Martin Luther King and his speech I Have a Dream - Research Paper Example

“The Image represents the Movement of Martin Luther King Fighting For the Freedom of the Black People, which Positively Impacted on the Society later on” Introduction Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a renowned global personality honored for his very significant contribution to the struggle for liberation of the black Americans from the yoke of racial segregation that was deeply rooted in the American society. From his youth hood during the 1930s through to the 1940s, King exhibited exemplary leadership in the quest for the equality of all the Americans, devoid of the elements of racial segregation. The American society, since the days of her independence had racially subjugated the blacks in the country in varied spheres of life. From the school systems, medical facilities, transport facilities, dwelling places and the job opportunities, the blacks were continuously discriminated against, and indeed led the lives of destitution as compared to their fellow white Americans. Life was increasingly becoming unbearable for the black Americans since various government institutions, offices and other public places were awash with the writings “Whites Only” (Pepper & William 60). It is against this background that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders heightened the quest for equality and the eventual end to the culture of racial segregation in which America, which America was then deeply ingrained. In this endeavor, apart from organizing civil nonviolent protests, Dr. King also delivered powerful speeches that inspired the people and kept their hopes alive in the difficult path to freedom………….. One of the most memorable speeches by Dr. King is the “I Have A Dream”, a speech that was delivered in 1963 at the Lincoln memorial in the Washington DC, a day in which the civil rights movements all gathered in the Washington District of Columbia for a grand freedom match, dabbed “The Match On Washington”. This paper explains the image represented by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his memorable and indeed one of the America’s most adorable and inspiring speeches, “I Have A Dream”. Given the historical background of America concerning the racial discrimination directed at the black Americans, Dr. King grew up and spent his early life Atlanta. The life of deprival was not strange to Dr. King since his family was not a rich one but the parents could afford a car. He was not new to the life of Black America discrimination since he grew up in the very segregated time in the American history. For instance, during one of his 90 miles journey with his teachers to a speech contest, on their way back, the black American riders had been forced to relinquish their seats in the buses for the use by the white riders. This did not go down well with King and Moses &Gregreports that King had categorically stated in his writings and speeches that this was the angriest moment of his life (69). It is from this incident that the urge to rise and fight the culture of segregation in the American society was actually born in him. Having developed the skills and prowess in public speaking, King was much inclined to influence the masses trough the art of public speaking, through which he rid the society of the social ills and other forms of wrong doings perpetrated through segregation. His teachers had also observed his oratory skills and considering that he hailed from a God rearing Baptist church family, they advised him to help transform peoples’ lives by being a preacher. Indeed, King became a preacher who shepherded a Christian congregation in a church in Montgomery, Alabama (Collins 29). Concerning the human culture in our contemporary society, Dr. King in his speech, “I Have A Dream” projects an image of love and care for all. In this eloquent and touching speech, Dr. King showed the immense love for all the races and the need to work as the descendants of one creation. He said, “…we hold this to be self evident that we are all equal” (Bates 20).In addition, Dr. King in his speech recognized the role of those mean well for the entire human race, both the blacks and the whites. He passionately spoke at length about the values of brotherhood as he constantly referred to the future in which the both the white and black American children would hold hands together in a play and the men and women, both black and white would join hands together in a table of brotherhood. As he declared that his dream was deeply rooted in the American dream, King told the black Americans that 'we cannot walk alone' through this, he portrayed love even to the white Americans who he insisted must help in this struggle. He therefore presented himself not as a black American leader pursuing a partisan goal but as an American leader in tight pursuit of America goals and vision. He said in connection to this that they were in pursuit of a nation that would avail the great benefits from the wells of democracy that were dug deep by the founding fathers of the nation at the declaration of independence.