I Have A Dream By Martin Luther King Jr. Essay - 1,530 words

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to the thousands of African Americans who had marched on Washington, D.C. at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The date of the speech was August 28, 1963, but it is one that will live for generations. The purpose of the speech was to convince his audience on several fronts: he sought to persuade the black community to stand up for the rights afforded them under the Constitution, and he also sought to demonstrate to the white community that a "simple" black man could so effectively use powers of persuasion that they too would have reason to join the cause. Martin Luther King Jr.


had a dream, a dream of freedom, of complete brother hood; the true American dream, the dream of full equality. King was one of historys most influential leaders of racial justice. His political philosophy and strong beliefs helped lead our nation to the racial justice we have today. The I Have a Dream speech is often considered one of the greatest speeches ever written because it was not only Kings dream, but also the dream of many Americans. The speech inspired many people and it was a guide to how King believed America should be. This dream of equality, to which King dedicated and sacrificed his life, was a direct result of the inequality and discrimination King and many other African Americans experienced throughout their lifetime. In his opening sentence Martin Luther King stated that the event at which he spoke would "go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation".


His words were indeed true, and they certainly fit the event. However, it is likely that the words he spoke there that day collectively qualify as the "greatest demonstration." It is no surprise I Have a Dream is thought to be one, for Dr. King uses numerous speaking techniques to present his thoughts in a more clear, persuasive, and vivid form. Martin Luther King uses several references to the well known to every American historical events and documents. The first point that Dr. King made in his speech was that of recalling for all the promise inherent in Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He refers to the hundred years span as "five score," recalling even the manner in which Lincoln himself had referred to the passage of time in his Gettysburg address. Of the Proclamation, King said, "This momentous decree came as a great beacon of light of hope to millions of Negro slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity".


Dr. King's allusion to Abraham Lincoln, one of the few political figures of American history respected by black and white alike, sets a tone of veracity. The black people to whom he speaks know all too well the conditions in which they have been living; the white majority who would also be hearing Dr. King's words likely would need the framework of honesty and justice in which they could judge the truthfulness of the charges that Dr. King is about to make. His purpose was not to further divide, but to unite. Abraham Lincoln is the central figure around whom divisive forces had gathered; it was his purpose to preserve the Union.


It is Dr. King's purpose to call for unity of the people. It is only within this framework that Dr. King can make his next statement and still retain the white portion of his audience. Though ostensibly speaking to the black population, it is the white portion that controls the ability to effect any real changes. Without the allusion to Abraham Lincoln, Dr. King's statement that "the Negro still is not free" would have served to divide the people, rather than unite them in purpose and in truth. Dr. King seeks to and succeeds in eliciting images designed to lead his audience into specific, emotional states of mind.


He exercises the strategy of pathos in his statement, "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God's children". As he referred earlier to the truth e ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: martin luther king jr, luther king, martin luther, black community, abraham lincoln

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