On August 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King held one of the most powerful and influential speeches in human history. The speech was held in front of more than 200 000 people and concerned the injustices of discrimination of African Americans which was taking place in the United States at the time. In his first statement he says: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” With this introduction Mr. King firmly states what the essence of his speech will be.
Through the use of his letter, he is able to tell the general public of why the stakes justify the actions he takes, and why it is important for the acceptance of his plan as more turmoil could be caused otherwise. Dr. King’s letter is an example of him taking action while knowing the stakes that if he fails, the whole Civil Rights movement could fail. It gives a clear understanding of the need to fight unjust laws through his statement that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King). He continues by saying that everyone has a “legal…moral responsibility” to uphold just laws but that people also have the right to “disobey unjust laws” (King). This statement immediately gives pretense to his actions of fighting for freedom through protest.
In the late 1960's Martin Luther King Jr gave a speech to help open the eyes of America to their harsh reality. He gave this speech, not as a way to bash on Americans, but as a way to inform them on ways to enact justice and equality among all. The speech had some controversial parts that in the end had a great impact. In King's speech he uses emotions, eye-opening, harsh diction and questioning imagery to inform those willing to listen, about the issues his nation faces.
Nonetheless, these laws did not solve the problems facing African Americans; they did not eliminate racism or poverty and they did not improve the conditions in many black urban neighborhoods. In addition to the subject, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a miraculous social activist, led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s up until 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the south and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. In spite of his sorrowful assassination in April 1968, at the time I felt as if Martin Luther King Jr. had done his duty in life. For instance, he had reformed the world forever with his remarkable “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963.
uses ethos to effectively touch the emotions of the audience. Martin Luther King Jr. repeats the phrase, “I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!” to intensify the emotions and raise the hopes of many black people who are being treated as “second-class citizens” that one day they might get to be free. He talks about how he understands that many of the people that are listening to his speech had a difficult time to even get there. Martin Luther King Jr. uses the word “hope” many times in his argument.
These examples provide clear evidence for his argument of the civil rights movement being a human rights movement, and not a black movement. King labels these events and traumas as examples of injustice. Because justice is an abstract concept, King goes on to define it as injustice as “a code that is out of harmony with the moral law...a human law that Is not rooted in eternal law and natural law; any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” In other words, the unjust law is only directed to one minority group, meaning that one group can’t do certain things that the other group can and not get punished for it. Treating one group as less and degrading them, making them
In his speech “I Have a Dream”, pastor and activist Martin Luther King, Jr. states the feelings and reasons why the African-American society will stand up against the racial segregation lived during the 1960’s on the United States. He represents this by exposing the problem of racial discrimination and inequality in which he and the black community were living by, calling for action using the peaceful protest the injustice committed to them, and showing the possibility for both the white and the black race to live in peace. King’s purpose is to assert the negative effects created by racism towards the lives of African-Americans, and to declare that racial equality is fundamental to achieve peace amongst the people, thus creating a better society for the future generations. Luther King speaks full of confidence throughout
Martin Luther King successfully addresses all his beliefs and wishes blended in the use of metaphors, anaphora, and allusions to create the appeal of pathos. His effective use of rhetorical devices clearly allows him to captivate his audience’s emotions by “hitting” them with the dark and naked truths of racial injustice of their fellow citizens. King exploits the unfulfilled promises of the land and manifest how African Americans are deprived from their rights. Flash forward to 2018, and those promises are yet not fulfilled. His speech is congested with rhetorical devices and figurative language that truly captivate any reader’s attention with cases that prove how unfair America can be, regardless of documentations that state equality among all.
king represent white people in his speech “I have a dream” he made them seem like all white men and women had this hatred towards the black community, but we know that this is not true. Not all white people wanted for the black man to be oppressed some supported the black community, for example some of the white people would escort the kids who were trying to goto integrated school. He did not show that the black community to have a hatred towards white people which was rather interesting instead he taught to “love your enemies” , unlike Malcolm X who taught that we should hold it against the white man and to fight back. So martin made it seem like the white man were the evil and that they just abused the black man, So he did not really have to make the white man look bad because they kind of made themselves look bad, but black people would start to stereotype the white man and see him as devils just like Malcolm did. So Martin luther king portrayed them as oppressor but that we should not stoop to there
Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Had a Dream” speech was very commanding speech to the black and white people of the United States of America. His ambition was to end racism and segregation between the blacks and whites in the country. King’s greatest motive was equality, and he would not let anything change that from happening. In Martin Luther King Jr’s speech his tone was very determined. He was very passionate while being determined for everything he believed in.
King’s letter called “Letters from Birmingham Jail” generally talks about how justice appears to be a threat in American society based on race. Dr King mentions “ A law is unjust if it inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, has no part in enacting or devising the law” (king 4). Dr.King exposes how the white America did not allow Black people to vote because the White America at the time did not see blacks as equal. Dr. King points this out that this appears to be a threat to the White American society because Black people are on the rise to have equal equality and same benefits as Whites. Dr. King also discusses about towards the Black population the law is very unjust when it comes to having a permit on the street because it appears to be a threat to the American society.
The speech ‘I have a dream’ by Martin Luther King presents the theme of undying hope and racial equality. King represents a segregated social groups by referencing them to the rich and the poor, the assailant and the victim, the debtor and creditor to emphasize the importance of freedom and justice which powerfully encourages the audience to create changes in their lives for the prosperity of America. Through the use of extended metaphors, inclusive pronoun and languages which evoke a sense of ethos, King unequivocally and effectively gets his argument across that the citizens of America have the power to generate “great” nation. In introducing an exclusive group with power and privilege, King proclaims the governor of Alabama had “dripping with the words of interposition and nullification”.
King repeats the phrase “I have a dream,” to emphasize the significance of justice and freedom not only to Negro Americans, but also to all Americans. A possible counterclaim for this claim is, “Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was not great and did not demonstrate freedom.” The claim that Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” is effectively communicated to the
In 1963 Martin Luther King called for an end to racism, in which he spoke the words "I have a dream". These four words would come to be one of the most famous phrases in America 's history. Martin Luther King, gave the speech to an audience of more than two hundred and fifty thousand supporters of civil rights and the speech was heard throughout the world. He gave this speech during the March to Washington for jobs and freedom, in which he shared his dreams of equality and freedom, which he believed could rise from the hate and slavery in America. Even if slavery had been gone for more then 100 years, African-Americans were still being treated unfair and were not completely free.
Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech maintains relevance today in relation to rampant police brutality and crippling racial inequality throughout the United States. His famous speech is still revered today by many black rights activists. Its continued relevance is very important to the fight against racial inequality of modern society. Specifically his words about police brutality due to it being as similarly merciless today as it was over 50 years ago. The significance of the “I have a dream” speech is shown when Dr. King says “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality”.