MLK Jr. Essay Contest Winner: Middle School Division

Essay by Evie Chen, Oneonta Middle School

On March 22nd of 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” MLK’s dream was for all people—regardless of color, race, or background—to be treated with equality in society.

Note how in this quote MLK said, “live together” instead of “survive together,” indicating there is, indeed, a difference between the two. While anyone can survive without treating others with equality, it is their ignorance and closed-mindedness that prevents them from reaching greater heights and experiencing a better quality of life.

MLK also states, “Perish together as fools.” If we don’t accept and work together, we are fools for letting color blind us from seeing we’re all one species. MLK had to combat the white supremacy surging through America in the mid- to late-1900s as a result of segregation. The separation of races caused individuals to look down on people of color because of the rooted history Blacks have played for centuries in American history—from being traded as slaves in the 1600s to the 13th Amendment, that promised freedom to African Americans.

But they never really were free, were they? Not free from prejudice. Not free from segregation and most definitely not free from the lack of fundamental rights every human deserves. MLK‘s ultimate goal was to guarantee basic, humane rights to all people of color, regardless of their ethnic heritages.

Moreover, MLK demonstrated the impacts of nonviolent resistance and protests, proving that you don’t change people through asserting dominance but by changing the preconception embedded into their brains that whites are superior to Blacks just because they didn’t have to fight for their rights; they were already worthy of them to begin with and people of color weren’t.

We can start to build empathy in schools and society by practicing color blindness; seeing everyone as human instead of a color. We can encourage self-expression and turn the topic of race into a normalized discussion. Children and adults alike can get rid of their unconscious bias and spread diversity throughout the world.