Martin Luther King, Jr. Character Analysis in Stamped from the Beginning

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Black Baptist preacher who came to be viewed as the leader of the Civil Rights movement. Early in his activist career King emphasized nonviolence and Christian principles of passivity and love. However, as time went on he grew frustrated with the “white moderate” and the possibility of instituting racial justice in the U.S. without revolutionary economic change. As he was growing more radical, his career was cut short when he was assassinated in 1968.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes in Stamped from the Beginning

The Stamped from the Beginning quotes below are all either spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. or refer to Martin Luther King, Jr.. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Discrimination, Racist Ideas, and Ignorance Theme Icon

).

The campaign for California’s Proposition 209 ballot initiative displayed the progression of racist ideas in their full effect: its proponents branded antiracist affirmative action as discriminatory, named the campaign and ballot measure the “civil rights initiative,” evoked the “dream” of Martin Luther King Jr. in an advertisement, and put a Black face on the campaign.

Related Characters: Ibram X. Kendi (speaker), Martin Luther King, Jr.

Page Number and Citation: 465-466

Explanation and Analysis: