"The Purpose of Education"

By: King, Martin Luther, Jr., Morehouse College Student

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. What follows is the text of an essay written by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Morehouse student newspaper the Maroon Tiger. Published in 1947, King went on to incorporate the essay into a speech on the same topic. An undergraduate student at the time, the essay remains pertinent today.

As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the “brethren” think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.