Martin Luther King Inequality Essay

Inequality is a common term used by many to show disparity between any few things. It is a plague that has disrupted societies, and has pitted groups of people against each other. Inequality isolates everyone, breaks friendships, and makes the human race forget what makes them human. When facing inequality, one must always take a stand, and promote what is morally right. In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, King uses allusion and extended metaphor to convey his logical and emotional reasoning that all men are equal and should be united, regardless of their skin color.
Martin Luther King first promotes his idea of equality through an allusion to the Constitution, “that all men...would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (3). This allusion clearly promotes equality logically through a direct reference to the Constitution; using this allusion King shows that when the very foundation of the United States states that all men--regardless of color--should be guaranteed their rights equally as law, there is no plausible reason why African-Americans should be subject to lesser rights. King uses an allusion to the Constitution because it represents the basis of all American ideals, and is what this nation is founded upon; when that very foundation states that all men receive their rights as law, it makes the way African-Americans are being treated illegal and illogical. Furthermore, King promotes his idea of unity achieved through equality with an extended metaphor, “transform[ing]
King uses both extended metaphor and allusion in order to promote his ideas of equity and unity emotionally and logically. Inequality needs to end, and in order for that to happen, everyone must unite together, stop pointing out petty differences, and be recognized as only one race: the human