by Robin Landry

Created on: November 06, 2009

I was an infant, just seven months old on August 28, 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the historic March on Washington. Having been born at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement and possessing windows to both the past and the future through the recollections of my World War II generation parents and the perspectives of my Millennium generation son, I have definitely noticed changes throughout my own lifetime that have represented advancements toward "The Dream."

But, has "The Dream" now been fully realized? With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency in 2008 I know that there are many people who were ready to answer that question with an emphatic "Yes!" But is it really that simple? While I would admit that society has come a long way in the area of racial equality since 1963, sadly I believe that there are still a myriad of lingering social issues that will not allow us to declare inequality officially dead.

So, I decided that it might be interesting to look at the actual text of Dr. King's speech and really analyze the degree to which his vision has been achieved. He was such a dynamic speaker; I find it difficult not to get caught up in the emotion of his words no matter how many times I watch the speech. I suspect the same is true for many Americans, of all races and ethnic backgrounds. But, I realized that I have never actually studied, not in school nor on my own, the content of the address in much depth. Once I did and began to dissect each section and compare it to the equality issues that continue to surface in news stories across the United States even today I was somewhat sobered by the results.

King began the speech by invoking the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation which had been signed roughly 100 years earlier. He then went on to describe the problems that continued to plague America's citizens of color despite the hope and promise that emancipation had offered to Negro slaves at the time.

Dr. King then enumerated the pressing civil rights issues of the day: segregation, discrimination, poverty, police brutality, unequal access to public accommodations and discriminatory practices surrounding voting rights.

He concluded by offering a glimpse of a better future for all citizens; a place where citizens of all races could "sit down together at the table of brotherhood" and one in which his own children could be "judged not by the color of their skin but

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next Page >>