Making The Future Better Together Analysis

There was a time when America was segregated; Caucasians and African Americans were forced to attend different restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. However, the era of segregation has been terminated; now America embraces and appreciates the various cultures and ethnicities that create this melting pot several people call home. Likewise, it is this melting pot, or mosaic, of races that multitudes of individuals have identified themselves with. Thus, race and ethnicity does matter for it portrays vital and crucial roles in the contemporary American society. Furthermore, ethnicity and race brings communities together in unity, determines which traditions and ideals individuals may choose to value, and imposes an impediment for it categorizes humans unjustly.

One of the ways that Dr. King brought change was through his message of hope and optimism for the future, and his long, eloquent sentences that proved that he was a man of intelligence that should’ve been listened to. In Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he makes clear his belief that racial equality can only be achieved by integration. This can be best describes when he states “I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right here in Alabama little black [African-Americans] boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white [Caucasian] boys and little white girls as sisters and brothers.” (King 5) Dr. King discusses how he believes that if the Caucasian

First of all, Martin Luther King Jr. usesd a rhetorical strategy of repetition. King is known for his use of repetition, reference his “I Hhave a Dream” speech. Furthermore, r Repetition is used to get his your point across, and to make the reader remember it. In the letter heit states, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love,” and “Was not Amos an extremist for justice,” and again it says, “Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian Gospel.” King uses the “was not” and “an extremist” to apply effect on the situation. He wants to apply the emphasis on how these key figures in history were extremist, just like him. Again in this letter, Martin Luther King Jr.’s uses reptition in his quote again, King sayings, “let him march,” “let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall,” “let him go on freedom rides.” Martin Luther King Jr. uses the words “let him” to intensify the fact that the people should just let the Negro protest. Martin Luther King Jr. says to just let the Negro be, King statesquotes, “if his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence.” Therefore,So Martin Luther King Jr. wants to make sure he informs the people, to either let them protest peacefully or there will be violence.

We live in a society that has prospered generously over the years. America has opened its doors for so many different people by establishing itself as a free country. Not only have we progressed in technology and economically but we have created our own identity by becoming a free nation in which every individual has the same rights and eligibility as the other. This is the core of our countries success; we are not a nation unified distinctly by a specific race, religion or culture but by the compulsive efforts of our nation’s laws to uphold freedom in every aspect of a civilian’s life. People are not only allowed but encouraged to practice the religion of their choice, eat the food they desire, speak the language they prefer. There is even freedom in the most minute of things such as being able to listen to the music of your choice, these are the laws that promote diversity and strengthen our nation today. Our nation’s identity and prosperity is built upon multiculturalism and ethnic tolerance. However, this was not always the case it has taken many long and brutal years become the stable and versatile country that we are today. Specifically dating back to when this land was first founded and thereafter we see our nation has struggled with conflicts against politics, discrimination, and public affairs up till this very day.

King Jr. calls to those in society to put away the “racial prejudice” and encourages those to think clearly instead of being in a dazed and confused state of misunderstandings and fear. Quickly a nation can be corrupted by national policies, especially if they are unjust. “Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity” (King). Referring to the nation as an unstable foundation, King Jr. calls to one another to create a uniformed and solid ground for everyone to stand on as a nation. Martin Luther King Jr. uses clear metaphors and alliterations to clearly and visually make his points on segregation.

of life. However, a major issue which arises with this increasing diversity is race, a topic which

That leads into King talking about how the time is now. The time to make a difference. The time to give every person the basic civil rights that they should deserve. He states, “Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood” (King 260). He then brings it all back to Birmingham, Alabama. King tells his audience that he sees “two opposing forces in the Negro community” (261). He describes those two opposing forces as being one that is made up of those who are “so drained of self-respect” that they have gotten used to the segregation (King 261). The other force is one that is made up of “bitterness and hatred” that is found in “Black Nationalist groups” (King 261). King doesn’t want there to be two opposing forces. He wants to enforce the idea that there is a more peaceful and nonviolent way to resolve their issues

By using the past events he could better empower his people to become independent. Throughout his lifetime, King worked hard to end segregation and try to break down the walls between the blacks and whites. He was faced with an enormous amount of opposition. King and those who followed him had to face beatings, verbal lashings, and public embarrassment. He had to look to the past and at the words of great men before him to find the strength to endure. Like Socrates, King felt that he had to create a "constructive, nonviolent tension necessary for growth" (WoI pg. 156).

