The day is celebrated in remembrance of the significant impact King made on the world to eliminate discrimination and destroy racism.
For students on campus, many recognize the national holiday as a three-day weekend.
But the Ethnic Alliance Theatre Alliance at Ball State University held a discussion on Jan. 19 to further discuss the efforts needed to improve diversity in the nation and achieve King’s dream.
King's national holiday was not immediately recognized until after a decade of the bill being proposed shut down.
It was not until the song "Happy Birthday" by Stevie Wonder celebrating King’s life, that people began acknowledging his significance. Once people heard the song, 6-million signatures were signed in favor of recognizing the holiday and it finally became officially known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
“It makes me so sad how racist, sexist and mean we are," said sophomore acting student Jacob Barnes. "There is still so much more to do."
Social media plays a major role in national holidays, including live Snapchat stories, Instagram posts and Facebook shares. The holiday is noticed online, but some students in ETA said they wondered how are these posts are actually being put into action.
“Posting a picture on social media allows the allusion that you are helping, but not going to a deeper place of deeper empathy and putting your words into actions to change things,” said Abigale Mitchell, senior acting major and member of the ETA board.
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