LAD 27: I Have a Dream Speech

Summary:

Martin Luther King Jr. revisits the feelings of hope forged by President Abraham Lincoln when he gave the Emancipation Proclamation. However, King stresses that the freedom promised in that proclamation never came to African Americans, as of 1969. King laments the segregation and poverty African Americans face daily. Martin Luther King Jr. urges the audience to lift itself from the racial injustices that plague America. King also urges the nation to overcome its racial tensions peacefully and without bitterness or hatred. He tells the audience that once the fight begins it can never end until African Americans have gained their freedom at last. After relaying the dreams he has for America to the audience, King turns to faith and god to spread hope for freedom and change. Martin Luther King Jr. reassures his audience that there will be a day when all Americans are able to join hands and experience the freedoms expressed in the very foundation of the nation.

Dreams:

Martin Luther King Jr. states that he dreams that one day white and black children will be allowed to hold hands and walk together.
This was one of my favorite dreams that King mentioned because it revealed the effect segregation had on everyone in America, even innocent children. It highlights how the harsh racial tensions permeated into the lives of young Americans and managed to persist through many generations.

Another dream that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of was that he wished sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners were able to sit together at a table of brotherhood.
This was especially moving to me because it is a symbol of complete acceptance of each other by opposite races. It also highlights how each generation is able to resist the beliefs and practices that encompassed generations prior.
See the source image
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech
August 28, 1963
See the source image
John F Kennedy gives his Civil Rights Address
June 11, 1963
Although not as passionate or as moving as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, JFK's Civil Rights Address still touches upon the same ideas and beliefs as King. JFK, similarly, urges Americans to look at the state of the nation and end the practice of segregation.

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