Lesson 2

6.3

(l=Interviewer R= Dr. Sam Roberts)

I: Hello. I'm sure everyone knows about Martin Luther King—a great man who fought to win equal rights for black people in the US. Today, we have Dr. Sam Roberts here to tell us more about him. So what was King like as a child?

R: Well, he was a smart boy, but he suffered racial discrimination.

I: Racial discrimination?

R: That's when people were treated unfairly due to their skin colour. Here's an example. In 1943, King took the bus with his black teacher. The white driver told them to give their seats to two white people.

I: What? What did he do then?

R: King didn't want to give up his seat. He believed that black people should be treated the same as white people. However, in the end, they had to do it.

I: Ah, what a shame! Did he do anything about this later?

R: Yes. In 1955, King organised a bus protest, and asked all black people to stop taking buses. After some struggles, they won the right to sit next to white people on buses. This was King's first victory.

I: Great! And King organised further protests in the 1960s, right?

R: Right. He organised many peaceful protests, but he was put behind bars many times for doing so. In 1963, he organised a march to Washington, D.C. and made a speech with the words “I have a dream".

I: Yes, that's a really famous and inspiring speech! For example, " have a dream that one day ... We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal ... l have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character ...".

R: Very impressive indeed! The next year, King received the Nobel Peace Prize. But, unfortunately, he was killed a few years later in 1968. It was a great loss.

I: Indeed. King will always be remembered for doing a lot to help black people in the US. He has also inspired people around the world to fight for equal rights and justice.