(Donald & Martin 625).Also, Dr. King, his speech, “I Have A Dream” represents the image of change. The state of the nation had been very pathetic about issues of racial segregation. For many decades, the black Americans had undergone life frustrations, ranging from servitude, disenfranchisement, and destitution in the face of a vast material wealth that the white Americans enjoyed. In this speech, it was evident that the charge by Dr. King would stop at nothing but the attainment of the much needed change better life and respect for the Americans of the African descent. The anaphora, “I Have A Dream” in his speech was nothing less indicative of the fact that he was more than ready to pursue this course anyhow. He made this known to everyone who cared to listen, both the national leadership and the security machinery and operatives. He said, “...so despite the challenges we face today and tomorrow, I Have A Dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream”.According to Young & Andrew, Marcus Garvey, a close associate who had been attending the church seminars with King admitted that King was so passionate about this course and sound more and more rejuvenated as he delivered this historic speech. In this understanding, Dr. King exhibited the image of courage as pursued the course for freedom for the black people of America (89). In the contemporary society and its values, the image of courage in the pursuit of a just course is highly appreciated and helpful. This image was even pronounced by the fact that the American government resorted to adamancy and the use of violence to crack down the spirit of change that King and his friends had injected into the masses of America. Even though a lot of violence and brutality had been directed towards the leadership of the civil society and the entire participants in the quest for equality, during the speech, Dr. King insisted on nonviolent protest that he believed would “...finally enable the American people, both black and white reach the wells of democracy, dug deep by the founding fathers of the nation at the declaration of independence” (Bates 60).So, the courage with which Dr. King proceeded was beyond measure despite the fact that he together with his compatriots faced several challenges of violence from the national government. This aspect is also of immense relevance in the contemporary society in which many governments use physical force to thwart any attempts by the subjects to demand for some of their denied rights. The image of an orator and an articulate personality was highly evident during Match On Washington and in which he talked about the dream he had had for America. With the circumstances of the time in question, bearing in mind the racist government and the plight of the black Americans, the oratory skills by Martin Luther King Jr. in convincing the people to move on with the struggle for equality of the human race was necessary. Before the massive crowd of more than 200,000 gathered at the Lincoln memorial and heavy with expectation, Dr. King, as observed by Stanley Levinson, created some moderations in the speech but which contributed to making it better and indeed one of the world's top memorable and celebrated speeches (Collins 236).Levison, one of the contributors to the initial speech, which was titled, “Normalcy, Never Again” admits that the final speech presented by Dr. King on the day of the Match On Washington was far much better than the original version of the speech that had been jointly written by Clarence Jones, Dr. King and himself. According to Bates, the speech elicited more impact than the original version would (56). As Mr. Jones admitted, “From his body language and the tone in his voice, I knew Martin was about to transform into the superb Baptist preacher he was” Moses & Greg (85).Indeed, the crowd was captivated by the last minutes of his speech. The Rhetoric at the Lincoln memorial was so moving and visionary that sections of the audience broke down. From a rich and vast array of sources, which included other orators, King borrowed his ideas. For example, Collinsreports “... the conclusion of his speech where he wanted to 'let freedom ring' across America was adopted from an address made by a Chicago preacher, Achibald Carey way back in 1952” (63).However, there are a number of discourses to this as others have always argued that this aspect of borrowing was a weakness on the part of Dr. King. Some schools of thought have consistently argued that the speech presented by King on the March OnWashington was not unique in any way because it lacked the originality occasioned by the aspect of borrowing from other orators. In a contrary argument, however, a professor of history at the Stanford University and the director of Martin Luther King.Research and Education Institute, Dr. Clayborne Carson expounds that this was a strength in itself that was ably exhibited by King.(Collins 38) In his counter argument, in American Heritage Journal, Clayborne indicates that the genius of King's 'I Have A Dream' speech does not lie in the originality but in the way he undertook to organize the ideas he borrowed and articulate them. Collins argues that in turn, the manner in which King articulated the ideas that had earlier been presented by other orators had the effect in informing the manner in which subsequent American leaders and generations of Americans got to express themselves (28). In his view therefore, the speech was a landmark in the journey of developing the oratory skills and the ability to deliver a speech with impact. To the audience of the moment, the speech came out as a very strong point of inspiration. Indeed, Dr. King painted a very clear image of inspiration in his speech. Despite the problems of deprivation the black Americans had for long been subjected to, King maintained in his speech that he had a dream. Now, the word dream , to his audience become a sort of an eye opener and a reason to believe that indeed, situations can be changed for the better. “...one of the audience members, Maxine Allen Johnson Wood admitted that to hear that 'I Have A Dream' was an important and special experience. It made one believe that they have a dream and this was inspiring”(Moses & Greg 225). In another way, the rhetorical technique of constantly repeating the phrase 'I Have A Dream' worked just too well to inspire the multitude gathered at the Lincoln memorial on that Match On Washington day. The anaphora drove the crowd into frenzy as they chanted freedom slogans and waved the placards with the writings demanding freedom. Again in the contemporary society and with matters such dear and near the human hearts as their rights and respect as humans, such an articulate