“ The future depends on what we do in the present ”, these are the great words once spoken by Gandhi. These powerful words pertain to the great speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech. This momentous speech may have gone down as if not the, but one of the greatest speeches of all time. In the highly memorable and notable speech King addresses the elephant in the room and is not afraid to be honest about the horrific discrimination that is taking place throughout the questionably “every man is created equal” America. By the end of his speech King has created the perfect world in which he knows that we can accomplish with a little bit of hope. All in all, the main idea King was trying to get across was that together …show more content…
King uses figurative language to get his point across, such as, “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice” (King 4-5). This citation illustrates that King has hope that even the most discriminated state, in this case Mississippi, can accomplish a peaceful living. I can deduce that from this certain line many mississippians realized the affect their actions had on Africans American. Once again King creates this peaceful living image reeling in the audience's attention. In the speech, King states, “I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King 5). This cite compares and contrasts the real world and the discrimination along with it to King’s perfect world where we won’t judge anyone, no matter who they are. I can predict that although there is judgement and discrimination, we can join together and put all those things past to equal a peaceful living
King proceeds to the latter part of his speech by declaring the need for peaceful resistance. His analogies of man “carving highways of death in the stratosphere” (3) and how non peaceful defiance will contribute to “a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation” (3) soundly depicts his ideals of how African Americans should reach true freedom and equality only through pacifism. He mandates this passiveness in order to bring about change insightfully because his goal is not to wage war against their oppressors but to defeat the evil sentiment held by the nation. King’s remarkable aptitude and brilliant intuition in his dialogue enables the reader to appreciate and concede to his ideals.
talks about how African Americans in the South were being arrested and publicly chastened by the police force for their nonviolent protests. But, he extols these protests because of what they stand for. He says they “…preserve the evil system of segregation…I wish you had commended the Negro demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhuman provocation” (94). Because these people were aiming to end the discrimination they were facing, and did this in a peaceful manner that respected their Judeo-Christian values that all men are created equal, King saw it as exactly what this oppressed group needed. They needed a push of confidence to know that they were being treated unjustly, and that they did have the power to stand up to
King does a great job bringing his audience to reality when he talks about how he has been labeled as an ?outsider coming in? by the Clergymen. King argues that he is part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference serving as their President. King states that they were asked by affiliates in Birmingham ?to be on call to engage in nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary . . . the hour came and we lived up to our promise . . . I was invited here, I am here because I have organization ties here.? King definitely feels that he had a genuine purpose to be there because of his organizational ties to the people of the community. Probably more so because of the responsibility to do something about the injustice committed in Birmingham. King had a strong belief that people should never be oppressed and the people of Birmingham have been oppressed for far to long. King felt that ?Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.? In this he was saying that if you allowed the unrighteous treatment of people to occur in one area that it will only spread to new areas and affect more and more people. If people see this unjust treatment being committed with out consequences over and over they will come to accept it as okay and something that is accepted. This would in turn be a great tragedy to all mankind.
With this intention in mind, he brings up the notion that unjust laws are meant to be broken if the person breaking them has accepted the consequences or if breaking the law is for the bettering of society. King believed that if you break a law that your conscience deemed unjust and accept the punishment in order to make people think about the injustice that the law set in place, you have the highest respect for the law. As stated in the prior paragraph, King refers to the voting system in the state of Alabama and how it is corrupt. The way laws are being voted upon make them unjust, and, therefore, set a baseline for them to be broken. Towards the end of the passage, King brings to light how the police officers were commended for their actions of keeping the protesters in “order and preventing violence”. The white community believed that all laws were just because they did not negatively affect their lives. The black community speaking out and protesting against laws they viewed as unjust were perceived as obscene by the white community. This point of view demonstrates Kings beliefs that unjust laws are breakable, because while the white community in Alabama saw such protests as obscene and unneeded, the rest of the country tuned in to watch everything unfold.
