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The Importance Of Inequality In The United States

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The Importance Of Inequality In The United States
With such a huge wealth gap in the income of the rich and the poor, the methods of

redistribution should be something that is discussed. According to Martin Luther King Jr., many

African Americans were put at an economic disadvantage due to the inequality they faced during

the 20th century; the net worth of African Americans today is significantly lower than the net

worth of White Americans. Today, the net worth for African Americans is about $6,000, while

the net worth for White Americans is about $110,000 (The African American Middle Class 2).

This economic gap will continue to grow if something is not done to lessen it. There are many

ways of distributing the wealth from the higher classes to those in poverty. It could go directly
…show more content…
During the civil rights movement, King’s idea of a greater equality was used to protest

and fight for advancement of African Americans and other minorities in society. In his speech,

“The American Dream,” King talks about many issues of racial discrimination and segregation,

which prevented the ability for African Americans, and other minorities, to achieve the

“American Dream,” and thus underline the importance of taking action as the only way to

promote change. This ultimately caused there to be inequality within the nation. King addresses

the idea of inequality as a challenger of the American dream, he says “every man has a capacity

to have fellowship with God. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him dignity” (King 2).

King is trying to get his audience to understand that “all men are equal” does not mean everyone

needs to have the same job or that everyone deserves equal pay. His goal is to get people to

realized it is important to treat everyone with dignity and respect and give everyone, regardless

of his or her race, equal opportunities to gain success. In the mid 1900s, many minorities had
…show more content…
Through his speech, King is trying to get people to “give somebody a job and pay them some

money so they can live and educate their children and buy a home and have the basic necessities

of life. And no matter what the job is it takes on dignity” (4). King is trying to say everyone

deserves to live a decent lifestyle. Everyone should be given equal opportunities to achieve

success. The goal of the American dream states everyone deserves to equal chances and equal

opportunities.

In his speech, “The American Dream,” King warns his audience of social divides due to

economic inequalities. Today, “the richest 1 percent is now wealthier than the rest of humanity

combined,” (Kennedy 1) which portrays the huge wealth gap between the rich and the poor.

Only 1% of America is extremely wealthy while the other 99% fall into the middle and lower

classes. The size of the wealth gaps portrays the effects of discrimination in mid 1900s and

shows the prevalence of inequality today. Kennedy, a news reporter at Bloomberg news, says

“62 individuals [have] the same wealth as 3.5 billion people (the bottom half of the

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