Tuesday, November 22, 2011 |
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On August 28th 1963, A Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as other Civil Right leaders, led the March on Washington. Martin Luther King Jr. presented his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. An estimated 250,000 people gathered around the Lincoln Memorial and listened to his powerful, inspiring speech to promote Civil Rights and equality for African Americans. The purpose was not to protest with anger or threat, but with peace. King wanted “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Martin Luther King Jr. wanted freedom, not just for African-Americans like himself, but for “all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.” He began his speech stating that 5 score years previous the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; however blacks were still living under constant discrimination. He then goes on to tell protesters that the “bank of justice is bankrupt.” African- Americans who were only seeking equality, were being discriminated brutally. An example of this brutality was on May 14th 1961, the Freedom Riders traveling from Washington D.C. to New Orleans were attacked on their bus by “some 200 white men.” The men slashed the tires and beat on the bus, they continued to pursue the bus until it came to a stop. “As the chocking passengers disembarked, they were beaten with club s until Alabama state troopers arrived.” (The American Promise, pg:1033)
King wanted to gain freedom in a peaceful way rather than through “bitterness and hatred.” Kings most famous words were in the repetition of “I have a dream.” His dream was freedom; he argued that all men are created equally quoting the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." He went on to elaborate about his dream and included “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” His dream was not out of reach or impossible like some may have thought. We haven’t quite achieved everything he preached for but almost 50 years later the progress is just what Martin Luther King Jr. would have loved to see.
5 comments:
I think you’re definitely right in saying that Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream was freedom, not just for blacks, but for everyone, regardless of where they came from or what skin color they had. I also agree with what you said on Dr. Martin Luther King wanting to achieve his goals of freedom in a peaceful manner. These ideas that he had are still relevant today, and I think that the reason this amazing speech hasn’t been forgotten is because he was speaking to everyone. I’ve always felt he was trying to appeal to everyone in the audience that day. He successfully found a way to tap into their emotions by saying things like “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I don’t know a single person that wouldn’t support people (especially children!) being judged by who they are instead of how they look. There’s a reason that this speech has stood the test of time, and it’s fairly obvious that it’s because everything Dr. Martin Luther King said in his speech is absolutely relevant to our lives today.
I agree with your analysis that Dr. King was promoting a nonviolent approach to equality. As you mentioned, during this period, many of the civil rights acts were being met with brutal force from white citizens and the police. I try to imagine how difficult it would be to keep everyone together under such adversity. I believe that one of the main points of this speech, as you mentioned is the nonviolent protest. Dr. King stated, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline”. He may have been stating this point to keep the movement together and as a response to other Black Americans taking a more violent approach in the urban inner cities. At this time, other Black leaders such as Malcolm X were gathering followers which promoted a more violent and self-defense perspective to protests. Dr. King believed that violence would have a negative impact on the civil rights movement in general as was seen in later years. By declaring his dream to his audience, Dr. King gave hope and a picture of the future of what could be if the movement stayed together and focused on what needed to be done. Even though many of his audience members were victims of brutality and imprisonment, he urged them to keep the faith and know that the situation would get better. He believed that American would ultimately keep its promise of equality.
In his speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted the Declaration of Independence, like you said, and also made references to other famous speeches. When MLK says "5 score years ago" he is trying to invoke the memory of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which started out with the words "four score and seven years ago". In that speech, Lincoln spoke for the emancipation of the slaves and became a hero to many African Americans, both in that time and in the time of MLK. Even the choice of where to have this demonstration is purposeful. It is taking place in the "symbolic shadow" of a "great American": President Abraham Lincoln. His giant statue stands behind MLK as if he is lending his support to MLK's words in his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation "came a great light to millions of slaves" and MLK hopes to do the same with the millions of abused and discriminated African Americans.
Also as you pointed out, MLK repeats phrases such as "100 years ago" and "I have a dream" to create an emphasis on the words that follow those. He gets his point across very eloquently when he uses that parallel structure in his speech.
MLK isn't just fighting for a better societal standing for colored people, he is arguing for equality for everyone "all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.” This is part of what made his speech so successful and powerful. Even white people could not find fault in equality for everyone without looking like a bad person. If MLK had argued just for one race, it would have alienated other races and scared many people off. However, universal equality is an idea which appeals to all races.
I highly agree with your statement that King not only was fighting for rights among African- Americans, but rights for every person, no matter their race or religious views. The way that King fought for these freedoms in a non violent matter was a very wise idea on his behalf; by proving that the protesters wanted to cause no trouble would allow them to seem innocent (as they were). These two ideals that King had, I believe is what caused him to be so respected. I think that these ideals are what causes him to still be so popular and respected to this day, had he gone about protesting in other ways, more radical ways, I think it would have given people a much different image of him. King was in search of peace and freedom and he knew that the only way to get there was through peace because peace and freedom go hand in hand.
I definitely agree with you that King's dream of freedom was directed towards everyone; despite of race or religion, and not just the African Americans. What made this obvious was King's approach to gain freedom. “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” referred to King's idea of using civil disobedience to protest for freedom was a wise decision because it made the government recognize the people in the campaign as nonviolent protesters. If protesters are acting in a nonviolent manner, then the government would probably assume that they're not a threat and would not have to resort to military actions. Without King's “I have a dream" speech, the change that is made then would probably not be here now.
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