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MLK “I have a dream” Analysis

On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr delivered his most famous “I Have a Dream” speech where he asserts that all races should be equal. Martin Luther King develops his argument by stating examples of how the circumstances differed between colored and white people. The author’s purpose is to prove to the audience how unequal the races are being treated and he’s demanding change. Throughout my essay I will explain how Martin Luther King uses real life examples and multiple pathos appeals to show the audience how poorly the racial equality was during that time.

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses his speech to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom group at the Lincoln Memorial. King is one of the most famous civil rights activists in the United States for not only promoting equality across the country but his vast amount of bravery because civil rights was very controversial during the 60’s. Before this speech took place Dr. King lived a normal but unfair life as a minister of a Chrisitian church. He was disliked by many but he led a church that had a large amount of the community that attended his services and liked what he had to say. He proposes his speech to not only the African American community but to all Americans to promote his argument towards racial equality. King uses emotionally loaded language throughout his speech by explaining and showing examples of how unfair the treatment to the colored people was at the time. He explains how its not only society that’s treating the colored unfair that its the government as well such as police officers and government officials. He states, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” King has experience with police brutality because before the speech took place he was placed under arrest at one of his anti segregation protests for no logically good reason.

Dr. King has endured the evil of a racist society throughout his whole life and he uses that in his speech to show the audience that it’s not fair that the caucasian race should be superior if everybody is made the same and comes from the same place. Throughout the speech MLK uses emotionally loaded language to make the audience get to his level and and get an idea of what he has felt throughout his life. Some examples of Dr. King using emotionally loaded language, “A state sweltering with the heat of injustice”, “the dark and desolate valley of segregation”, “Transform the jangling discords of our nation”(King).

MLK has a very emotional paragraph where he states, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…”. This quote is very pathos appealing to the audience because he doesn’t say that he wants a better future for himself but for his children that he loves the most. The author’s purpose of this iconic speech is to show the American community that it isn’t fair to judge and mistreat someone by the color of their skin but by their character. Martin Luther King gets his argument across by using multiple pathos appeals throughout the entire speech and making those rhetoric appeals fitting perfectly in his speech and making it flow and not sound forced; that’s why this speech was so successful in the fight for racial equality. He doesn’t want the audience to feel lower than him because at one point King was in the same position as them; he wants the audience to feel close and relate to the statements throughout his speech. 

Dr. King uses emotional examples to insure to the audience that racial equality change in is urgent. He begins his speech referring to the Emancipation Proclamation by stating that after 100 years “…the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacies of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” This quote means that although the Emancipation Proclamation declared that all slaves shall be free that they are still enslaved into the unequal treatment of society and that colored people don’t get the treatment that they deserve. He appeals to the audience’s emotions by facing them with the facts of how unfair the treatment of the colored community is and how that they feel exiled in their own place of residence. Martin Luther King Jr. also refers to the Declaration of Independence, one of the most important documents created by the United States, and how inside of that document it explains how all men are created equal and deserve equal treatment. Although many respect that document during the time of this speech many disregarded that all men are meant to be treated equally.

By using rhetorical appeals Dr.King wants to get audience on the same page as him and consider what he has to argue. The author’s purpose of this iconic speech is to show the American community that it isn’t fair to judge and mistreat someone by the color of their skin but by their character.  He doesn’t want the audience to feel lower than him because at one point King was in the same position as them; he wants the audience to feel close and relate to the statements throughout his speech. This speech had a great impact on society and MLK was successful in getting the audience to agree with him.