"Throughout slavery, the Negro was treated in a very inhuman fashion. Unlike the Pilgrims' fathers who landed at Plymouth a year later. They were brought here from the shores of Africa. You will remember that it was in the year 1619 when the first Negro slaves landed on the shores of this nation. In order to illustrate this, a little history is necessary. I would like to open this point by stating that the Negro himself has come a long, long way in reevaluating his own intrinsic worth. "Now let us begin by noticing that we have come a long, long way. My basic theme for the evening is that we have come a long, long way in the struggle for racial justice, but we have a long, long way to go before the problem is solved. "As has been stated, I would like to use as a subject from which to speak the future of integration. So I can assure you it's a real pleasure to be with you. It's always a rich and rewarding experience when I can take a brief break from the day-to-day demands of our struggle for freedom and human dignity and discuss the issues involved in that struggle with college and university students and concerned people of goodwill all over our nation and over the world. "I did not pause to say how delighted and honored to be here tonight and to be part of your lecture series. "Dean Heller, members of the faculty and members of the student body of this great institution of learning, ladies and gentlemen. Even then, the impact of King's work was evident to those who gathered to listen to his message. King's intent was to rally public support for ending all forms of segregation, urging that "the challenge ahead is to work passionately and unrelentingly to remove racial injustice from every area of our nation's life." He emphasized that all Americans must remain alert to segregation's existence, for "if democracy is to live, segregation must die."Ī Penn State Historical Marker stands near Rec Hall to commemorate this significant moment in history. He spoke to those assembled about the civil rights movement, the United States' legacy of slavery and segregation, and the principles he believed would change the world: "We have come a long, long way in the struggle for racial justice, but we have a long, long way to go before the problem is solved." 21, 1965, King visited Penn State's University Park campus and addressed a crowd of more than 8,000 people at Recreation Hall on the future of integration. received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign against racial inequality.Ī few weeks later, on Jan. In 1964, at the age of 35, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
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