i have a dream speech research paper

“I Have a Dream”: Annotated

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic speech, annotated with relevant scholarship on the literary, political, and religious roots of his words.

For this month’s Annotations, we’ve taken Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, and provided scholarly analysis of its groundings and inspirations—the speech’s religious, political, historical and cultural underpinnings are wide-ranging and have been read as jeremiad, call to action, and literature. While the speech itself has been used (and sometimes misused) to call for a “color-blind” country, its power is only increased by knowing its rhetorical and intellectual antecedents.      

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation . This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still 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 material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the 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 obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now . This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred .

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream .

I have a dream that one day this 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.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that 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, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood . With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

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This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

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Freedom's Ring "I Have a Dream" Speech

Main navigation.

Freedom's Ring  is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, annotated. Here you can compare the written and spoken speech, explore multimedia images, listen to movement activists and uncover historical context.

Fifty years ago, in the concluding address of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King demanded the riches of freedom and the security of justice. Today his language of love, nonviolent direct action and redemptive suffering, resonates globally in the millions who stand up for freedom and elevate democracy to its ideals. How do the echoes of King's Dream live within you?

Freedom's Ring serves as an innovative and thought-provoking resource for teachers, students, and the larger community. Evan Bissell, a Bay Area artist and educator, and webdesigner Erik Loyer worked with King Institute's Dr. Andrea McEvoy Spero,  Dr. Clayborne Carson and Regina Covington to create an engaging experience that documents one of the most famous events in Civil Rights history. Freedom's Ring compliments the King Legacy Series by Beacon Press and the corresponding curriculum guide. 

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech as a Tool for Teaching Transformational Leadership and Vision

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Abstract. This paper examines Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech as an effective tool for teaching transformational leadership. Dr. King's speech provides an outstanding example of the transformational leadership process of identifying and articulating a vision. The speech and its historical context may help students to understand the importance of a strategic vision and its effective communication to followers. The paper provides an overview of the historical context of the speech along with an analysis of speech within the context of the transformational leadership model. Finally, we provide specific suggestions for using the speech as an effective teaching tool.

Keywords: Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream" speech, transformational leadership, vision.

1. Introduction

Effective leadership is a significant need in current organizations due to today's dynamic environments. While people have examined leadership from a variety of perspectives, the transformational leadership stream of research provides strong evidence of positive links between transformational leaders and organizational outcomes (e.g. Bass 1999; Fuller, Patterson, Hester & Stringer 1996, Judge & Piccolo 2004, Kearney & Geber, 2009, Herold, Fedor, Caldwell, & Liu 2008, Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson 2003, Kirkman, Chen, Farh, Chen, & Lowe 2009, Godwin & Neck 1998, Gong, Huang, & Farh 2009, Piccolo & Colquitt 2006). Researchers have examined a variety of dependent variables such as the positive relationships between transformational leadership and follower attitudes such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Fuller, et al. 1996, Lowe, Krock, & Sivasubrananian 1996). Given the significant support for the efficacy of transformational leadership, the purpose of this paper to examine Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech as an effective tool for teaching transformational leadership.

Dr. King's speech provides an excellent illustration of the core transformational leadership dimension of "identifying and articulating a vision" for followers (Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Moorman, & Fetter 1990, p. 112). The speech also may help students understand the importance of a strategic vision and the manner in which a leader can effectively communicate that vision to followers. We can learn from Dr. King how to better articulate a vision that leads to higher goal commitment among followers. We begin by providing an overview of the historical context of the speech. The next section contains the...

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King’s “I have a dream” speech, by the numbers

Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech 50 years ago today on Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks has become one of the most famous, and quoted, pieces of oratory in U.S. history (though that wasn’t apparent to everyone at the time). But how well have the aspirations King so memorably expressed been realized? We ran some numbers to try to find out.

