LAD/Blog #27: MLK, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech

LAD/Blog #27: MLK, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech:


Martin Luther King Jr. was a well-known advocate of civil rights. He protested discrimination and segregation, and his "I have a dream" speech clearly voices his support of integration between black and white communities and living in peace. He starts off stating how great his demonstration will be--one that will go down in history. King then references Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation. However, he urges that even one hundred years after the emancipating of slaves, the black population is still held down by society in terms of discrimination and segregation. King compares the struggle of the black community to a check. The check, in comparison to the Constitution, was meant to be for every American: both white and black. Nonetheless, for blacks, the check was marked "insufficient funds." But, King does not believe the "bank of justice is bankrupt." He continues to push for the fight against injustice, but encourages the people not to lose their dignity. King then states his dreams, including that "nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal,'" that blacks and whites can sit together "at a table of brotherhood", that places will foster freedom and justice and that children will not be judged by the color of their skin. This speech supports the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation of public places and employment/education discrimination. The Act was first proposed by Kennedy but opposed by Southern Members in Congress. Therefore, it was later passed by Lyndon B. Johnson.
Just as King's I have a dream speech protested discrimination and segregation, the Montgomery bus boycott was part of the civil rights movement in which people protested discrimination and segregation on the public transit system.

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