Dream to Reality

On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech to more than 200,000 people during the March on Washington. King's speech was one of the most influential during the era of the Civil Rights Movement and is to this day recognized as a masterpiece due to its effect on the audience as well as for its eloquence and language. Many components went into this passionate speech that portrayed King's hopes for racial equality and a brighter future made the speech as moving as it was. It is doubtful that any person can guess that this speech was written without forethought regarding what goals King wished to accomplish in this speech. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eloquent language was perfectly suited to his audience, both his immediate and secondary audience, and his carefully chosen diction helped to shape arguable one of the most touching works ever spoken.

On the day of his speech, King spoke to thousands of people from many backgrounds. Many black as well as white people had the good fortune to hear him speak and he referred to them all as "my friends." This one simple component of King's speech made the speech accessible to everyone as it was a welcoming gesture that was meant to show that both the audience and King were positioned on the same level and although they came from varying levels of education and economic statuses, King's immediate listeners all shared a common dream, racial equality. This factor most likely made the audience feel that they were equally as important as the great leader in the fight for racial equality. Referring to the listeners, it is also important to note the fact that supporters of changes in civil rights were not the only audience that King was reaching too. King undoubtedly had is adversaries (he was killed soon after), but King was also speaking to those against racial parity. By speaking to everyone as 'his friends,' King was already pushing the notion that they were all the same. Friends tend to be of the same status and have respect for one another, King showed that although he was black and oppressed, he still was on the same level as, and had respect for his white oppositionists. Also, this same idea is supported by the fact that King chose to write the essay in first person using I and you instead of a formal third person speech. By choosing to speak this way, King puts his issues onto attainable terms and is a technique used to interest his audience and make them aware of the reality that indifference regarding racial segregation is not something that only affects others, but I, you, us, and we.

The audience who heard "I Have a Dream", is exactly the audience that the speech was intended to be spoken to. This is evident in the language and content of the speech. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not only relate to the oppressed African Americans in his speech. He did not bring up the wrongs that had been performed between white and black abolitionists, nor did he ridicule white Americans in any way. By doing this he spoke to everyone hoping for a chance, by making it clear that racial equality was everyone's fight. By not attacking the opponents of his beliefs and dream, King set up a chance to perhaps open up an their minds to views they may not have considered had they been forced to be defensive due to attacks aimed at their own beliefs. This decision not to place blame to support the ideas that King had, largely impacted the effect of the speech on those who listened to it. By focusing on the ideas that racial equality could bring about excellent effects in the future instead of referring back to the violence and disparity that has commenced, the audience could not help but feel empowered in such a way that did not bring about hostility.

King was aware that aside from racial discrepancies regarding the differences in his audience, those he spoke to had varying levels of education due to economic or social reasoning. In order to speak clearly into the hearts of the majority, King knew that he would have to speak in a way such that most people could clearly understand him. For this reason, King's speech was of a simpler language that was easy to comprehend. His sentence structure was not complex and the repetition of ideas provided concepts in an easily graspable form. In a sentence such as this: "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."(King, 10) King is able to express his passions and hopes that in the future his children will no longer be labeled by how they look, but rather be viewed in the same way white people are, by their attitudes and the way in which they act. This sentence is