[after the Emancipation Proclamation]

Poverty rates among African-Americans has fallen considerably since the 1960s, according to Census Bureau figures , but they remain far more likely than whites or Asians to live in poverty. And after years of decline, the black poverty rate has crept higher over the past decade.

“ We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. ” — King

The 1950s and 1960s were the high point of residential racial segregation in the United States, according to analysis of Census data by Edward Glaeser and Jacob Vigdor of the Manhattan Institute. Though it’s declined steadily since 1970, racial segregation remains more prevalent than, say, segregation by income .

Social scientists use two key metrics to assess residential segregation: dissimilarity and isolation. “Dissimilarity” measures the extent to which two groups — for instance, blacks and whites — are found in equal proportion in all of a city’s census tracts; the number indicates the proportion of individuals of either group that would have to move in order for both to be evenly distributed. “Isolation” describes the racial makeup of the census tract where the typical person of a given race lives; the number indicates the extent to which that race’s share of the “typical” tract’s population exceeds its share of the city’s overall population. In both cases, higher numbers indicate greater segregation.

So, around the time King gave his famous speech, the typical urban African-American lived in a city where 80% of the black population would have had to move in order to be evenly distributed with non-blacks, and in a census tract where the black population share exceeded the citywide average by roughly 60 percentage points.

Though dissimilarity and isolation both are lower than they’ve been in decades, the typical urban African-American still lives in a metro area where more than half the black population would need to move in order to achieve complete integration, and in a census tract where the black share of the population is roughly 30 percentage points higher than the metropolitan average.

“ We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. ” — King

The longstanding gap between black and white turnout rates in presidential elections began narrowing in the late 1990s, as the black voting rate rose and the white rate plateaued and then began to fall. Barack Obama’s candidacy in 2008 and 2012 doubtless contributed to that trend: Last year’s election was the first in which black voter turnout exceeded that of whites .

“ I have a dream that 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. ” — King

This month’s Pew Research Center report on the state of U.S. race relations found that by and large, most blacks and whites say the two races generally get along well, though whites (81%) are somewhat more likely than blacks (73%) to say so. The survey suggests that overall perceptions of black-white relations haven’t changed since Pew Research last asked the question (in November 2009); about three-quarters of both blacks and whites in that earlier survey said the two races get along very or pretty well.

“ I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ” — King

The current Pew Research survey found that majorities of blacks still perceive discrimination from many institutions in their communities, and are consistently more likely than whites to say blacks are treated less fairly than whites.

Seven-in-ten blacks said blacks were treated less fairly in dealings with the police, versus 37% of whites who said so; almost as many blacks (68%) said blacks were treated less fairly in the courts. About half (54%) of blacks, versus 16% of whites, said blacks were treated less fairly at the workplace, a share that’s been rising since the late 1990s. And just over half (51%) of blacks, compared with 15% of whites, said their local public schools treated blacks less fairly.

On the other hand, blacks were about equally divided as to whether blacks in their communities received equal treatment from stores, restaurants, doctors and hospitals, and at the voting booth.

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Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center .

Americans’ views of offensive speech aren’t necessarily clear-cut

Cultural issues and the 2024 election, rising numbers of americans say jews and muslims face a lot of discrimination, how u.s. muslims are experiencing the israel-hamas war, how u.s. jews are experiencing the israel-hamas war, most popular.

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• Ibtesam AbdulAziz Bajri, Layla Mohammad Mariesel. Discourse Analysis on Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’. Journal of Linguistics and Literature . Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020, pp 40-44. https://pubs.sciepub.com/jll/4/1/4 ">Normal Style
• Bajri, Ibtesam AbdulAziz, and Layla Mohammad Mariesel. 'Discourse Analysis on Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’.' Journal of Linguistics and Literature 4.1 (2020): 40-44. ">MLA Style
• Bajri, I. A. , & Mariesel, L. M. (2020). Discourse Analysis on Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’. Journal of Linguistics and Literature , 4 (1), 40-44. ">APA Style
• Bajri, Ibtesam AbdulAziz, and Layla Mohammad Mariesel. 'Discourse Analysis on Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’.' Journal of Linguistics and Literature 4, no. 1 (2020): 40-44. ">Chicago Style

Discourse Analysis on Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’

This paper aims to examine Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream” using Gee’s [1] building tasks. To specify, the paper will highlight King’s use of language to build and destroy identity, relationship, and politics. Furthermore, analysis shows the ideologies and philosophical dogmas behind the speech, which relates to freedom, equality, and civil rights.

