JohnEngelman
Virgin
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- Jan 8, 2022
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The mark of a great speech is the ability to appeal simultaneously to those who never went to school and those who won Rhodes Scholarships while undergraduates at Harvard. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech appealed to both groups. It continues to appeal to them. The most memorable part of the speech was extemporaneous. Toward the end of Dr. King’s prepared remarks Mahalia Jackson said, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.”
No riot followed that speech. Those who accuse Dr. King of being a rabble rouser are thinking about Malcom X, H. Rap Brown, and Stockley Carmichael.
The only violence Dr. King provoked was segregationist violence directed at peaceful civil rights demonstrations.
Excerpt from "I have a Dream" speech
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/sp...44BGtLn6gKmG0diA8A_aem_iBlfD3QpDPfas7Qv9-tXsg
No riot followed that speech. Those who accuse Dr. King of being a rabble rouser are thinking about Malcom X, H. Rap Brown, and Stockley Carmichael.
The only violence Dr. King provoked was segregationist violence directed at peaceful civil rights demonstrations.
Excerpt from "I have a Dream" speech
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/sp...44BGtLn6gKmG0diA8A_aem_iBlfD3QpDPfas7Qv9-tXsg
