The Civil Rights Movement & the Black Middle Class: A Proposal In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired a generation with his "I have a Dream" speech. He said that he wanted his children to grow up in a country where they were not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Today, over a quarter century later, one looks at contemporary society and wonders how well has America lived up to this challenge. While there are certainly still problems with race relations, discrimination still exists and hate-crimes still occur, an argument can be made that American society has come a long way towards realizing King's goal.
Americans, whether they like it or not, share their living spaces with individuals from a multitude of different backgrounds, such as Hispanics and Latinos and African Americans and so on and so forth. This living situation, however, has been set in place since before the 1960s, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his letter “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Back in the 1960s, a large number of white people did not want to and would not live within the same community as black American citizens, and this racism towards the black population spanned further than just neighborhoods. Racism was rampant throughout the streets of America, and for the longest time, being an American meant living in a nation that was divided by color and, ultimately, status; those who were white were superior and those who were not were lower. America now, while integrated and preaching equality, still contains racism on mass levels, and to be an American now means having to face the reality that equality has still not been reached in society.
Al Sharpton radio host, and minister once said, “We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.” (cite) He then goes on to say that his “son” is smarter, slicker, and more cunning than him. This metaphor describes that even though the Jim Crow Laws have been ratified, there is a new racial discrimination in America that is growing and is harder to defeat than the last. The Jim Crow Laws were the set of laws that set the whites and blacks separate from each other in the 1900s, although they have been defeated, America today may be equal lawfully but not on an individual level.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech had a great deal of logos and pathos appeals to persuade his audience to speak out against segregation and to give all men the rights they deserve. He often gave a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence in his speech, like when he says: “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”... America has defaulted on this promissory note, ... given the Negro people a bad check… which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” (King para. 4)
The first three chapters of the reading, The Struggle for Black Equality, Harvard Sitkoff runs through the civil rights movement in the 20th century; outlining the adversities facing black people, the resistance to black equality, hindrances to the already progress and the achievements made in the journey for civil rights. John Hope Franklin, in the foreword, dwells on the impact of the time between 1954 and 1992 and the impact it had on American Society, how fight for equality is far from easy and patience is required in the fight to "eliminate the road blocks that prevent the realization of the ideal of equality". In the preface, Sitkoff is clear that that history does not speak for themselves and attempt to detail any particular will be influenced by the author 's personal beliefs. Sitkoff, who associated and identified with the movement, believed "that the struggle was confronting the United States with an issue that had undermined the nation 's democratic institutions". Sitkoff elected
In the world right now, there is still inequality for all. People are criticized everyday because of how they look, speak, dress, act, etc. In America, although there is people that are changing, there with always be that small group of people that won’t change their views on what they believe is right and wrong in our society. You can also see this in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by author, Harper Lee. All throughout the novel, you can see how white people are superior to the African Americans that live in the same town.
Negroes are denied housing, turned away from schools, hospitals.” The quote states that laws are meant to be not only for whites , but everyone should be included. Everyone is human and should be treated equally with laws because everyone wants the best for their family which includes going to the best schools and hospitals. In significance everyone should stop with the racism because all life is precious. A law I would disobey if it threatened my family would be a law which required my family to be separated from me because families are meant to be together to protect one another, they can make they can make the best of any situation by sticking together, but most importantly the love between each other is unconditionally.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” –Martin Luther King Jr stated. In other words, no matter what you look like, your beliefs, etc, everyone everywhere should be treated equally and freedom to all. In Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, that was the point he was trying to get across. King uses rhetorical appeals and figurative language to persuade the audience that equality and freedom should be for everyone.
Throughout history there have been many civil rights activists who have inspired and changed the world. These Activist create movements whose purpose is to create a progressive society with equal justice and opportunity for all. There were two movements that were particularly important in the United States during the 1920s and the mid 1950s. In those movements were activists such as W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Malcolm X. When looking at each activist and their beliefs it is apparent that there are similarities between the older activist and younger ones. All wanted equality among races, but when discussing how to obtain it their paths had differed.
The fight for equality is still a fight to be had with only a rock to fight a giant. That giant is racism and all of the negative implications from it. Joe Feagin describes systemic racism as “the complex array of anti-black practices, the unjustly gained political-economic power of whites, the continuing economic and other resource inequalities along racial lines, and the white racist ideologies and attitudes created to maintain and rationalize white privilege and power. Systemic here means that the core racist realities are manifested in each of society’s major parts of the U.S. society, the economy, politics, education, religion, the family--reflects the fundamental reality of systemic racism”
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.
Two score and 13 years ago people with colored skin were being segregated for everyday activities like drinking from a water fountain and going to school. Martin Luther King and many others were tired of not getting the treatment they were promised as a whole, so Martin Luther King wrote his famous “I have a Dream” speech, to address the problem that was sweeping the nation. He wanted to persuade the nation to treat Black people with equality and respect. The black population was not going to rest until they received their rights that they were promised when Abraham Lincoln said the “Emancipation Proclamation” . King has a dream and has faith that one day everyone will be equal, everyone will have rights, and that there will be everlasting
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech had a great deal of logos and pathos appeals to persuade his audience to speak out against segregation and to give all men the rights they deserve. He gave many reasons in his speech to make the audience excited and want to take action, like when he says: “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”... America has defaulted on this promissory note, ... given the Negro people a bad check… which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” (King para. 4)
King describes a path for the African American people to follow “... to make real the promises of Democracy.” (600), “...to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path racial justice.” (600), and “...to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children.” (600). King uses this to provide a plausible, rational path for the equal rights movement to work towards.
Therefore this makes people see racism in a whole new light; racism has not been justified because the United States have failed to uphold their promises. Kings goes on to say how racial equality can not be achieved until “...justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. Martin Luther King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream” was the changing point for racism in America. It managed to inspire a generation of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans feel ashamed of their actions.