1. Introduction

August 28, 1963, has been a remarkable day for civil rights movement, wherein Martin Luther King has given the most powerful and influential speech entitled “I have a dream”. The premise of the speech is an invitation to peaceful coexistence between the African Americans and the white citizens of America, along with a plea that both parties accept the forthcoming change in a non-violent way.

Jorgensen and Phillips 2 define discourse as the structured language, and define discourse analysis as the analysis of the patterns followed by people in daily utterances in different social life domains (12).

The phenomenal nature of the speech has led to a few attempts at analyzing it, and according to Gee 1 , there are seven building tasks that can help us decode any discourse at hand. The building tasks are as follows: significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems. Moreover, Jorgensen and Phillips 2 highlight the importance of discursive practices and state that they “are viewed as an important form of social practice which contributes to the constitution of the social world including social identities and social relations” (61). With that in mind, and with Gee 1 view on effects of texts “inculcating and sustaining ideologies" (123), it is important not only analyze, but rather critique this speech as it has invoked many identities and ideologies in King's audience.

This paper aims to further investigate King’s speech and interpret it using the aforementioned building tasks techniques. More specifically, this paper will use identities, relationships, and politics to analyze and critique this discourse.

2. Significance of the Study

Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream” has been analyzed repeatedly. However, building tasks of discourse analysis have not been applied to said speech. Moreover, Sipra and Rashid 3 analyze King’s speech using critical discourse analysis highlighting the social, cultural, and political factors surrounding the speech. However, they use critical discourse analysis on the first part of the speech and recommends further analysis on the rest of it.

Dlugan 4 suggests that a lengthy study is in order of Martin Luther King’s speech after he analyzes it metaphorically. The analysis of the metaphor is quite important to understand the nature of the speech as well as the nature of the speaker. However, the analysis of the metaphors is not as profound as the building tasks in understanding the ideologies and agenda behind the speech.

Damak 5 in his study on the strategic purpose of belonging in King’s speech, suggests that King selects a strategy of identification that rests on cultural conformity. However, Damak focuses in his analysis on metaphors and theoretical approaches, which again is not as practical to examine said cultural conformity. This paper will interpret the speech to examine the cultural compliance using the building tasks of Gee 1 , particularly identity and relationship.

It is evident that understanding the speech needs a thorough look at the historical background of it, which is outside the scope of this paper. However, several historic and social factors will be mentioned in the analysis below using Morris’s 6 book; Origins of the Civil Rights Movement. With that in mind, this paper focuses on the following building tasks; identity, relationship, and politics.

3. Research Objectives

1- This paper aims to study and apply building tasks on Martin Luther King’s speech and analyze it accordingly.

2- This paper will attempt to highlight the social factors that constituted King’s speech, and what social influence does the speech have on the African-American community.

3- Relevantly, this study is carried out to inspect the construction of King’s speech, and the linguistic value it has, by using critical discourse analysis.

This leads to the research questions this paper attempts to answer, which are as follows:

1- What relation does this discourse have to the building task of identity?

2- What relation does this discourse have to the building task of politics?

3- What relation does this discourse have to the building task of relationships?

4- What effect does this discourse carry on the identity and ideology of Americans?

