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