Comm 110 - I Have a Dream

“I Have a Dream”

Brian Reckeweg

COMM/110

Dream

The “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. was delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. This speech is one of the most powerful and well known speeches in the world. I will analyze this speech. In doing so I will not only talk about the importance of the speech, but also the mechanics behind the speech, and why the speech still lives in infamy today.

I believe the primary focus of the speech was to inform. Inform who? I say to inform the government that over 100 years ago a promise was made by America that all men would be treated as equal. Yet, still in 1963 the African American community was scourged with racism, and discrimination. I think the secondary purpose of the speech was to advocate an issue. The speech was delivered in a way as to unite all races of people to rise up against the injustice against our own American brothers and sisters.

The “I Have a Dream” speech was given to address the need for civil rights in a time when the Negro race had no rights. At the speech there were hundreds of thousands of people there. Some white, but mostly black people who were tired of being discriminated against. I think the people came to see if there really was a peaceful way to stop this aggression and discrimination against them. The people stretched from the Lincoln memorial all the way to the Washington monument. The point of view that Dr. King is trying to get across is that even today in 1963, black people still are not free.

I think the speech was very effective especially because of the inflection in his voice and his use of hand gestures.

Dr. King opened his speech by saying “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”. The main point he made was simple, injustice and discrimination. The way Dr. King addressed this was through examples of how blacks and whites could not eat together or go to the same school together. Dr. King concluded his speech