4. Review of Literature

1. Critical Discourse Analysis and Gee’s Building Tasks

Fairclough 7 , suggests that critical discourse analysis has three basic characteristics, one of them is the rationality of it. He states that it is a rational form of research because it focuses primarily on social relations as well as entities and individuals. Furthermore, Fairclough carries on to mention the complexity of social relations and how it is layered due to the fact that they have relations within relations. These relations are a major part of the analysis of King's speech. Additionally, in their book Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method , Jorgensen and Phillips 2 co-wrote a chapter on critical discourse analysis. Drawing on Fairclough and Wodak’s 8 overview, the writers list the five common features of different approaches to critical discourse analysis. The feature we are about to examine in this paper is the feature that links social and cultural construction to linguistic-discursive. Critical Discourse Analysis as a theory is where Gee’s 1 building tasks is elicited from. Gee 1 suggests that language-in-use means saying, doing and being (30). Moreover, it is used along with non-verbal tools to build one of seven areas of reality, which Gee 1 , calls the seven building tasks. Those building tasks include; significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems. Therefore, any analyst can use these seven tools to analyze any discourse at hand.

2. Previous Studies

Damak 5 , conducts a study in on the strategic purpose of belonging in Martin Luther King’s speech, in which he suggests that King selects a strategy of identification that rests on cultural conformity. Damak justifies the need to live in harmony with fellow white-citizens of America, but insists that the issue of belonging will only be solved in favor of the dominant majority group. Equally as important is Sipra and Rashid’s 3 work, in which the analyze King’s speech using critical discourse analysis stressing the social, cultural, and political features of the speech. However, they use critical discourse analysis on the first part of the speech and recommend further analysis on the rest of it. From a different angle, Dlugan 4 analyzes King’s speech in terms of metaphors. He notes that King mentions Mississippi four times during his speech, and suggests that it is not accidental. Dlugan states that “mentioning Mississippi would evoke some of the strongest emotions and images for his audience” (7). Such analysis highlights the ideology and paradigm behind King Speech, which this paper aims to examine more closely.

Bajri and Othman 9 , conduct critical discourse analysis on Martin Luther King’s speech ‘I have a dream’, and compare it to Malcom X’s speech ‘a message to the grassroots’. Bajri and Othman examine the use of lexical items in both speeches, the use of metaphors, and rhetorical devices. They utilize Fairclough’s 3D model to analyze the speeches and come to the conclusion that the influential power of these speeches lies in the strong language used in both. Additionally, they highlight the role of these powerful rhetoric in persuading the audiences as well as the government of the United States.

Another paper by Bajri and Mariesel 10 follows the same method of critical discourse analysis is recently published. The authors highlight the importance of language use in political discourse. They analyze Gamal Abdel Nasser’s 1967 stepping down speech, and conclude that the lexical choices in the speech facilitate his agenda in addition to the rhetorical devices and metaphors. Along with his charisma, language helps Abdel Nasser endorsing his name further more even after the defeat.

3. Discourse Legitimation

Essentially, any discourse analysis needs to answer the question of legitimation proposed by van Leeuwen 11 , in which he asks “Why should we do this in this particular way”. Before answering this question in reference to the current paper, it is important to look into the four categories of legitimation mentioned by van Leeuwen 11 . The first one is Authorizations, which is legitimation in relation to the authority of custom, law, and tradition. This authorization can be vested in persons representing institutions such as policemen or religious men. The second category of legitimation is the value system of a certain society, or what van Leeuwen 11 calls moral evaluation. Third, rationalization, which is legitimation in relation to the social practices that exist in a society. Mythopoesis is the last category, which are the narratives that reward legitimate actions and punishes non-legitimate actions. To answer the previously posited question “why”, this paper investigates King’s speech because of its historic and social importance, and for the impact it had done. To answer “why in this particular way”, it is the seven building tasks of Gee 1 that will give us a precise detailed look into King’s identity in the speech, the identities and relationships in the society that received the speech, and the politics of that time that needed to be built or destroyed by King.