personality as Dr. King would help champion the demands with immense effectiveness. The other image that Dr. King effectively displayed in his speech, “I Have A Dream” is the image of the future. With selflessness andfocus on posterity in his speech, Dr. King made the audienceattach a lot of importance to the future and the well being of their children and the children of their children. Through his futuristic speech, he successfully made the audience believe that the future would still be transformed from its apparent bleakness to bright days..he made the audience believe that there could be and indeed would be a those days when freedom would ring from every corner of the country to every citizen of America, whether black or white. Like today, humans would only want to live on present reality and very little about the future states of the reality. This important image as portrayed by King in his speech is by always relevant in our modern times and in the contemporarysociety. The modern day societal values also require that humans take care of the future, a world they would leave behind for their children and the grandchildren. In fact, the image is very instrumental in helping the individuals in the contemporary society never to discard hope. Despite the everyday challenge that the humans undergoes, this image continuously inspires hope as the one of the means through which a society can overcome them.Dr. King crafted in his speech, a man of peace this is because throughout his speech, he persisted that the demonstration must be nonviolent. According to Thomas, he warned in his speech, “...we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence” (226). In fact, scholars such as Professor John A Kirk, a civil rights historian at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock argues that Dr. King's position on peace in the speech had much to do with his background. The middle class and strong Christian background that King hailed from did inform and reflect on his non-violent approach. It is worth noting at this point that Kings was a son to a Baptist minister and he himself later grew up to pastor a church in Montgomery, Alabama. King took pains to explain to the crowd I Lincoln memorial how they had peacefully the government brutal acts in Birmingham, Alabama. He passionately recounted the ugly experience a few months earlier when students who were in a majestic protest peacefully braved the water cannons and the police dogs that had been mercilessly turned on them by the police officers. This image of peace in Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech was also internationally recognized Donald &Martin“...just in the wake of March and his speech, Martin Luther King's role in promoting peace and harmony was recognized internationally when he was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964” (566). In the modern society, and with the civilization that has gripped the globe, the need for peace and coexistence cannot be overemphasized. The peace is one essential value without which the human race is doomed. We therefore hold the position taken by Dr. King in the whole approach to the civil rights movement as very admirable and something to be emulated by various civil rights organizations. The other image that was highly portrayed by Dr. King in his speech 'I Have A Dream' is that of a social radical. Many would remember that the March On Washington was more of a call for freedom of the black people of the America as well as the push for jobs to be availed to the blacks too in within the government institutions. In this regard and as observed by Thomas, Kings undertook to highly steep his speech in deep economic terms which reflected this aspect of the social wellbeing that King, together with other members of the civil rights movement angled for (185). In reference to the idea that America had just but given the black citizens a 'bad cheque' in reference to the idea that the black Americans had be forced to live in some concentrated islands of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. This would later become an issue of important concern for Dr. King and his entire colleagues in the civil rights movements. He said, “... we refuse to accept there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation”(Jackson 8). According to Jackson “...most people now look back at the last two minutes of his famous speech, because it is easy to remember him asking us to get along. But that means we don’t pay attention to King as the social critic” (815). In his campaign, Dr. King paid a lot of attention, emphasizing on the effects of poverty on the whites,Hispanics, and even the blacks. In fact the Federal Bureau of Investigations shortly after the March On Washington and the historic speech stormed his house and stepped up their operations on cracking down the movement led by King and others leaders of the civil rights movements. The content and the manner in which this historic speech was presented had a lot to convince the FBI that King had been advised and influenced by the communist governments Bates (92). As observed by Young &Andrew“... some white conservatives who had been condemnatory of him as a trouble maker and someone who stirs up social unrests suddenly realized in retrospect, he was a voice of reason” (222). In addition, personalities like Dr. Carson approved of Dr. King's speech in the later years. He noted, “I began to see the speech not as isolated instance of skilled oratory, but rather as a remarkably cogent contribution to a continuing dialogue about America's destiny” (Donald 216).Carson admits that the Dream speech holds a special place in history of America and the world at large. The social radicalism portrayed by King in this speech has been of significant relevance in the modern society. In many countries of the world, the approach that was applied by King in his struggles for the liberation of