Causes and Effects of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech on American Society and the Civil Rights Movement “I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King, 1963). Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech has had a significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement and a continuing effect on American society because it was instrumental in the joining of Blacks and Whites and the Wealthy and the Poor, all advocating for the same goal-- equal rights for all.
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Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a close-knit family long involved in civil rights on January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. In his fight for civil rights, MLK created the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization that advocated for the rights of African-Americans and all Christians everywhere (Garrow, n.d.). On August 28, 1963, MLK delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This speech called for equal rights of not only Negroes, but for all people. MLK gave his historic speech at the March on Washington, a political rally for freedom and jobs, organized by many civil rights and religious groups with the common goal of bringing attention to the racial injustices that blacks faced throughout the country. King was one of many speakers present and was the last to deliver his speech to the crowd (March on Washington, …show more content…
In an article he wrote, he reflects on the day, saying, “I embraced him as he left the podium. I told him how great his speech had been, and how thrilled and moved I was by it. He said that the Holy Spirit had moved him, and he was not arrogant about it all” (1978). This quote helps to demonstrate the emotional power and impact that King’s speech had on those around him and just how strongly he believed in his cause. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates throughout the United States today. Children across the country are still taught about it in school, even though it took place more than fifty years ago. King’s rhetoric teaches people that even in a time where a group of people in the US lived in constant fear, people still sacrificed, persisted, and pushed through to gain support for their cause, and eventually, their efforts paid
Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a close-knit family long involved in civil rights on January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. In his fight for civil rights, MLK created the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization that advocated for the rights of African-Americans and all Christians everywhere (Garrow, n.d.). On August 28, 1963, MLK delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This speech called for equal rights of not only Negroes, but for all people. MLK gave his historic speech at the March on Washington, a political rally for freedom and jobs, organized by many civil rights and religious groups with the common goal of bringing attention to the racial injustices that blacks faced throughout the country. King was one of many speakers present and was the last to deliver his speech to the crowd (March on Washington, …show more content…
In an article he wrote, he reflects on the day, saying, “I embraced him as he left the podium. I told him how great his speech had been, and how thrilled and moved I was by it. He said that the Holy Spirit had moved him, and he was not arrogant about it all” (1978). This quote helps to demonstrate the emotional power and impact that King’s speech had on those around him and just how strongly he believed in his cause. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates throughout the United States today. Children across the country are still taught about it in school, even though it took place more than fifty years ago. King’s rhetoric teaches people that even in a time where a group of people in the US lived in constant fear, people still sacrificed, persisted, and pushed through to gain support for their cause, and eventually, their efforts paid