Quote by: Martin Luther King Jr.

Even today there still exists in the South--and in certain areas of the North--the license that our society allows to unjust officials who implement their authority in the name of justice to practice injustice against minorities. Where, in the days of slavery, social license and custom placed the unbridled power of the whip in the hands of overseers and masters, today--especially in the southern half of the nation--armies of officials are clothed in uniform, invested with authority, armed with the instruments of violence and death and conditioned to believe that they can intimidate, main or kill Negroes with the same recklessness that once motivated the slaveowner. If one doubts this conclusion, let him search the records and find how rarely in any southern state a police officer has been punished for abusing a Negro.


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Author Bio


  • NameMartin Luther King, Jr.
  • DescriptionAmerican clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
  • AliasesMLK; Martin Luther King; Michael King; Michael King, Jr.
  • BornJanuary 15, 1929
  • DiedApril 4, 1968
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionCleric; Political Activist; Theologian; Orator; Minister; Writer
  • AwardsNobel Peace Prize; Jawaharlal Nehru Award For International Understanding; Spingarn Medal; Presidential Medal Of Freedom; United Nations Prize In The Field Of Human Rights; Gandhi Peace Award; Pacem In Terris Award; Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards