'I HAVE A DREAM' by - Martin Luther King Jr.

 

                            I HAVE A DREAM

                            - Martin Luther King Jr.

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 Meanings:           

Emancipation             =          Set free from legal, social, or political restrictions

Proclamation               =          liberating black slaves

Sear                             =          Scorch, especially with hot iron

Manacles                     =          Two metal rings joined by a chain used to Fasten legs or arms

Segregation                 =          Separation, keep away

Discrimination            =          Unfairness separation

Appalling                    =          Shocking and very bad

Inalienable                  =          unable to be moved

Tranquillizing =          Making unconscious or calm, especially with a drug

Persecution                 =          To treat someone unfairly over a long period of time

Ghetto             =          Slum

Wallow                       =          To remain in an unhappy state without trying to get out of it

About Author:

Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Clergyman, Activist and prominent leader in the African – American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, he has become a human rights icon. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. His speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln memorial during the march on Washington for jobs and freedom, was a defining movement of the American civil Rights Movement. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in US history.

'I Have a Dream' Background:

The occasion for King's speech was the march on Washington, which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial. They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans. 1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

 'I Have a Dream' Summary:

Martin Luther King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it's a century, or 'five score years', since that 'great American' Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination. America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the 'magnificent words' of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls 'inalienable rights': namely, 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. King asserts that America in the 1960s has 'defaulted' on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a 'sacred obligation', but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn't there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough 'funds' to ensure everyone is prosperous enough. King urges America to rise out of the 'valley' of segregation to the 'sunlit path of racial justice'. He uses the word 'brotherhood' to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God's children. He also repeatedly emphasizes the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America.

However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline. Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognizes that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalized feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws. Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase 'I have a dream' to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes. His dream, he tells his audience, is 'deeply rooted' in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States.

King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into 'our hope': a collective aspiration and endeavor. King then quotes the patriotic American song 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee', which describes America as a 'sweet land of liberty'. King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase 'let freedom ring' several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn: 'Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.'

Questions and Answers:

1. What according to Martin Luther King is the ‘urgency of the moment’ that needs to be addressed?

Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his anguish that blacks are not equally treated. He delivered thought invoking, inspiriting speech on August 28, 1963. Where he expresses, what is the present urgent need for the blacks and the hopes of the speaker from the government. A great man (Abraham Lincoln) had proclaimed that blacks are free and can join into the American Army. This official order brought a light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been suffering in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. They are still oppressed, segregated in the corners of American society. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on the lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. So, he is expressing their painful racial discrimination.

Martin Luther King says that they have come to their nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republics wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is clearly felt today that America has neglected or failed to implement this promissory note in case of citizens of colour are concerned. No justice is shared equally. So they deny this sense of injustice unanimously. And they have come back to remind and demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. Martin Luther King hopes that the present need is to retain our freedom which was promised long ago.

 

2. How Martin Luther King narrates that both white and black people freedom is tied up?

It is the time to awaken and open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children, and to break the shackles of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. If the nation is paying deaf ear it would be experiencing a rude awakening. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. This revolution would continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. Martin Luther King was instilling hopes, chances, foresight, vision for his people. He says that they must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. Physical violence protest not to be given road. Everything has to be dealt in hand in hand with white brothers. Their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inseparably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

Martin Luther King asked the Negroes always to march ahead and never turn back. They should not be satisfied until they could enter motels and hotels, and move from smaller homes to larger homes like others. They would not be satisfied unless they were allowed to vote for a better future and get injustice and righteous treatment. Finally, Martin Luther King gave a clarion call to the Negroes to come out of their despair and continue to work with the faith that selfless suffering would result in redemption.

3. Give an elaborate account of Martin Luther King’s dream.

During the historic demonstration of the unprivileged Negroes of America, Martin Luther King announced that he had a dream within the larger American dream. The dream was for a better destiny for the Negroes of America. The dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to the self-evident: that all men are created equal. One day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. One day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

The dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. Where all the little white boys and white girls walk together as sisters and brothers. One day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all the flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With our hope we destroy the mountain of hopelessness. With our hope we build up relation of brotherhood and work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, they knew that they would be free one day. On that day all the children of God would sing a song of freedom. There would be no difference then between black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics. This meant that all men were free at last. This was the fond dream of Martin Luther King.

4. What is the background of the speech?

Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Clergyman, Activist and prominent leader in the African – American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, he has become a human rights icon. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. His speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln memorial during the march on Washington for jobs and freedom, was a defining movement of the American civil Rights Movement. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in US history.

The occasion for King's speech was the march on Washington, which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial. They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans. 1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

5. What the symbolic meaning of the words like ‘check’, ‘promissory note’, etc, in the speech.

Martin Luther King in his speech he said that Constitution has given ‘check’ here they have come to cash it to reap the fruits of freedom. And he used ‘promissory note’ though the nation has promised to give liberty but it failed. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

6. Explain the meaning of the poetic lines ‘My country,….Let freedom ring’.

The essence of these lines are – let freedom be spread all the corners and every mountainside, snow-capped Rockies of Colorado, curvaceous peaks of California, Stone mountain of Georgia, Mountain of Tennessee, every hill and molehill of Mississippi, every mountainside and all the corners of the nation for this most of the people sacrificed their lives.

7.What was the discrimination meted out to the blacks, according to the speaker?

A great man (Abraham Lincoln) had proclaimed that blacks are free and can join into the American Army. This official order brought a light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been suffering in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.  But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. They are still oppressed, segregated in the corners of American society. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on the lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. So, he is expressing their painful racial discrimination. Martin Luther King says that they have come to their nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republics wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

'I Have a Dream' is one of the greatest speeches in American history. The speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans. If you've ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation, you're due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered. He reportedly stayed up until 4 am the night before he was due to give his 'I Have a Dream', writing it out in longhand.