To take a closer and more social look into the speech, the current paper refers to Morris’ 6 work which gives a detailed description of the civil rights movements, in which he mentions the approaches used by Martin Luther King to protest. Morris talks about the effectiveness of King’s ways and his credibility as a former protester. He praises the civil rights movement for its cruciality in the sense that it is the first time that African Americans directly have confronted and disrupted the functions of the institutions responsible for their oppression (5). King mentions these institutions in his speech and talks about police brutality specifically, which will be further discussed in the analysis.

5. Method of Analysis

In the broader sense, this paper utilizes Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the speech. A more specified scope is Gee’s 1 Seven Building Tasks, which include: significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems. The paper, however, focuses on identities, relationships, and politics. The reason behind choosing these three tasks is that they reflect the importance of the speech at that particular period of time. Combined together, these three tasks give a richer view of the society and its functions through Martin Luther King’s eyes. They also give an indication of King’s strong persona and leadership skills.

Gee 1 introduces identities as the ability to build roles into the discourse and to be recognized for these roles. The analysis discusses the identities built by King with an attempt to justify the need for these roles in the speech. In terms of the task “relationships”, it looks into the connections between different social or individual classes. Last but not least, politics as defined by Gee 1 is the “social goods” that exist in a society. In this particular task, we use language to build and destroy privileges. In the speech, the discrimination against African-Americans is highlighted in contrast with white privilege.

Data will be obtained from an online source containing the full speech of Martin Luther King. However, only certain parts of the speech will be selected for analysis.

The analysis will be divided into three categories in accordance with Gee’s 1 building tasks; i.e. identities, politics, and relationships. To follow up, selected lines and paragraphs from the speech will go under appropriate categories for analysis.

Language enables one to build an identity and get recognized for that identity or role. In his speech, Martin Luther King builds many identities in order to communicate with his audience and reach out to them.

1. “ So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition ” para. (2).

Notably, King attempts to build himself as a leader or a spiritual leader to the civil rights movement that has been going on for approximately 16 years during the deliverance of King’s speech.

This line comes after many lines of describing the negros’ sufferance and hardship, in which King does not use “we” to belong to the “negros” or the African Americans. Instead, he describes their suffering from afar, and the first time he uses the word “we” is in the line above, where he urges them to march and change this shameful condition. With that in mind, it seems like King acknowledges the fact that he is a negro, yet refuses to submit to the weakness that comes with the word and to the conditions in which they live.

2. “ We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline ” para. (9).

Preserving the identity of sensibility and rationalism is very important for King since he is an advocate for peace and non-violent change. He presents this identity several times in his speech and urges the African Americans to claim it and commit to it.

3. “ I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream ” para. (18).

The identity of the American is a recurring theme in King's speech. Surely, one of the ways in which he can connect with the white citizens of America is to claim the identity of an American himself. As a result, King’s speech is heavily loaded with what Damak 5 calls: the “Americanity” (214). He repeatedly mentions the American dream and the American citizenship, and that could only be a way to reinforce the ideology of belonging for the African Americans, and the ideology of unity for the white man.

4. “ 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 the content of their character ” para. (14).

King presents his audience with an identity of his, i.e. a parent. Surely, with hundreds of thousands attending his speech, many of which are parents. By representing himself and selling this father figure image, people can relate to him and will have a higher capacity of compassion for King and the African American community.

1. “ Those who hope that the negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual ” para. (7).

The relationship that King tries to introduce here is a relationship of dominance and power. It is a clear threat in case anything happens to the civil rights movement, or if the white people in power decide to dismiss this movement as a steam that needs to be blown off.

King does not mean a violent threat precisely, but “rude awakening” here gives us the impression that it could indeed develop into a threatening relationship if the demands of the African Americans are jeopardized.

2. “ In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” para. (9).