As King stood before the massive crowd of Americans, he urged the citizens of the United States to turn their hatred of colored people into a hatred of the true evil: racism. King continually states that the black people are being held back by the “chains of discrimination.” King uses this to make the audience feel that the black people are in great misfortune. King describes the white people as swimming in an “ocean of material prosperity” while the black people are stranded on a “lonely island of poverty.” Here, King magnificently uses the Declaration of Independence and implores the audiences’ emotions on all levels, wielding pathos as his Rhetorical weapon. Prejudices surrounded the nation and caused fear, anger, panic, rage, and many more intense emotions. All people who lived in this time period experienced these prejudices in one form or another. King takes the idea of these prejudices and describes a world without all of the hate and fear. He imagines an ideal world that all races, not just black people, would find more pleasant and peaceful. Moreover, King references how the United States has broken their promise to the men of color by refusing them the basic human rights granted in the foundational documents of the country: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The author of the “I Have A Dream” speech is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King, known for his work in Civil Rights during the 1960s. In this informative speech, Dr. King inspires individuals to have a change in both white and black citizens during the Civil RIghts era in the United States. Moreover, the premise of the speech is that both sides of the discussion must accept change in a non-violent yet effective way. He spoke about the injustices of segregation and discrimination of black citizens that was occurring in our nation. As he opened, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” he explained what he was there to do for all citizens. He is
He uses many rhetorical devices proficiently to show that black people and other minorities can overcome segregation. Many African-Americans have been oppressed so much that it is only so much a person can take. They start to give up, but King encourages them that things will eventually change. Blacks have fought to the point where they probably do not have the energy anymore and are tired of waiting. King eventually explains that if they do not keep fighting for what they believe in, then this oppression will never get solved. He also says that the clergymen should recognize the black demonstrators of Birmingham and give them credit for what they have fought for. Not only black people, but white people too. King wants his people to have faith that a change will come, which is why this letter is so significant to society back then and society
Martin Luther’s speech is one of the greatest speeches known to man. He had no idea how much this would impact America and didn’t live to see how amazing it really truly was. The crazy thing about this speech, is practically half of it was done just off the top of his head but yet there was no stumbling. His words were full of such passion and emotion. Many of the lines spoken can be repeated and are remembered very easily. The main reason why this is, is because he used works of persuasion that made you want to keep listening. The words were intriguing and inspiring. In the Marin Luther King Jr. speech, three works of persuasion he used to capture the hearts of the people were by using repetition, allusion, and restatement.
In “Patrolling Racial Borders: Discrimination Against Mixed Race People," Heather Dalmage provides a brief history of and social context for the discrimination against multiracial people in the United States. She identifies people who discriminate against multiracial people as “border patrollers," or people who believe the color line is fixed and permanent, and thus they have the ability to discern between “themselves” and “others”. She goes on to identify broad areas of everyday life in which multicultural children are “patrolled” and face discrimination, through the patrolling of the child’s physicality, linguistics, interaction with embers of the out-group, geographies, and cultural capital. Her main point is that border patrolling is the
He felt that all Americans should be equal and that they should forget about injustice and segregation. He wanted America to know what the problems were and wanted to point out the way to resolve these problems. In his speech, King uses different types of rhetorical guidelines. He uses them to show his points in a better and easier way to understand. At the beginning he successfully uses mythos. A myth has a deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for the audience.
On the day of his “I Have a Dream” speech, King stood upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial located in the heart of our nation’s capital. This location was essential to King’s success because it was a symbol of our nation’s historic efforts to abolish the enslavement of African-Americans; an act which was made possible due to the valiant efforts of Abraham Lincoln. As the preponderance of the speech began, King made reference to the former president in what Peter Paris said was a “Declaration proclaimed to America on behalf of all African people”. King stated, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice” (I Have a Dream 2). Through these words, he was able to mimic the tone and style of Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address while also evoking remembrance of the nation’s harsh past. The signing of one such bill, the Emancipation Proclamation, was the first time in history that African-Americans were able to progress in the social order. King tied this into his argument by introducing the concept that other laws could be enacted in order to allow the African-American population to continue
Throughout King’s speech, he uses the rhetorical mode, pathos, to give the audience an ambience of strong emotions such as sympathy. For example, whites had sympathy for African Americans and parents had sympathy for their children. The way that King tells his speech takes the focus off of race and reestablishes it on the aspiration of a world without racism. “…by making his audience no longer hate Negroes and instead hate racism and wish for a new, better world…” (L., Anson). Dr. King made the audience sympathize with African Americans, helping the audience realize that racist people and bias ideas caused the true dilemma of discrimination. Through making the audience realize this, he also gave them hope for a world reborn without racism, without segregation, without discrimination, and without hate. King wanted his children to live in a world without judgment of race, but with the consideration of personality, for nobody should not endure judgment because of the way that they look. He spoke of his own children, which introduced a reinforced emotional attachment to the audience; this gave many parents a scenario to relate to because no parent wants ...
Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy included an effort between all people to spark legislative and social change in society. Martin Luther King often supported working together with different people to achieve success, and he worked with many people, organizations, and presidential administrations to achieve justice and equality for all citizens. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, he spoke of integration between people of different races. He starts every line with “I Have a Dream” to show that his dream in society right at that time was unattainable. He hoped that his children ...
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this
...n the change for black minorities for freedom and rights in America. King exercises the use of pathos by expressing sadness, disgust and sympathy to the audience. He illustrates vivid images and explains, with immense detail, the everyday sufferings of the youth and elderly of the Negro populous under the segregation law. He states in the beginning of his letter “Negros are in anguish and can no longer endure what they have merely been going through for such a long period of time” (King). King attempts to get the reader to understand that injustice is not to be delayed, but the time to act is now. He made clear that although the clergy labeled him as foolish, he would not stand idly and watch the effect of desegregation and injustice happen in Birmingham. King’s emotional appeal made it so the clergy, black and white churches would feel badly for not taking a stand.