Are Martin Luther King Jr. dreams deferred? Have King’s dreams and hopes ever come true? Most Americans today tend to believe that King’s hopes and dreams did come true, but did they really? In 1963, King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was published while King was in Birmingham’s jail. King’s letter than was written in a margin in the Birmingham’s newspaper to express and criticize white clergymen beliefs and inappropriate actions. In 2015, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Letter to My Son” was published on The Atlantic to argue that African-Americans lives will never be as important as white Americans. In 2016, John W. Whitehead’s “What Happens to a Dream Deferred? Ask Martin Luther King Jr.” was published on The Huffington Post to argue how King’s …show more content…
Coates writes, “To be African in the Baltimore of my youth was to be naked before the elements of the world, before all the guns, fists, knives, crack, rape, and disease. The law did not protect us. And now, in your time, the law has become an excuse for stopping and frisking you, which is to say, for furthering the assault on your body”. What Coates is saying is that for African-Americans unjust laws hurt and try to destroy African bodies than protect them from harm. What Coates really means by this is that the laws are created to benefit white Americans than African-Americans. Coates believes that the United States still have white privilege and African-Americans will never be equal or treated better than White Americans. Coates argues that police brutality to African-Americans still exist today. Coates writes, “And you have seen men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old child whom they were oath-bound to protect. […] the police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body. It does not matter if the destruction is the result of an unfortunate overreaction”. What Coates is saying is that the police 's job is to prevent violence and protect the people. Yet, the police are abusing their powers to destroy African-Americans lives. Not only are policemen murdering criminals, they are murdering innocent unarmed African-Americans children. Therefore, Coates does not believe that King’s hopes were
At the beginning of the book, Coates wrote about how growing up in a community that was hostile against African Americans was like. “The streets transform every ordinary day into a series of trick questions, and every incorrect answer risks a beat-down, a shooting, or a pregnancy. No one survives unscathed. And yet the heat that springs from the constant danger, from a lifestyle of near-death experience, is thrilling.” Coates was always “on guard” as a kid, for he feared that if he spoke or even have the slightest chance of expressing the feeling of dissatisfaction both the streets and the police will seek trouble. There were too many examples at that time that showed Coates physical harm
In 1963, when African-Americans were fighting for black and white equality, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” While confined in the Birmingham jail, King felt the need to respond to a letter published in the local newspaper. This letter criticized King’s intentions during his visit by saying they were untimely. As a way to defend his actions, King put together a number of arguments and beliefs that proved why taking direct action was necessary during a time of racial discrimination. Furthermore, to persuade his audience, King had to gain trust and share the emotional connection he had with his people.
Martin Luther King Jr’s Dream has said to have been fulfilled. However, others claim that the dream has only been taken at face value, thus, misunderstood. In John McWhorter’s article, “Black People Should Stop Expecting White America to ‘Wake Up’ to Racism,” he refers to past and recent events to establish the difference between society’s fantasy and the misinterpreted Dream of Dr. King.
In the past 60 years, the unstable frame in which the world was built, began to truly change by commencing to form into a world where every individual will one day be accepted for who they are no matter their race or colour. The belief that white people were better than others had been accepted in imperialist nations for generations. Although, some inspirational individuals who have opposed suprematism, their values and beliefs differed from the majority but still voiced it, they rose up and fought for equality for all human beings. Although worldwide equality and freedom has not yet been established much has been achieved and credited to freedom fighters in the 1960’s. During this time two inspiring men fought for freedom in their own ways; Charles Perkins and
King said “I realize I will always be the poster child for police brutality, but I can try to use that as a positive force for healing and restraint.” Even though it was 1991 when this incident took place and people thought we were past racism in America, it made us realize racism still exist in America in 1991 and even today. The overall theme of the story is don’t judge a book by it’s cover. In other words a police officer’s image is positive but their motive may not be
Martin Luther King Jr. have dreams of the nation they are trying to form. These instances of envisioning are prevalent in March and are often touching. Dr. King in the text makes an bold statement that demonstrates to the reader why great leaders in this time period in history made a great change in our nation. While talking to Robert Kennedy regarding the unlawful arrest of African Americans in Jackson Mississippi, King speaks to him about why they must continue protesting. King implores, “I’m deeply appreciative of what the administration is doing. I see a ray of hope, but I am different from my father. I feel the need of being free now.” (Lewis and Aydin 96). Martin Luther King not only speaks in terms of a dream when he uses the words ‘ray of hope’, but when he says that he ‘feels the need of being free now’, he envisions a world that could be different. A world contradicting the racism and hate that those of African descent have experienced since the beginning of American history. Though this isn’t Martin’s famous ‘I have a dream speech’, it is evident that he has had a dream and a plan to fulfill it long before the speech that America will remember for the rest of its history. John Lewis had the pleasure of working with Dr. King and sharing his values in the text. John Lewis also has dreams of what America could become—John sees excellent value in the potential of individuals to change America. After Robert Kennedy pulls him aside to reverence the change that has occurred in him being ‘woke’, John explains why People like Kennedy make his dream for America come true. John speaks, “It showed me something about Robert Kennedy that I came to respect: even though he could be a little rough—ruthless, some would say—he was willing to learn, to grow, and to change.” (Lewis and Aydin 152). John has dedicated his life to this movement—giving up an education and other possible opportunities to address injustices among his brothers. In the text, the
Black people love their children with a kind of obsession. You are all we have and you come to us endangered” (82). Coates, now an adult, understood both the love and fear his father had when beating him. Additionally, Coates, from his experiences in his childhood, understood the growing up as an African American male in America is dangerous and unforgiving. Police brutality is the strong arm that America uses to discipline young African American teens who fail to comply with their requests.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that Negroes would be equal and have civil rights. In his book King take us on his journey of what he endured as he was fighting for their rights as colored people. In the introduction that Ms. Dorothy Cotton wrote who was an Education Director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and she also worked closely with Dr. King. Ms. Cotton explains being there with Martin when he decides to proceed with his protest that would land him in jail. In her introduction she states that “Martin's decision to go to jail was a turning point for the civil rights struggle” (xi). While being imprisoned King “wrote his most profound explanation of [the people's] nonviolent strategy” (xii) to get justice for colored people.
