As a child, I had known my fair share of discrimination. It became abundantly clear to me when I was introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that I was not the only one, or the first one to be discriminated against. I remember completing an assignment regarding Dr. King’s speech, but I didn’t grasp the depth at which he wrote and the importance of his speech until now. At a time of turmoil and disunity, Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech was able to bring people together to protest for the equal rights of the African American people by appealing to the audience’s religious beliefs, attributing equality to nature, and unifying members of the audience together.
Using faith and religion, Martin Luther King makes the audience
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Martin Luther King aims to join the members in the audience together with his speech. Proclaiming that “black men as well as white men” should be given fundamental rights, Dr.King makes sure to include Caucasians in his speech, instead of antagonizing the white population, which allows the white population to feel that they are a part of Dr. King’s speech (1). Since the Caucasians are the ones with the power and supremacy in society, he knows to incorporate them so that their movement and protest will be successful. This also shows how even if he is upset with the majority of the white population, he knows to include them so that they are allies and helpful rather than enemies of the cause. By including the privileged population, he also is able to unify the black population with the Caucasians as seen when he states that their “white brothers… realize their destiny is tied up with our destiny” (King 3). By calling the white population as “brothers,” he makes the audience feel interconnected at a familial level. He also mentions that their destinies are related with one another, which makes the white people feel that giving the rights to the African Americans will also benefit the white population, as well. This creates a trust and reliance between the African Americans and …show more content…
After Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, African-Americans were able to obtain equal rights. Though African Americans were given equal rights, they are still far from being truly equal to their Caucasian friends. Years later, the black population still faces discrimination, which is evident in the recent acts of police brutality in America, which raised many protests across the country. This image is similar to that of the time of Martin Luther King’s era, suggesting a repeat of history. Dr. King mentioned that he will not be satisfied until African Americans are no longer the victim of discrimination and police brutality, but in today’s world, the black population is still subjected to this, so even years after his death, Martin Luther King is still not
In the beginning of his speech Martin Luther heralds back almost one hundred years by linking the importance of the march to the Emancipation Proclamation(King 3). By doing this King puts the issue of equality into a timeline by showing that while it has been a hundred years since African Americans had been given freedom it also shows that while freedom has been granted to them there has still been very little that has happened to give the African race a better life. Not much further in his speech King say, “ This note was a promise that all men-yes, black men as well as white men-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (King 3) Again by taking an important article from America’s past King says that when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution they meant for all Americans to be equal. Midway through the speech King pleads with his people to never resort to violence in the face of adversity that is handed to them by their oppressors, because King has came to realize through his own trials that the “their( referring to the white man)destiny is tied up with our destiny.”(King 3) As King’s speech progresses he tells the masses that until they have their rights be equal to those who rights are unbounded that they must not stop until they have achieved their goal. By being able to use
August 28, 1963 marked a very important day in history that had an impact on not only America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his very well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day, people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Like many other equality initiative ideas, they often times never make it past the idea stage or rarely end in the original result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with providing us with full equality. Although, within those 51 years, indeed we have made a mass amount of progress but you would think after that many years this issue would have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.
Martin Luther King, Jr., attempts the near impossible–to convince a country run rampant with racism that African Americans are human beings, and that they deserve to be treated as such. His speech is powerful and effective; his message transcends time with his ability to stir the moral conscience of the country as a whole while still delivering hope to the African American people. Though Dr. King’s words are poetic and eloquent, they demand action within the hearts and minds of all listening. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will not rest until, “all of God’s children,” can sing together, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at
Civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr, in his powerful speech, “I have a dream” indicated that even though we own the Emancipation Proclamation, we also had been suffering the discrimination. King’s purpose is to invert the current unfair situation and make the Negros have the same rights as white people. He adopts a poignant tone in order to claim that Negros should have their own rightful place and appeal the Negro people who have the same inequity experiences.
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he elaborates on the injustices that were wildly plaguing America in the year 1963. Black people all over the country were being treated unfairly, locked up in prison for false crimes, and refused the great opportunities that white people were so lucky to receive. Before the year 1963, President Abraham Lincoln was the last person to make such an impact in the equal treatment of all people, so for about 100 years, blacks had no one to back them in their fight for equal treatment.
Dr. King gave this speech during a time of racial Inequality, and very boldly spoke with words that would forever impact the way the people of the United States of America would ever think. However, to this day racial inequality still exists. It lies behind closed doors and things that are not as mainstream now as they used to be. For African Americans, racial equality was an important victory that needed to be one. No one was in there way as much as the Ku Klux Klan. According to our textbook, "The KKK's long history of violence toward African Americans symbolized by the white sheets...
