BRAINLY (WEHT) – According to data collected by Brainly, which is a website that helps with students’ homework and studying, 63% of U.S. students don’t know Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s accomplishments or were unaware of some of the important things he did to contribute to America’s Civil Rights Movement.
According to Brainly, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent civil rights leader who preached civil disobedience as opposed to violence. Brainly also mentions that Dr. King helped end segregation and worked on reducing racial injustice.
According to the survey results from Brainly, after surveying more than 1,700 U.S. students the findings were as follows:
- Over 25% of U.S. students said that Dr. King did not lead the Montgomery Bus boycott
- Roughly 18% didn’t know Dr. King organized the “March on Washington”
- 19% said Dr. King didn’t give the famous “I Have a Dream Speech.”
Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is considered by many his most famous speech. (Joseph suttle) “I used to know a lot,” said Joseph Suttle of Bremen. “I could probably recite it because we learned it so much in school.”
It’s also a speech many in the Tri-State know by its name.
“They kind of get the general idea I think, what the day is for and what we are honoring,” said Bayli Stone of Daviess County. But some western Kentucky residents say they were surprised at the percentages of those who didn’t know about Dr. King’s accomplishments.
“I can’t believe that kids wouldn’t know that. I would think that, I was always brought up to learn a lot of that stuff,” said Pam Leach of Owensboro.
“I thought more people would know about the fact that he gave that speech. It should be very important and it should be taught to each and every individual,” added Xander Brubaker of Daviess County.
When we asked some Tri-Staters what they knew about Dr. King’s accomplishments, some have a better recollection of history than others.
(This story was originally published on January 17, 2022)