King suggests that African Americans should demand their rights with reasonability, and not be dragged into hatred and bitterness with the white man. He seeks to establish a relationship of sensibility between both parties to avoid any violence that could arise.

3. “ The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny ” para. (10).

Another aspect of the relationship between the African Americans and the white citizens of America that King endeavors to establish or indorse is the friendship between the two. King realizes that in their struggle, there are some righteous white men who aspire to achieve justice in America.

The significance of this ethnic alliance lies in the next following lines in King’s speech, in which he mentions that both parties know that they cannot walk alone in their march for freedom. King realizes that the white men that march with the civil rights movement are some sort of validation to the movement, wherein they represent the majority in America. Indeed, if you can get the majority to validate your cause, then it is not just a dream anymore.

4. “ There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?'' We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality ” para. (11).

King highlights the hostile relationship between the African Americans and the police. This animosity is not restricted to the police though, rather to all state devices. He mentions in the following lines that even airports and public schools have these policies of segregation. By listing all the instances in which a black man can be subjected to racism and segregation, King achieves his goal to destroy this relationship by shaming it.

5. “ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brother­ hood ” para. (16).

It is equally important to connect to the African Americans, as well as to the white citizens of America. This line builds a relationship of friendship and brotherhood between the African Americans and the whites. It is also important for King that both parties remember who they were, and that the African Americans embrace their history. He tries to enable the whole community to access the image of slaves and slave owners, as long as this image will encourage them to build friendships and brotherhoods with those of the other race.

1. “ This note was a promise that all men-yes, black men as well as white men-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ” para. (3).

Gee 1 states that “we use language to build and destroy social goods” (31), and that is exactly what King aspires to achieve with this speech. Clearly, the white citizens of America at that time have had privilege or what we can call social goods, in contrast to the African American community who has been suffering from discrimination even after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. On another note, King refers indeed to the proclamation several times and intends to stand before Lincoln's statue to further endorse his speech.

Moreover, King tries to resolve existing segregation and discrimination that has been there prior to his time as well as during, by building the social goods for the African Americans and destroying the privilege that the white citizens have over their fellow black citizens.

It is important to note that the ideology of freedom and equality to all is deeply rooted in the idea of "America", but whether it is actually applied or not is another issue. This ideology helps King to reach out to all Americans, even those who do not stand in his audience during this speech. He presents this social good and expects them to follow through and actually grants it to every American, no matter what his race might be.

2. “ We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only" ” para. (13).

Even the children of the African Americans are subjected to the disgusting segregation and prejudice of the whites, to the point where even in schools black kids are taught that they are less by the signs that state “For Whites Only”. This is an issue that King attempts to destroy with his speech. The privilege that those white kids have over their fellow black mates is a social good that King tries to invoke in order to create a social good that fits and satisfies all, that is equality.

3. “ And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last! ” para. (24).

A spectacular way to conclude a speech full of imagery. King presents the ultimate social good that he wants to achieve for every American, i.e. freedom. With his words, King recognizes the struggle of every American and does not exclude anyone. The inclusivity of this paragraph can reach out to all races, religions, and classes. This shared struggle is what makes it easier for the other races and classes to relate to African Americans.

King builds an image of unity amongst the American community and urges all to march in defense of their freedom. He wants to present them with the ultimate social good and the basic human right that is freedom. Naturally, when this privilege is given to all, and when it is truly guaranteed for every citizen, the destruction of segregation and discrimination will shortly follow.

This ideology that King presents to the Americans is essential to the civil rights movement, in which he offers an ideology of unity and freedom as a vital condition to coexist in peace.

6. Conclusion

It is found in the analysis that Martin Luther King’s speech is constructed carefully and not just haphazardly, which agrees with Spira and Rashid’s 3 suggestion that it has been syntactically structured to serve King’s ideologies and purpose.