Yet, in Coates case, there is little room to do anything but normalize the situation, because the opposite response, the one that just might make a change or bring attention, is one he couldn’t possibly do. The opposite of normalizing is outrage. It’s calling the cops and the courts and the news, it’s saying that this is not ok to be normal, that this fear is not a life, it is merely survival. But as a black man, where the police are against him and the courts will try to jail him, where “everyone has lost a child, somehow, […] to jail” (16), there is no room for outrage. This is where people get trapped, when from an outside perspective, one might ignorantly ask why they didn’t just get out of the situation. I’ve included an image of some of the many black people who were unarmed and shot by the police, some of which Coates mentions in the book, to show just how dangerous it can be to be a person of color in a white world, how the normalizing of fear and the inequities of the justice system just further perpetrate the injustice that so many are living
One of the greatest speakers for the black civil rights movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. Two of his pieces that stand out the most, were the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream”. The Letter From Birmingham Jail is exactly that, it’s a letter that King wrote while he was in jail, to a group of clergy members who disapproved of his actions in Birmingham City. I Have a Dream was a speech delivered in Washington, DC at Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. This speech was written to inspire people to look beyond themselves and also demanded the country unity focusing on equality for all without focusing on the color of their skin; King also wanted the people to take a stand in a nonviolent manner.
In the following quote he writes, “I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. If you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.” In this quote, King shows how the police officers would let the dogs out to bite the Negroes. It would be more understanding if the Negros were retaliating with violence. However, they were doing nonviolence protest and the police would use violent attack against the people. The police were treating the Negros as if they were not human just because they look physically different. This is unbelievable because you would not expect law enforcers to mistreat old Negro women and young Negro girls. They were not just picking on one group of people; they would bully people from young to old. Dr. King agrees to the point that they need to have law enforcement; however, he cannot join this group of law enforcers. They are not being fair to the people in the community and they are using their power in a negative
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
Coates (2015) shared with his son and his audience about "America 's history and slavery through a series of inspired experiences" that he described as a journey when he was a child (p. 3).The purpose of the article is to persuade the audiences which relies on author 's justification and biases. Coates ' goal is to make the audience understand the history of the United States and the current racial crisis that exists in the country now. "The different kinds of crime that young black males have tolerated in the U.S. because of white culture is emphasized and the community which trying to obtain sovereignty over black bodies" (Coates, 2015, p. 5). Coates describes in his article that racial issues have influenced America and how police officers treat black people brutally. He conveys his powerful message through appealing his audience to emotion and
Subsequently, the death of Trayvon Martin is seen as the motive to construct a response to anti-black racism, similarly known as The Black Lives Matter movement. To clarify, Shaun King author of ‘Black Lives Matter opposes police brutality, not police’ states, “I believe that brutal police officers should be held to the highest ethical standards and find it deplorable that abusive officer after abusive officer in America is far too often set free without punishment” (King). The author uses powerful diction such as
Never have I ever, taken the time to listen to Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” because since I was a child King’s importance stood out with great significance. The moral of the speech was always made clear to me, because of the popularity of it. Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader, who stood as a voice for the African American’s movement to provoke change. For us today it seems like over a hundred years ago the United States faced the problem of segregation and racism, considering how things have drastically changed. With the help of Dr. King the world is continuing to change in a numerous amount of positive ways. His bravery, leadership, and persistence placed him on a pedestal, giving him the