Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! There is no better way to conclude a speech in which freedom is the subject of than by shouting these very words. Such is the way Martin Luther King Jr. chose to end his empowering “I Have a Dream” speech that shook the United States to its core. While King only intended for his dream to be heard by those listening on August 28th, 1963, it has instead lived on for over 50 years as a beautiful representation of what an inclusive nation is. From the parallels King drew to the incredible imagery he used in this speech, there is no question as to why it is considered to be one of the best speeches in this nation’s history.
However, during the civil rights movement, while blacks fought for equal rights, women too …show more content…
were fighting for equal rights and equal opportunities. Throughout this speech, King marginalizes women by only mentioning “girls” a total of three times throughout the speech. What is important to recognize, though, is not that he rarely mentioned women, but rather that he never purposefully excluded them from his “dream.” The reason King marginalized women within his “I Have a Dream” speech is not because he didn’t want them to have equal rights, but because his main focus was to illustrate to the American people how beautiful a society without segregation is, and as the leader of the civil rights movement, he needed to make sure his movement was effective before fighting specifically for women as well.
Though King used the word “men” a total of six times throughout his speech, which is twice the number of times he used the word “women,” he needed to create a parallel structure between the natural rights our Declaration of Independence grants American citizens and the inequality that existed at the time between “men.” The exact words in the Declaration, which Martin Luther King Jr. quotes are, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It is important to note that the Declaration itself states “men,” not “men and women,” just simply “men.” Though women were seen as less than men and had far fewer rights than men did when this nation was founded, the intent of the Declaration of Independence was not to exclude women from equality. Without the Declaration, no man or woman in America would have access to the freedom we all enjoy today, therefore, when King draws parallels between the Declaration and the civil rights movement, his goal is to benefit all African Americans. Also, it is crucial to acknowledge that King hoped every citizen in the United States would be granted equal rights, but his main goal was to win equal rights for blacks. He wanted a society where no sect of the American people had more opportunities than others, for he faced a life filled with injustices simply because of the color of his skin. Therefore, the purpose of this speech was to plant an image in the minds of Americans of a society where blacks and whites coexisted. In order to be successful in creating this lasting image, King had to dedicate the vast majority of his speech to his dream and its significance.
Even Susan B. Anthony, one of the most influential women in our nation’s history, just spoke about women’s suffrage, not slavery or any other inequalities that existed in this nation in the late 1800’s. In one of her most famous speeches on women’s right to vote, the only time she even mentions men is to argue how the Constitution states “We the People,” not “we the men.” In essence, she is just like King in that the only time she specifically stated “men” was in regards to the decrees this nation was founded on. And just like King, she chose to focus solely on the movement she was most passionate about and not campaign against slavery because she too wanted her movement to be successful. Most importantly, women were a part of King’s dream.
When specifically mentioning Alabama, a state that was plagued with racism and crimes against blacks in the 1960’s, King hoped, “One day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white girls and little white boys as sisters and brothers.” King couldn’t have been more inclusive in his dream, for he blended together not just both sexes, but both races in the same dream. Plus, in the conclusion of his speech, he further emphasized how he hoped to eventually see “all of God’s children” working in tandem with one another. So not only did King leave an imprint on the minds of countless Americans, he conveyed a concept of inclusion that no leader before him had ever done. Even as the civil rights leader, he still argued indirectly for the rights of women, for he did not discriminate against them in his movement. Yes, he did not actively fight for women’s rights, but King wanted his movement to be a success, and if he had divided his time between fighting for African American rights and fighting for equal opportunities for women, he wouldn’t have been able to do either very
effectively.
Also, look at this speech on a larger scale and set it relative to the time period in which it was given. The 1960’s were an incredible discriminatory decade, meanwhile King did not differentiate between men and women, the rich or the poor, the Jews or the Christians, but included all members of society. There are leaders in our own society today that still have yet to accomplish the same thing, such as our current President Elect, Donald Trump, who cannot put his personal discriminatory opinions to rest but rather tries to influence our world with them. He continuously criticizes races, sexes and sexualities that are different from his own, and evokes terror within every minority group. So yes, perhaps there was more King could’ve done for women, but he set them equal with himself and hoped that they too would receive equal rights, and while both blacks and women still face inequalities in the United States, America has come a long way thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.
