Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were African American civil rights leaders that served in the southern United States during the 1950s and 1960s. As young men, their work to end unfair voting practices and segregation, the separation of races, impacted the nation. Both Evers and King were born in the South in the 1920s into two very different families. Evers grew up on his family's modest farm in a small Mississippi town. King grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and was the son of a successful pastor. As children, they were both focused on education. Evers walked more than five miles each day to go to the nearest all-black school, and King skipped two grades in high school to enter college at the age of 15.
King and Evers understood the need for change and became leaders in civil rights organizations while still in their 20s. Evers served in the army during World War II and returned to Mississippi to attend college. While trying to vote in a local election, a crowd of white people stopped him. As a result, Evers became involved in his local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While earning his business degree, he organized voter-registration drives and set up new NAACP branches. In 1954, he tried to go to law school at the all-white University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), but the school did not admit him. Eight years later while working as the state's first NAACP field secretary, Evers helped force Ole Miss to admit its first black student.
While finishing his Ph. D., King became a church pastor in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, he was chosen to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott. King encouraged blacks in Montgomery to refuse to ride city buses until they gained the freedom to sit where they wanted. One year later, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the separation of races on public buses was illegal. King recognized that there was still a lot more civil rights work to be done. He founded and led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which helped communities across the South organize to fight unfair laws. His work became internationally known when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Some people, however, disagreed with the work of Evers and King and responded with violence. Both of their homes were bombed while their wives and children were inside. No one was injured, and the men stayed committed to their causes. Sadly, both Evers and King were killed in the 1960s. Although they died in their 30s, they had promoted freedom and equality for more than a decade.
King spent his last years traveling across the country encouraging equality. His speeches appeared in the media and are still recited today. In contrast, Evers spent nearly his entire life in his home state of Mississippi. He worked behind the scenes to change laws and help African Americans become involved in their communities. His death, however, received a lot of attention and increased the support of a national law to end segregation. That bill became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Similarly, King's efforts to fight for equal voting rights led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Both Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began by accepting the challenge to change local politics and ended up changing a nation.
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What contrast can you draw between King and Evers?
A.
King lived a more public life than Evers did.
B.
Evers did not receive a college education, but King did.
C.
King fought local laws, and Evers focused on voting rights.
D.
King was less involved in politics than Evers.
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