Are we at last one nation, with liberty and justice for all? In
this ebook, we reflect on the life and legacy of Martin Luther
King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, and assess their efforts
to overcome racial discrimination and to promote racial equality
and integration. The first chapter explores the origins and
traditions of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration,
with particular attention to the American character of the
holiday. The second chapter presents powerful accounts of the
black American experience during the era of racial
segregation—from Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and
Zora Neale Hurston, to Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, and James
Baldwin—with a focus on showing the need for civil rights. The
third chapter brings us to the Civil Rights Movement itself,
evaluating the goals, strategies, and tactics of the Movement's
various leaders. The final chapter raises questions about the
challenging and vexed issues left open in the wake of the
successes of the Civil Rights Movement