I Have A Dream Essay, Research Paper

He had a Dream

I have a dream today. This speech was given August 28, 1963, by one of histories most famous and influential civil rights activists of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King wanted nothing more than for the oppressed, African Americans, to have equality. In his speech, I have a Dream, Dr. King spoke about how the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has not meant anything to the freedom of the African Americans.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of materials prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. (King 1367)

King wanted to earn civil rights he didn t want them handed to him. That s why the term is noted as the fight for civil rights. The word earn in this sense is pretty vague. What Dr. King wanted was for his people to earn their rights. He would probably argue that affirmative action was a handout, which isn t what he wanted. Dr. King simply wanted the whites cooperation in the African American achievement of equal rights. No fights or handouts, just cooperation. King understood that racial power subverts moral power and he pushed the principles of fairness and equality, rather than black power because he believed those principles would bring blacks their most complete liberation. Shelby Steele.

The opposition might argue that Dr. King wanted so desperately for his people to be free and equal that he would eventually back down and let affirmative action take its course. But that wasn t his style. Dr. King was all about equal rights for all people, peace and freedom. If you can say that allowing an African American to fight for his rights and not standing in his way is considered Affirmative Action, then that is the only kind Dr. King would have supported. Otherwise he would be strictly against it.

A definition of reverse is the opposite to a previous or normal condition. If you put that word with racism, you have the product of Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action can easily be pinned as reverse racism. Say you were given two men, the same age, same education, and same qualifications. Qualifications means to fit by skill or training for some purpose. With affirmative Action, the black man would automatically get the job, simply based on his color. That is a problem with affirmative action, it judges a person on what they are, not who they are. This would totally contradict Dr. King. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by their character. Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is very evident that Dr. King was a fighter. In fact, he fought until the day he died for his people. And all he fought for was the chance for his people to get a cup of coffee at the same lunch counter as a white man.