINST THE LAWS OF
RACIAL SEPARATION.
VOICE TWO:
AT FIRST, THE WHITE CITIZENS OF MONTGOMERY DID NOT BELIEVE THAT
THE PROTEST WOULD WORK. THEY THOUGHT MOST BLACKS WOULD BE AFRAID TO FIGHT
AGAINST RACIAL SEPARATION. BUT THE BUSES REMAINED
EMPTY.
SOME WHITES USED TRICKS TO TRY TO END THE PROTEST.
THEY SPREAD FALSE STORIES ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING AND OTHER
PROTEST LEADERS. ONE STORY ACCUSED MARTIN OF STEALING MONEY FROM
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. ANOTHER STORY CHARGED THAT PROTEST
LEADERS RODE IN CARS WHILE OTHER PROTESTERS HAD TO WALK. BUT THE
TRICKS DID NOT WORK, AND THE PROTEST CONTINUED.
VOICE ONE:
DOCTOR KING'S WIFE CORETTA DESCRIBED HOW SHE AND HER HUSBAND FELT
DURING THE PROTEST. SHE SAID:
"WE NEVER KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. WE FELT LIKE
ACTORS IN A PLAY WHOSE ENDING WE DID NOT KNOW. YET WE FELT A
PART OF HISTORY. AND WE BELIEVED WE WERE INSTRUMENTS OF THE WILL
OF GOD".
THE WHITE CITIZENS BLAMED DOCTOR KING FOR STARTING THE PROTEST.
THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD END IF HE WAS IN PRISON OR DEAD. DOCTOR
KING WAS ARRESTED TWICE ON FALSE CHARGES. HIS ARRESTS MADE
NATIONAL NEWS AND HE WAS RELEASED. BUT THE THREATS AGAINST HIS
LIFE CONTINUED.
VOICE TWO:
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT LASTED THREE HUNDRED-EIGHTY-TWO DAYS. FINALLY, THE
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT RULED THAT RACIAL
SEPARATION WAS ILLEGAL IN THE MONTGOMERY BUS SYSTEM. MARTIN
LUTHER KING AND HIS FOLLOWERS HAD WON THEIR STRUGGLE. THE MANY
MONTHS OF MEETINGS AND PROTEST MARCHES HAD MADE VICTORY POSSIBLE.
THEY ALSO GAVE BLACKS A NEW FEELING OF PRIDE AND UNITY. THEY SAW
THAT PEACEFUL PROTEST, MAHATMA GANDHI'S IDEA OF NON-VIOLENCE,
COULD BE USED AS A TOOL TO WIN THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS.
VOICE ONE:
LIFE DID NOT RETURN TO NORMAL FOR DOCTOR KING AFTER THE PROTEST
WAS OVER. HE HAD BECOME WELL-KNOWN ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. HE OFTEN WAS ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS
IDEAS ON NON-VIOLENCE. BOTH BLACK AND WHITE AMERICANS SOON BEGAN
TO FOLLOW HIS TEACHINGS. GROUPS WERE FORMED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH
TO PROTEST PEACEFULLY AGAINST RACIAL SEPARATION.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT SPREAD SO FAST THAT A GROUP OF BLACK
CHURCHMEN FORMED AN ORGANIZATION TO GUIDE IT. THE ORGANIZATION
WAS CALLED THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE. MARTIN
LUTHER KING BECAME ITS PRESIDENT.
IN HIS JOB, DOCTOR KING HELPED ORGANIZE MANY PROTESTS IN THE
SOUTHERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES. BLACKS DEMANDED TO BE SERVED
IN AREAS WHERE ONLY WHITES WERE PERMITTED TO EAT. AND THEY RODE
IN TRAINS AND BUSES FORMERLY FOR WHITES ONLY. THESE PROTESTS
BECAME KNOWN AS "FREEDOM RIDES." MANY OF THE FREEDOM RIDES
TURNED VIOLENT. BLACK ACTIVISTS WERE BEATEN AND ARRESTED.
SOME WERE EVEN KILLED.
VOICE TWO:
IN NINETEEN-SIXTY-THREE, THE BLACK CITIZENS OF BIRMINGHAM REFUSED
TO BUY GOODS FROM THE STORES IN THE CITY. THEY DEMANDED MORE
JOBS FOR BLACKS. AND THEY DEMANDED TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO
WHITE SCHOOLS. THE WHITE CITIZENS WERE ANGRY AND AFRAID, BUT
THEY REFUSED TO MEET THE BLACKS' DEMANDS. THE SITUATION BECAME
TENSE. MANY PROTESTORS WERE BEATEN AND ARRESTED. EVEN DOCTOR
KING WAS ARRESTED. BUT HE WAS NOT IN PRISON FOR LONG.
THE BIRMINGHAM DEMONSTRATIONS MADE INTERNATIONAL NEWS. WHITES
SOON SAW THAT IT WAS EASIER TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF THE PROTESTORS
THAN TO FIGHT THEM. MARTIN LUTHER KING AND HIS FOLLOWERS HAD WON
AN IMPORTANT VICTORY IN BIRMINGHAM. IT MARKED A TURNING POINT
FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
MARTIN LUTHER KING RECOGNIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRMINGHAM. IT
DID NOT MEAN THAT RACIAL SEPARATION HAD ENDED. SOME STILL
REMAINS TODAY. BUT HE FELT THAT THE BATTLE WAS ALMOST WON. AND
HE WANTED TO CALL ON THE NATION FOR ITS SUPPORT. SO DOCTOR KING
ORGANIZED A MARCH ON WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST, NINETEEN
SIXTY-THREE. ABOUT TWO-HUNDRED-FIFTY-THOUSAND PERSONS GATHERED
THERE. THEY CAME TO DEMAND MORE JOBS AND FREEDOM FOR BLACK
AMERICANS. THERE WERE TO BE MANY OTHER MARCHES IN WASHINGTON
DURING THE NINETEEN SIXTIES AND EARLY SEVENTIES. BUT THIS WAS
THE BIGGEST UP TO THAT TIME.
VOICE ONE:
IT WAS IN WASHINGTON THAT MARTIN LUTHER KING GAVE ONE OF HIS MOST
FAMOUS SPEECHES. THE SPEECH IS KNOWN AS THE "I HAVE A DREAM
SPEECH." IT EXPRESSED HIS IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE. DOCTOR KING
SAID:
((ACTUALITY: I HAVE A DREAM))
VOICE TWO:
MARTIN LUTHER KING RECEIVED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IN NINETEEN
SIXTY-FOUR. BUT HE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THE FINAL RESULTS OF HIS
LIFE'S WORK. HE WAS SHOT TO DEATH IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, IN
NINETEEN SIXTY-EIGHT.
DOCTOR KING ALWAYS FELT HE WOULD DIE A VIOLENT DEATH. HIS LIFE
HAD BEEN THREATENED WHEREVER HE WENT. AND HE OFTEN SPOKE TO HIS
WIFE ABOUT HIS FEARS. BUT HE NEVER BELIEVED THAT HIS LIFE WAS
MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THE NIGHT BEFORE
HE DIED HE SPOKE TO HIS SUPPORTERS. HE SAID:
((ACTUALITY: SPEECH TO SUPPORTERS))
((MUSIC: WE SHALL OVERCOME))
ANNCR:
YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THE STORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JUNIOR. THIS SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM WAS
WRITTEN BY WILLIAM RODGERS. YOUR NARRATORS WERE SHEP O'NEAL AND
WARREN SCHEER. IĄ¯M DOUG JOHNSON. LISTEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK AT THIS
TIME FOR ANOTHER PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.