In his speech, “I Have a Dream,” delivered on August 28, 1963 at Abraham Lincoln’s memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explores the rights that African American’s are granted by the U.S. Constitution. King believes that those rights are not equal to the rights that white men and women have. King describes a world that is different than the world where he lives. A world that he desires his family to grow up in and the vision that he sees America becoming. Though all Americans were ostensibly granted unalienable rights, King uses rich figurative language to argue that African Americans are still waiting to enjoy the same privileges afforded to others.
Martin Luther King Jr. made many claims about the American society in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 that were all legitimate. Today, we have made many advances toward the racial equality that he sought. As a nation, however, we still have not "opened the door of opportunity to all God's children", as King so eloquently put it. In part, this is due to the fact that although our society has reached a degree of political nondiscrimination, this political nondiscrimination has not led to economic nondiscrimination. What it has led to, though, is affirmative action policy and awareness among the people of this country that justice is a complicated process that has yet to be realized. King made us aware that Blacks weren't receiving equal treatment under our laws, and this awareness led to equal rights policy. These equal rights policies have, in turn, led to affirmative action policies. Affirmative action policies of equal opportunity were necessary because political equality was not resulting in economic equality. Today's citizens are still not satisfied, however. This is because affirmative action policy, to date, has been based on egalitarian policy, which has not resulted in economic security nor a sense of balanced justice. In this paper, I will show how Martin Luther King Jr. initiated a growth process in our country by creating an awareness, and that this awareness is gradually evolving toward a justice that we have yet to realize. I will show that Americans are still in the midst of growing pains, and that equality, opportunity, and justice are complex issues that we are slowly working out over ti...
states that he and all other African Americans will not stop fighting for justice until they are guaranteed “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” He declares that they will no longer stand for being robbed of their dignity while trying to make a living in America. King says, “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Martin Luther King Jr. uses great amounts of ethos to show those filled with hatred against blacks that all they desire is freedom. He plays to the morals of the audience by telling of the demeaning acts of “Whites Only” signs across the United States. King states that there will be no rest until love drives out the darkness that has been hovering over the country since the beginning. He adds, “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Here he plays to the rhetorical device, pathos, to develop the central idea of how momentous it is to end segregation and racial discrimination. King relates to the anger of the audience as he demands justice for
Through emotion, Martin Luther King Jr. was able give connect with his audience during his speech when he declared the Constitution is “a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed…life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”. Therefore, he referred to this promise as a “bad check” and so he announced to the people that it was time for the African American to cash the check that would give them “upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice”. Throughout his speech, he stated the struggles of injustice by declaring “the Negro…still finds himself an exile in his own land”. With a keen voice, he declared to the African American that it was time to “go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed”. Overall, with the use of hope and faith, he was able to apply emotion to his speech and assure his audience that together one day African Americans would be truly
During the mid-20th century racial inequality was a major issue in the United States that needed to be addressed. On August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial thousands of people gathered to listen to Martin Luther King’s speech on segregation and freedom. He spoke to the Negros who were demanding freedom, and the white people that had been rude and unkind. This was an extremely serious and determined speech that showed lots of emotion by King, who was also a preacher. He created a tone that was emotional and eager to create a new beginning. King’s speech ended up being heard across the nation and is commonly known by millions. Throughout his speech he uses repetition, logos and pathos to get the nation to stand up for equality.
Martin Luther King Jr was very passionate about equality. He was always determined to fight for what he believed in and he wasn't going to stop until everyone was treated equally. Some things Dr. King so firmly believed in were, the rights for the sanitation workers, the direction of the civil rights movement, and the importance of achieving equality.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a grand alluaion to Abraham Lincoln’s Ghettysburg Address and was given to unite a nation divided by race. He delivered the speech at the Lincoln Memorial and for the same reason Lincoln delivered his. He also used many of the same literary devices that Lincoln used in his speech to unify and capture the attention of his audience. To this day, King’s speech has been a proud reminder of the stand against racial discrimination and an event rooted into history books for ages to
Dr.King states several times in his speech how he wants to abolish the segregation and racial discrimination in the nation and how he feels so vividly about how he wants the nation to come together and be one big “beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” Dr.King explains how African Americans shall not “wallow in the valley of despair,” and how the African American race shall rise to end discrimination on their
There once was a speech made, from a man who was admired and looked up too by many people. His name was Martin Luther King and he had stood up for his own race. Back then “King was arrested, [had] his home bombed, subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a leader for the first rank of blacks” (Life Books). With this in mind, it has showed us that Martin Luther King was a leader for most people. He had wanted everyone to have equal rights and ...