Similarities Between Kennedy And Mlk

1.In the speeches by Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy there are some acute audience differences. In Martin Luther King's speech the audiences were mostly African Americans who were listening to what they believed in, shouting aloud with King outside the Lincoln Memorial while John F. Kennedy's speech was directed toward the American people. However, Kennedy was also addressing his speech to Congress and all races. He emphasized to Congress, or any legislative body, that they can no longer ignore such events. These two speeches had challenges along the way. John F. Kennedy had it easy for the nation to listen to him, but Martin Luther King, a black man, had racial profiling, discrimination, and hatred for him while he spoke words of equality. …show more content…
King said, "one hundred years later, the negro is still not free." During the end of the speech, when prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "tell them about your dream, Martin!" King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Another example is when King included in his speech, "I have a dream that my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by their color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!" All of these were effective in his speech because it played on the audience's emotions and personal connection to the subject. It played a tremendous role in the speech because it allowed the audience of African Americans to feel a strong connection with the speech. This built an abundant amount of support. Also, in John F. Kennedy's speech he addressed Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The address given by Kennedy transformed civil rights from a legal issue to a moral one. By saying this Kennedy was explaining how it had been a law to abolish segregation but the mind set of white Americans were still holding onto such beliefs. Kennedy also uses the bible and the constitution to support his speech. It was effective and contributed to his speech because he used the bible and biblical morals to make the nation view the issue in a different …show more content…
John F. Kennedy gives his speech with his shoulders slumped but stills holds himself to a superior standpoint. He is dressed well. His hair is combed over and he is dressed in a suit and tie. He does not move any part of his body except his head that raises to look down as his speech transcript. He makes very few gestures except with the use with his head emphasizing importance of some statements while at the end using his hands somewhat. Kennedy maintains eye contact almost the whole time with exceptions of looking down to view his speech transcript. Martin Luther King also holds himself proudly while presenting his speech. He is dressed well. He gives his speech in a suit and tie. King uses his hands to emphasizing the strong points of his speech while stepping in place. King maintains eye contact with all of his audience rather than maintaining it only in one