Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was a defender of the civil rights of all Americans, including Latinos, that is why today 17 in January we remember him with a day of action (holiday) in memory of his birthday on January 1929.
Unfortunately, the leader who dedicated his life to the fight for the rights of African-Americans, but from which both Latinos and all minorities benefited, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 as he was leaving a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
One of his greatest achievements was the approval of the Civil Rights Act that ended the segregation of a society that seemed to refuse to accept an equitable world where whites and blacks had the same rights.
Thanks to the strategy of non-violence and civil disobedience used by King, in 1964, the President Lyndon B. Johnson finely signed the law that prohibited segregation in public places, in addition to prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and origin, considered one of the most important achievements of the movement and that benefited all minorities.
Consequently, the following year the National Congress ((1965) approved the Act of Voting Rights, signed by President Johnson to remove barriers at the state and local levels that prevented the African-American community from exercising their vote as guaranteed by the Amendment 15 of the United States Constitution.
Thousands of people had to die so that African-Americans and many minorities of color could finally have a voice in elections. One of the most common ways in white society to intimidate people who did not vote was through violence. It is estimated that almost five thousand people were lynched in public places for absurd reasons, including looking at or speaking to a white woman.
The peasant workers’ movement was inspired by the struggle of King, even César Chávez, the leader of Latinos, carried out several hunger strikes, protests and peaceful marches to improve the rights of farm workers.
We could say that a 54 years after the assassination of Reverend King, the rights between white society and minorities have advanced greatly, however, there is still a long way to go to consider that the dream of MLK for a fairer society has been achieved.
We are currently experiencing one of the most unequal economic times in the history of this country, where wealth is in the hands of a few, while the pandemic has forced millions into poverty; In addition, it is not uncommon to see voter suppression in various forms in various states, while a large number of African Americans and Latinos are the ones who disproportionately fill prisons.
Other of King’s teachings was not to give up and be willing to go to jail or risk your life for a more equitable society; that is why we remember it today 15 in January, hoping that the new generations do not lower their arms and continue fighting for a country fairer for everyone.