The staff of Classical High School is proud to have Erick Smith as a student. This great Essay won the high school division and Erick read the following to a large crowd at Salem State University. Hathim Yann and Kristen Kurpeil received Honorable Mentions for their Essays.

 

Questions For Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Erick Smith

                “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That’s what Martin Luther King, Jr. said while he was campaigning during the Civil Rights movement of the equality for minorities and majorities of the South. It was difficult to be campaigning from state to state with the threat of him possibly being killed or harmed by oppositions. Every single state, from the Dixieland of Alabama and Mississippi to Tennessee and South Carolina, majorities were against him or out to kill him. Also, the insults and cat-calls that were made by people might have been tough not only for him but for the party members that support  as well. It may have been difficult to keep members in the movement instead of them resigning due to the security of their family or to themselves. This was a major accomplishment. While studying his campaign I have a few questions that I would ask him right now if he were alive…

                Dr. King, the first question I would ask you would be about the Nobel Peace Prize. How did you feel receiving one of the most honorable awards in the world? Did you feel satisfied that the world has heard your voice. The answer, in my opinion, would sound like this:

                I don’t know really. Yes, I felt that I have accomplished something, but not enough to win this honorable award. It’s only a small percentage of the world that is trying to make change but not as a whole. There will still be much more discrimination throughout the world, but it takes one step at a time to overcome this. And with this, I am still not satisfied because still there are people out there that have to use separate public facilities from the majorities. There are still children out there that can’t, not “will not”, but cannot get an education at the same level as a white person. So in my opinion there is still a lot of work to be done and with the support of all the people, we can live that dream of blacks, whites, and all minorities and majorities going to school or a restaurant together.

                Dr. King, why did you give away the Nobel Peace Prize to the Civil Rights Organization rather than relish it yourself and keep it as a symbol of accomplishment? The reason for asking this is because everyone that supported you says you are a humble being and I want to know if this is true or not.

                The reason for donating the Nobel Peace Prize is not to make me have a bigger ego, but to put an end to this discrimination. I donated it to the Civil Rights occupation so that way other Civil Rights leaders in the future can continue this great work when we are gone and continue to pursue a goal in which the world is a better place for future generations.

                Dr. King, my final question is, what will you do if racism and discrimination no longer existed in the world? I understand that this is a challenging question to answer because it is difficult to predict the future and come out right about it. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. is a very proud Civil Rights reformer who wanted change for the present and future of the country and around the world. If he were alive today, the world would have been a better place with less discrimination and more equality. Some things I would ask him would show his humbleness and also his determination to end world racial suppression and discrimination in all of its dreadful forms.