King builds several identities for himself, a leader, a rational, a parent, and an American, to name a few. The interesting thing about King, in particular, is that he is an honest man in the sense that when he advocates for peace, he does indeed what he says; he urges his people as well as the other party not to be violent or hateful.

In terms of relationships, Spira and Rashid 3 states that “Luther king very impressively and successfully with the help of metaphors and other devices identifies the relationship between the powerful and oppressed” (32), and this is what we conclude from the analysis. We find King capable of building unity and harmony between the Americans by using his words. He builds a relationship of dominance and power between the African Americans and the state devices in case they take their movement for granted. Furthermore, King seeks to establish a relationship of brotherhood and friendship amongst the African Americans and the white citizens of America. Last but not least, King attempts to highlight the relationship between the African Americans and the brutal police in order to speak for the struggles of the black man and destroy this brutal relationship to build a peaceful one instead.

King plays a decent game with politics in his concluding paragraph, in which he includes every spectrum of society and mentions all races, religions, and classes. Destroying every aspect of prejudice and intolerance in the American society, King provides them with social goods that fits all to fill the gap. He tries to present them a new ideology of America, a country where everyone is free, safe, and dignified.

Martin Luther King’s speech is an attempt to push the American society into instant peaceful change, and whether it succeeds or not is a different issue. Moreover, King’s speech is linguistically rich, and the limitation of this paper is that it does not exceed building tasks or critical discourse analysis. It is recommended that a further study is conducted on the speech using all the building tasks of discourse analysis, as well as a study to decode the speech into its basic ideologies and concepts.

Published with license by Science and Education Publishing, Copyright © 2020 Ibtesam AbdulAziz Bajri and Layla Mohammad Mariesel

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Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.

Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a transcript of his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Talk of the Nation aired the speech in 2010 — listen to that broadcast at the audio link above.

Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders gather before a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. National Archives/Hulton Archive via Getty Images hide caption

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 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 material 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. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check.

Code Switch

The power of martin luther king jr.'s anger.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the 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 — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Martin Luther King is not your mascot

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

Civil rights protesters march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Kurt Severin/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Throughline

Bayard rustin: the man behind the march on washington (2021).

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

How The Voting Rights Act Came To Be And How It's Changed

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this 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.

People clap and sing along to a freedom song between speeches at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Express Newspapers via Getty Images hide caption

I have a dream that 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 the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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 the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down 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. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that 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, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

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This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

Correction Jan. 15, 2024

A previous version of this transcript included the line, "We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." The correct wording is "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now."

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream": Speech Analysis

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Historical context and purpose of the speech, rhetorical strategies used, powerful language and imagery.

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Martin Luther King's "I have a dream": the speech event as metaphor.

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Example 1: “I Have a Dream” Speech

A lot of what was covered above may still seem abstract and complicated. To illustrate how diverse kinds of texts have their own rhetorical situations, consider the following examples.

First, consider Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Because this speech is famous, it should be very easy to identify the basic elements of its particular rhetorical situation.

The text in question is a 17-minute speech written and delivered by Dr. King. The basic medium of the text was an oral speech that was broadcast by both loudspeakers at the event and over radio and television. Dr. King drew on years of training as a minister and public speaker to deliver the speech. He also drew on his extensive education and the tumultuous history of racial prejudices and civil rights in the US. Audiences at the time either heard his speech in person or over radio or television broadcasts. Part of the speech near the end was improvised around the repeated phrase “I have a dream.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most iconic leader of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He was an African-American Baptist minister and prominent civil rights activist who campaigned to end segregation and racial discrimination. He gained inspiration from Howard Thurman and Mahatma Gandhi, and he drew extensively from a deep, rich cultural tradition of African-American Christian spiritualism.

The audiences for “I Have a Dream” are extraordinarily varied. In one sense, the audience consisted of the 200,000 or so people who listened to Dr. King in person. But Dr. King also overtly appealed to lawmakers and citizens everywhere in America at the time of his speech. There were also millions of people who heard his speech over radio and television at the time. And many more millions people since 1963 have heard recordings of the speech in video, audio, or digital form.

