My first though when contemplating the essay prompt was to go back in time and change a horrific event: The Crusades, The Rape of Nanking, and the Nazi Genocide. But what would I really do? Kill Hitler? I would end up shot for stepping in Germany. Then my next thought was to bet all of my assets on the biggest sporting upset of human history, the 2007 playoffs, the #1 Dallas Mavericks losing to the mediocre Golden State Warriors. But then again how much money would I make, having only a $93 net worth? It then occurred to me why not do it all. If I could spend the next year of my life in the past or future, I would go back to the year 1963. I would witness the single greatest speech in human history, Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” Martin Luther King Jr’s non-violent approach replicated the approach my Mahatma Gandhi, as means to throw off the …show more content…
Kennedy. While John F. Kennedy would be riding along in his limousines, I would bring a police officer to go to the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building with me where I would conveniently meet Mr. Lee Harvey Oswald setting up his rifle. The officer would simply arrest Lee Oswald and that would be the end of the any assassination attempt, and would remove any chance of the presidency of the Lyndon B. Johnson, a president which The Week Newspaper has named “The Worst President of Modern Times”. John F. Kennedy would remain president and ease the race relations as well as the Vietnam War tension in the United States, considering there is no Grassy Knoll Shooter. Given an opportunity to go to the past, the course of human history has a potential to be changed from helping my family prosper through poverty to saving a President of the United States to witnessing the “I Have a Dream Speech” by Martin Luther King Jr. The year 1963, the year that everything
In his 1963 speech, “I Have A Dream”, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that now is the time to conquer racial inequality and it can be done neither alone nor through hate. Martin Luther King, Jr. begins his speech where the freedom began- The Emancipation Proclamation. The slaves were freed, but have those empty promises of the constitution been fulfilled? Segregation, as well as subconscious discrimination, have deprived even the free man of their unalienable rights.
On April 4, 1968, a 39 year old man was murdered. This man was Martin Luther King Jr. King spent much of his life fighting for equal rights for all people. Although everything he did was peaceful, he still ended up in bad situations. On 29 occasions, he was arrested.
Gandhi once said, “An eye-for-an-eye makes the whole world blind.” What he meant is that fighting violence with violence helped no one. During his lifetime, Gandhi fought against oppressive British rule in India, and his journey was known throughout the world. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela both shared Gandhi’s thirst for freedom, basing their respective movements for peace on Gandhi’s. All three men fought peacefully for equality, whether it was for India’s freedom from the British empire, emancipation from apartheid laws that prohibited black Africans from being truly free, or liberation from Jim Crow laws to keep black Americans inferior to whites.
Both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are good at presenting the solutions to their audience through their rhetoric respectively. Unlike Malcolm X who is a loyal believer in violence, Martin Luther King’s tactics appealed to the public through integrating Gandhi’s nonviolent ideas in the civil rights movement. His experiences did play a crucial part on the way when he explored and delved into the true meaning of non-violence (violence). In February and March 1959, King went to India to visit Mahatma Gandhi with his wife. During this trip, Gandhi’s non-violent thoughts had inspired King and it gave him confidence that his non-violent strategy could make a huge impact to both races in this civil rights movements.
“Since being in India I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity”(Martin/radio interview 1959).
On the day of Nov.22 1963 our president was assassinated. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was unjust because his main goal and main priority was to have an ara of peace in the United States. He helped pass The Civil Rights Act. He played a hero role in the United States. Although many people feared a catholic president, he didn’t let his religion get in the way of what kind of America he believed in.
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. devastated a large majority of people around the world. His works of nonviolent acts against racism motivated many, including civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, to solve matters without resorting to inhumane behaviors. Inspired by Dr. King Jr.’s work, Chavez and his union of labor workers devoted themselves to helping those in need through peaceful protests. Similar methods are proven to be successful; Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, gained a great deal of supporters because of his pacifism and tranquil methods of boycotting against British domination. Despite brutal and savage methods of persuasion slowly gaining support, Chavez proves that nonviolent actions are superior; he does so by using ethos in order to uphold moral standards, logos (in reference to the past), and pathos to appeal to the emotions of his audience.
Why Nonviolence Works Non-violence can be just as effective or more effective as compared to violence. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela all used non-violence to stand up for what they believed was wrong, and got many followers to make a change. Their governments were aware of their presence, but they could not do much about it. They did not break any laws. Mohandas Gandhi became a hero of South Africa and led India to independence.
It was a humid and damp day in August of 1963, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. As the ground gathered the man responsible for this was getting ready to make the speech of his life. Martin Luther King Jr. took the podium on August 28th 1963 to addressed the real issue on civil rights. King proceeds to bring his family into the speech to hit people with their emotions. King was a genius man.
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, a well-known civil rights leader, took many actions and went through many dangerous procedures to get his views on segregation and equality amongst all people across when presenting his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech. Numerous facts were stated to help in proving his beliefs to be true. These facts sat well with his already exquisite credibility earned from being such a well-mannered, genuine, and respected man. As factual as the speech was, Dr. King did not fail to speak with incredible passion in his voice and emotions so strong, connecting with them was inevitable. These components were essential to making Dr. Kings’ main message crystal clear; it was time for the government to make a drastic change in society’s effort towards putting an end to racial discrimination.
In 1963, Martin Luther King delivered one of the most influential and impactful speeches in history. King's I Have a Dream speech was consistently powerful assertions of emotional appeals, repetition and paradox. In King’s speech, he utilizes pathos to build a relationship between his black and white audience. This is evident through his references to both black and white children and the history of slavery which appealed to the audience members of the older generation.
Martin Luther King Jr. displays ethical behavior through his belief that violence is wrong and never the answer. Violence is behavior intended to hurt or damage someone or something. There are many examples of Martin luther King supporting the idea of peace and nonviolence. He once said, "Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him"(King).
It a new beginning for the world and one speech is all it take to change the course of history. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. “I have a dream” was a call for equal right and an end for racism. In his speech, he mention his dreams, dreams of a better world where there is no racism. A dream where black and white are walking on the same street and drink from the same water fountain.
The ultimate goal of justice is slowly but surely been achieved today for the black community. A day that heavily influenced this achievement was in 1963 during the March on Washington, in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The man who changed lives that day only wanted those who heard him to apply his message to their lives. In his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses repetition, specific, illustrative detail and examples, allusions, and figurative language in order to amplify his message that his audience needed to bond together in order to fight for civil rights and justice now. Dr. King emphasizes the fact that his dream is to achieve racial equality and justice through the use of repetition.