However, during the civil rights movement, while blacks fought for equal rights, women too …show more content…
were fighting for equal rights and equal opportunities. Throughout this speech, King marginalizes women by only mentioning “girls” a total of three times throughout the speech. What is important to recognize, though, is not that he rarely mentioned women, but rather that he never purposefully excluded them from his “dream.” The reason King marginalized women within his “I Have a Dream” speech is not because he didn’t want them to have equal rights, but because his main focus was to illustrate to the American people how beautiful a society without segregation is, and as the leader of the civil rights movement, he needed to make sure his movement was effective before fighting specifically for women as well.
Though King used the word “men” a total of six times throughout his speech, which is twice the number of times he used the word “women,” he needed to create a parallel structure between the natural rights our Declaration of Independence grants American citizens and the inequality that existed at the time between “men.” The exact words in the Declaration, which Martin Luther King Jr. quotes are, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It is important to note that the Declaration itself states “men,” not “men and women,” just simply “men.” Though women were seen as less than men and had far fewer rights than men did when this nation was founded, the intent of the Declaration of Independence was not to exclude women from equality. Without the Declaration, no man or woman in America would have access to the freedom we all enjoy today, therefore, when King draws parallels between the Declaration and the civil rights movement, his goal is to benefit all African Americans. Also, it is crucial to acknowledge that King hoped every citizen in the United States would be granted equal rights, but his main goal was to win equal rights for blacks. He wanted a society where no sect of the American people had more opportunities than others, for he faced a life filled with injustices simply because of the color of his skin. Therefore, the purpose of this speech was to plant an image in the minds of Americans of a society where blacks and whites coexisted. In order to be successful in creating this lasting image, King had to dedicate the vast majority of his speech to his dream and its significance.
Even Susan B. Anthony, one of the most influential women in our nation’s history, just spoke about women’s suffrage, not slavery or any other inequalities that existed in this nation in the late 1800’s. In one of her most famous speeches on women’s right to vote, the only time she even mentions men is to argue how the Constitution states “We the People,” not “we the men.” In essence, she is just like King in that the only time she specifically stated “men” was in regards to the decrees this nation was founded on. And just like King, she chose to focus solely on the movement she was most passionate about and not campaign against slavery because she too wanted her movement to be successful. Most importantly, women were a part of King’s dream.
When specifically mentioning Alabama, a state that was plagued with racism and crimes against blacks in the 1960’s, King hoped, “One day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white girls and little white boys as sisters and brothers.” King couldn’t have been more inclusive in his dream, for he blended together not just both sexes, but both races in the same dream. Plus, in the conclusion of his speech, he further emphasized how he hoped to eventually see “all of God’s children” working in tandem with one another. So not only did King leave an imprint on the minds of countless Americans, he conveyed a concept of inclusion that no leader before him had ever done. Even as the civil rights leader, he still argued indirectly for the rights of women, for he did not discriminate against them in his movement. Yes, he did not actively fight for women’s rights, but King wanted his movement to be a success, and if he had divided his time between fighting for African American rights and fighting for equal opportunities for women, he wouldn’t have been able to do either very
effectively.
Also, look at this speech on a larger scale and set it relative to the time period in which it was given. The 1960’s were an incredible discriminatory decade, meanwhile King did not differentiate between men and women, the rich or the poor, the Jews or the Christians, but included all members of society. There are leaders in our own society today that still have yet to accomplish the same thing, such as our current President Elect, Donald Trump, who cannot put his personal discriminatory opinions to rest but rather tries to influence our world with them. He continuously criticizes races, sexes and sexualities that are different from his own, and evokes terror within every minority group. So yes, perhaps there was more King could’ve done for women, but he set them equal with himself and hoped that they too would receive equal rights, and while both blacks and women still face inequalities in the United States, America has come a long way thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.