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Martin Luther King Jr.

Decent Essays

Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in the Civil Rights Era, advocating for the Civil Rights Act’s passage and eventually passage of the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s. In his capacity as a Civil Rights leader, MLK delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech after the march for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. His speech was delivered on August 28th in front of the Lincoln Memorial. In his speech, MLK made sure to emphasize the hope that many African Americans had in the United States. Furthermore, MLK makes it clear that hope to him is defined as, “Sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners can sit down at the table of brotherhood… that Mississippi will someday be turned into an oasis of freedom and justice… that [his] children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” (King, 219) MLK’s sense of hope is shared by his need for the humane and equal treatment of African Americans. Moreover, MLK stands and speaks in front of Abraham Lincoln’s National Monument, alluding to the historic signing of the Emancipation Proclamation which abolished slavery. The significance of this allusion helps to show the progress that has yet to be made, the fact that African Americans 100 years later still need to fight to be treated like human beings. MLK hopes to lead a movement which will see the abolishment of segregation between people of color and white people, as well as the right for African Americans to vote and reform their

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