the black people of America has been used by many civil rights leadershipalbeit with moderations. The result of such struggles even in the contemporary society has been fruitful because it is a system that disregards violence and open violence against the authorities. It is also effective because more often than note, the approach focuses on the matters that are dear and indeed near to the human heart such as the economic enablement and the human rights concerns.Concerning what keeps the image of Martin Luther King present and relevant is the circumstances that surround the human life in the contemporary society. First, some elements of racial segregation that got Dr. King talking about the dream can still be observed in the society. Albeit not openly expressed and noticeable in some societies, the vice still rears its ugly head in a number of nations of the world. These instances of segregation acts are seen in terms of the provision of unequal opportunities in government institutions and offices, infringement of the basic fundamental human right on the basis of race. It is also in order to say that the image has remained present and relevant because the acts of segregation he bitterly talked against in his speech have somehow spiraled and present themselves in other dimensions which include gender, tribe, place of origin and all other sorts of dimension.Despite the acts of segregation still perpetrated in different quarters of our society, it is worth noting that the successes gained during the struggle spearheaded by King and his friends remain alive in our memories.One of the world's most popular personalities, known for his ardent struggle for equality is no doubt, Dr Martin Luther King Jr(Pepper& William 235) .The situations in America then, as described in the pages of history, and which Dr. King together with other civil rights movement members managed to face and eventually conquered is just a powerful inspiration that will live long. As long as the vice is perpetrated by the contemporary society, the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. and his historic speech, “I Have A Dream will never die in the minds of the people. Another factor that keeps such memories is the politics. More often than note, politicians across the political divides have rightly and/ or wrongly quoted Dr. King in bid to gain political mileage through the appeal to the masses(Thomas 611). It is such constant quoting and references to Dr. King that has kept the image of King and his 'I Have A Dream' speech within the memory of the global population.Finally, the academia contributes a great deal toward the sustenance of the memory of Dr. King in our minds. The American history and indeed the global history can never be complete without the mention of the struggle for equality in America that which was championed by Martin Luther King Jr. (David522). Huge history books in our academic libraries succinctly and comprehensively document the American state of affairs during the struggle for equality. In the chronicles, a vast mention and discussion on the personality and speeches by Dr. King, 'I Have A Dream' key among them is done. As to what Dr. King and his image in the speech, 'I Have A Dream' serve to remind us of, we would say that there are quite a number of issues that we think of, the moment the image comes to mind.The image is a powerful reminder of the struggle for freedom. The events that unfolded during the quest for the freedom by the black Americans are instrumental in reawakening the passions that flared when King was addressing the huge audience at the Lincoln memorial in Washington. The image in the speech illustrate a painful struggle especially when King told the audience of the pain that they have undergone and which they must still brace themselves for in order to attain the freedom for all the Americans.The image also reminds us of an orator who spent most of his time trying to convince the national government on the need to let freedom and equality prevail in the land of America, to all citizens, both black and white. The iconic image of a powerful orator that Martin Luther King wasis still used to remember him.Also, the image is used to remind the citizens of the world about the origin of the modern day management and conduct of the civil right movements across the globe. The speech served as the peak and indeed turning point in terms of the management of the affairs of these organizations. So in this regard, we also remember King and the image in the speech as an important contributor to the global change and the establishment of the modern day societal order, based on respect and equality to a large extent. Works Cited Jackson, P Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery and Washington Story (2000) ISBN978-0-06-250490- Collins JThe Measure of a Man (2007) ISBN 978-0-8006-0877-4 David. “Civil Disobedience.”New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 2005.  A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2001) ISBN 978-0-06-250931-4 The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson ISBN 978-0-446-67650-2 Thomas F. From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Struggle for Economic Justice (Politics and Culture in Modern America). University of Pennsylvania Press. 2012. Moses &Greg.Revolution of Conscience: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Philosophy of Nonviolence.The Guilford Press 2010. Pepper &William F. Orders to Kill: The Truth behind the Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.New York: IPM in Association with Warner Books, 2008 by Dr. William Pepper. Donald T. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Leadership. New York: Warner Books, 2011. Bates KThe Long Shadow of Little Rock. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2010 Young &Andrew.An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America. Baylor Press. 2008. Read More