Struggles of African Americans

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Recommended: The beginning of slavery in America

We live in this nation as a united family but never forgetting our past. We never overlook the history of the pilgrims who traveled here for their religious freedom, our gain of independence or of our horrible past about slavery because we know as a nation that those things shape our future and also guide our future generations to restrain from our past mistakes. As we expand as a nation one thing that we continue to learn about, is how slavery has engraved a mark on our neighborhoods, communities and societies. This mark being that of racism and prejudice which is impossible for our generation to erase and will be for the generations to come. As our ancestors faced in the past in this united nation, we know that they didn't easily over come this obstacle, but from King's speech the reader generalizes that it was the first step for us to overcome the idea of discrimination. From Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech “I Have A Dream”, the reader realizes that African Americans' idealized dream of not being “judged by the color of their skin but by their character” took a very long time to accomplish. In the speech “I Have A Dream”, by King, the reader becomes aware of African American struggles, unity and the idea of a better tomorrow. For African Americans the struggle to be equally measured to the Caucasians in the 1900's was one long fight that was finally brought to light by King's speech. The idea of placing African Americans as a group and not individuals limited their abilities to prove to their country that they had something valuable to contribute. In King's speech, he artistically uses imagery and symbols to describe the struggles of African American societies. In the speech, King uses words like “chains” and “crippled” t... ... middle of paper ... ...what he want, which is freedom should be allowed to flow freely like a river so that it is not limited to one specific race. As we take our gradual steps into the future, one thing that would continue to be on our mind, is that of King's speech. We will continue to question ourselves whether our country would have reached this melting pot as we know it today if Martin Luther King Jr. didn't make the first step to lead our country in the right direction. His speech which aimed to “dramatize” the African American struggles, express unity and lead our country into a better future has led us to be a great nation today. One thought that I leave for the readers of King's speech to ponder is would the mark of slavery be eventually erased or will it still hang over our heads like the clouds in the sky? For that answer we can only leave it for our future generation to solve.

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