King also references Socrates, who also created “nonviolent tension” to liberate his people from “the bondage of myths and half-truths,” just as King and his people strive to “help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.” “…Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.”

Jr. writes, “As pure as the ends we seek” (King #3). Furthermore, he says, “There is no greater treason than to do the right deed for the wrong person” (King #3). Martin Luther King is trying to say that the biggest betrayal of wrongdoing is when you do something that is right, but you do it for the wrong reason and it goes to waste. He doesn’t want this to happen in the Civil Rights Movement and he wants people to protest for the right reasons. One of his metaphors is, “They will be the James Merediths, courageously and majestic” (King #4). Also, “They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman of Montgomery, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride the segregated buses” (Kind #4). MLK wished that the people, who stood up what is right by doing something wrong, would be honored for their courage and bravery. His use of metaphors and similes really helped express what was right and what was

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in transcendence, believing we all should be treated fairly and that right and wrong does exist. King’s critics violate non-contradiction, appropriate authority, and equivocation. The oppress gets freedom when they demand it. In Letter from Birmingham Jail, King uses evidence to prove his statements. King believed in just and unjust laws. To King a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. Unjust laws can be broken if it’s something you believe in and needs to be stood up for, even if that are consequences that go along with your decision. King wanted better for African American and did not want them to suffer from unfair justice any longer. Dr. King was a motivational speaker who supported non-violence actions and believe that no man should fight with their hands but with their words. In Letter from Birmingham Jail, King is not only appealing to Christian Authorities but to other beliefs and religions also. King blames the regular white society instead of the powerful white supremacists because they were the ones that are not doing anything to help the blacks overcome the triumph. The legislator states that it is democratically correct that only the white can vote. The white individuals equivocate the word democratically saying that only whites can vote, when in reality anyone can vote. Just because a person makes a claim about the blacks, does not mean they have all of the credentials to make that direct claim. King refers to the bible and utilizes it in his letter by saying that by doing right and believing in God does not mean that the result will always be in your favor the first time around. King says that even though doing right is not always easy, we should not give up and continue to strive for the success that you

Reading MLK’s speech stirred my views on America in the past. Being an immigrant, I never got a complete view on the reasons behind MLK's expressions addressed in his speech, but reading his speech and his word choice, helps me realize why MLK’s words are so precious even in the modern day. MLK uses rhetoric in his speech constantly repeating phrases such as “Now is the time” or “I have a dream”, and I believe this helps readers and listeners to become aware of the cruelty faced by the people MLK addressed. In King Powell’s CNN article, he talks about how a lot of the discrimination still exists to this day. “I can learn from you but you can also learn from me. That is how we do more than tolerate each other. That is how we come to respect

As civilians we live in a world predicated and pronounced on difference ,a world in which havoc and chaos affirms our differences and presents us as a nation struggling to find our self-identity. We are faced with serious and complex criminal and racial challenges that proves our estrange.our divide occurred as soon as men were created and we are left with the incessant clicking that is injustice,which was thought to be corrected by our forefathers.

addressed the biggest issue in the United States at the time; equality for minorities. Dr. King believed that a moral society would be one where all humans are seen to be equal, everyone would have the same privileges’ and racial groups would overcome their differences to unite all Americans and the principles that we share. Dr. King wanted Americans to take a non-violent approach to solving the problem. In the letter Dr. King discussed that for America to unite as one and minorities receive equality they must take the steps to do so, it would not just happen because they wanted it to. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."(434) I infer that equality for minorities and the respect of others go hand in hand in accomplishing the goal of uniting the nation as one. If we do not teach respect, respect will never be

King is extremely emotive in his speech, and uses incredibly descriptive and poetic phrasing to demonstrate the eloquence of his argument. His use of words like "Now" and "today" imply a great need for immediate action regarding civil rights; the fact that he is so well-spoken is intentionally utilized in the speech to lend credence to his words. Given the stereotype at the time that blacks were unintelligent and uneducated, King 's responsibility to show the capabilities of black rhetoric was great. King, as a religious man, brings spirituality into the speech itself, but not in a self-aggrandizing way; he merely states that racial justice should be done as it is according to God 's will.