Seventh Grade Second Place Essay
ANGELINE LONARDI
St. Catherine Laboure School

Untitled

Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man who accomplished much in his lifetime. He believed in making America a better nation. The nation Martin Luther King Jr. thought America "ought to be" was a nation of peace. He envisioned a country where people do not judge you by the color of your skin. He wanted people to look beyond this small detail and see others for who they really were. He was right. You should see people for what’s inside where it really counts.
America has always been a country of many races and religions. Until our country learns to accept everyone, despite our differences, I believe America will never be the country Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned.
Martin Luther King’s speech " I have a dream" changed the way many people thought about racial discrimination. We should all have a dream. We should dream of a world where everyone is thought of as equal. We should dream of a world where there is no war and we can live peacefully side-by-side. America and the world will not change overnight. We must work to correct the mistakes our nation has made in the past.
We can change our nation step-by-step, person-by-person. Each person has his or her own thoughts about racial discrimination. Some thoughts are better than others. Some people think that racial discrimination is wrong. Some people think that others are different or not as good as them because their skin is a different color. These people influence others to think the same way they do. Children who were taught to discriminate by their parents may have a hard time understanding that we are all God’s people. If we can change the minds of these individuals we can help shape our nation into the one that Martin Luther King envisioned.
Together we can make America into the nation that Martin Luther King thought it "ought to be". After all, the way that Martin Luther King envisioned our country was the way God envisioned the world.