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“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of many excellent qualities. One of those qualities was that he was a well-educated man. He was a man who valued education, and saw it as a way for people, especial those of color, to progress and keep up in life. Dr. King had skipped two grades and had started college at Morehouse College, at the young age of 15. He went on to earn two bachelor’s degrees and held a PhD in systematic theology from Boston University. But even with all those accomplishments, as an African American, Dr. King, in the eyes of those who did not agree with the color of his skin, even with his accolades, his drive, he was still merely just another Black face. They still sought to oppress. But as a young African American girl, being able to sit amongst different races in a classroom, and walk amongst them in hallways, it meant everything. Dr. King’s love for learning helped him to write the most inspiring speeches including the famous, “I Have a Dream,” which he spoke during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. That was over 50 years ago and so much has changed and progressed. I believe that without Dr. Kings strive for academic excellence, we may not have been able to hear his enlivening speeches. There is still a major race gap when it comes to African Americans earning a college degree compared to other races’. According to Brookings.edu, black Americans are still much less likely to get an undergraduate degree. Over the years, there has been a significant increase in rates of four-year college completion among African Americans, especially women. But rates among whites have increased just as rapidly. You do not have to obtain a college degree to progress in life. But for so many African American, a college degree can be a gateway for better opportunities. We must encourage education. We must continue on the road to black excellence in the classroom.
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