Dr. King’s immediate purposes appear to have been to convince Americans across the country to embrace racial equality and to further strengthen the resolve of those already involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Audiences’ purposes are not as easily summarized. Some at the time may have sought to be inspired by Dr. King. Opponents to racial equality who heard his speech may have listened for the purpose of seeking to find ways to further argue against racial equality. Audiences since then may have used the speech to educate or to advocate for other social justice issues.

The initial setting for the speech was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. The immediate community and conversation for the speech was the ongoing Civil Rights Movement that had gained particular momentum with the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which Dr. King helped direct. But the enduring nature of Dr. King’s speech has broadened the setting to include many countries and many people who have since read or listened to his speech. Certainly, people listening to his speech for the first time today in America are experiencing a different mix of cultural attitudes toward race than as present in America in 1963.

Other Analysis

Dr. King’s speech is an example of a rhetorical situation that is much bigger than its initial text and audience. Not many rhetorical situations are as far reaching in scope as Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The following example of a research paper may be more identifiable to students reading this resource.

Essay on Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech

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I Have a Dream: Essay Introduction

Martin luther king’s speech: essay conclusion, reference list.

One of the finest explanations of American’s dream is the powerful speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. He delivered the speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, in Washington D.C. The speech is mainly centered on racial equality and stoppage of discrimination.

At that time, racial segregation ruled in almost all places: be it schools, neighborhoods and even in social places. With violence and riots so often, it was a disturbing moment for America although the U.S government was doing nothing to change the situation. Through the speech, Dr. King was educating inspiring and informing both the civil supporters and the unborn generation in the world to reach out to their dreams and giving his audience hope for a better future.

Up to the time when he was delivering the speech, African Americans were still under slavery from the white people as indicated in the below excerpt.

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 is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land (Luther, 1963, para. 2).

The speech depicts the idea that someone can actually be anything that he dreams of becoming. Dr. King suggested that America is a land full of opportunities and that Americans should maximize on them. Before transforming the world, he saw the need to begin in America. Dr. King began the speech with a rhetoric phrase, ’Now is the time’, a tool that he used throughout speech. In the sixth paragraph of his speech, he used the phrase six times.

He was echoing to his audience to get hold of the moment. More so he used the phrase, ‘I have a dream eight times. By so doing he was echoing future hope for the people that will make them forget about all the slavery sufferings and injustices that they had faced while under slavery.

This is a sign of hope for the future too. He brought in the idea of slavery to suggest that it is still operational in today’s world. By using the word ‘slave-owners’, Dr. King was referring to the white, however to calm any tension between the black and the white people, he re-unites them by saying, “… will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood” (Luther, 1963, para.12).

I have a dream that one day this 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.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners ………, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice…. I have a dream today (Luther, 1963, para.12).

The dream in the above context symbolizes the aspirations that Dr. King had of America setting the stage for the rest of the world. He also says that ‘this nation will rise up’ meaning that he had fathomed a revolution time when the Americans will be accepted as right persons in the States (Luther, 1963, para.12).

There was an established racial discrimination that is why he sent such a strong message to the white. More importantly is the fact that his words were advocating for peace hence providing the vision that anyone would buy it. There above discussion hence shows that Martin Luther King, Jr was really, an effective public speaker.

Luther, M. (1963). I have a dream. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, February 7). Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech. https://ivypanda.com/essays/martin-luther-kings-speech-i-have-a-dream/

"Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech." IvyPanda , 7 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/martin-luther-kings-speech-i-have-a-dream/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech'. 7 February.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/martin-luther-kings-speech-i-have-a-dream/.

1. IvyPanda . "Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/martin-luther-kings-speech-i-have-a-dream/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech." February 7, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/martin-luther-kings-speech-i-have-a-dream/.

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