Hardships African Americans Face

Within this quote there are multiple metaphors that help bolden King’s thoughts: “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” “island of poverty,” and “vast ocean of material prosperity.” These metaphors explain how it still felt nearly impossible to end discrimination, and how Negroes are on their own with no support. The use of the metaphors display a deeper and stronger meaning to the topics that King was passionate about. These rhetorical devices brought to the non-colored portion of the audience’s attention of how difficult the life of a Negro was and that freeing the slaves one hundred years ago was not enough.

The hardships of the African American race

Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced

help or a ray of help any time soon. Fortunately, through the charismatic leadership of African

It is necessary to first understand King's arguments before delving into the actual analysis. King's main argument is that African-Americans are not free or equal according to the rights

The life of African Americans in the 1800 was so harsh and unfair. Their owners would treat them cruelly and made them work long hours. They were not fed and had no sanitation which led to malnutrition and disease. Many young girls also went through sexual abuse and owners wouldn’t even get prosecuted because they were the ones who ruled everything. They separated many families from husbands, wife’s, and children. Those who were not prepared suffered every day because they were not with their families. Many of them never saw their family again.

In Thomas Shapiro’s “The Hidden Cost of Being African American”, Shapiro goes in depth on how wealth in America is disproportionately dispersed between different nationalities. Mainly between Caucasians and African Americans. Shapiro has helped paint the image of wealth inequality and has shown how this is even more staggering than the wage gap between African Americans and Caucasians. Some of the theories he indirectly uses in his book and that I will be exemplifying are generational wealth and support systems, education, and the idea of how poverty only begets more poverty.

Early in his speech, he establishes the connection of the Negro people to American society, stating that “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” Essentially, society has set them up for failure, intentionally creating an environment in which it is impossible to succeed in. Much like the concept of “forty acres a mule,” Negros were deliberately placed in a position of guaranteed failure. When the slaves were freed, they were promised forty acres of land and a mule, but were given no tools to harvest the land. They requested help from other famers, but were swindled out of their land or given land which was implantable, effectively consigning them into being in the same position as they were when they were enslaved. However, King transitions away from a feeling of hopelessness to one of optimism, claiming that although society wants the Negros to feel oppressed, they refuse to believe that “there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of the nation.” They are aware that opportunity and liberty are not things of limited quantity, therefore they should be offered to everyone. The “bank of opportunity” is impossible to go bankrupt because there are unlimited funds, waiting to be distributed out to everyone. The metaphors King connects to the current

King understands that to communicate such a controversial position effectively; logic alone will not be sufficient. To reach even deeper into the psyche of his reader King also attempts to appeal to the reader's emotional side. By presenting vivid details to describe the plight of himself and other Blacks, King offers the opportunity for us to vicariously experience the heartbreaking emotions in the daily lives of African Americans under the laws of segregation. These poignant

Racial injustice reigned supreme everyday during King’s time. Negro people faced extreme challenges from being physically harmed by

Social injustice is any form of hate, prejudice, or discrimination towards any group of people. Social Injustice can be towards any person regarding their race, religion, or gender. People often have prejudice against Black people as being poor or gang affiliated drug dealers. This is social injustice even though many African American are not what is stereotyped about them but they still face the consequences of discrimination and prejudices everyday. Unjust shootings, fatal chokings, beatings and rough treatment have all contributed to the present problem of social injustice against African Americans in the United States. In the past and recent history African Americans have experienced many social

The primary purpose of Dr. King’s eloquent and dramatically delivered speech is that of persuasion. King’s claim is the Negro people are still not free one hundred years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This warrant is supported by King’s effective emotional appeal to his African American audience. He supports this with the following: "but one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” This is emotional because after one hundred years of oppression, the African American community has still not achieved their cultural and economic potential according to King. He is endeavoring to persuade his audience, fellow minorities and

The “two opposing forces” in Black America that King discusses are “...a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to

According to King, what hardships do African Americans face? Give two examples from the speech According to King, Hardships African American face are inequality and segregation. Inequality being the common African American female or male not being treated equal as the next person nor receiving rightful justice. Segregation is the racial unfairness.

With these repetitions, he resounds the horrors of racial discrimination, segregation, and marginalization of the African Americans and the need for freedom and equality of all Americans. A second element King used in his speech were metaphors which helped highlight some contrasting concepts. For example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, he uses “ dark and desolate valley” and “ sunlit path” (paragraph 6), another example is “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” (paragraph