y could vote. They should not remain satisfied as long as the only mobility they had was from a smaller ghetto to a larger one (King 104).
King made his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 at the centennial of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (King 101). In this speech King noted that one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation black people were still not free. Segregation and discrimination still ruled their lives, as did poverty. They were still treated as second-class citizens. He chastised America for defaulting on her promise to grant her citizens life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. According to King, the Negro people had been given a "bad check" and one that had come back marked "insufficient funds." However, now it was time to cash the check: America had to make good on its promises (King 102).
Largely considered his most famous address, this speech was the keynote address of the March on Washington, D.C. for Civil Rights and it was televised across the nation. Earlier in the summer, despite opposition from the governors of Alabama and Mississippi, President John F. Kennedy had authorized federal marshals to escort a few black students to register at the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama. Riots ensued with this registration and "Bull" O'Conner, chief of Birmingham, Alabama's police department, ordered his officers to turn fire hoses and police dogs on the demonstrators--much to the shock of the nation watching the riots on television. On June 12, also of that year, Medgar Evers, a field secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was murdered. Other riots occurred throughout the summer and the country seemed on the brink of a racial civil war. King's speech was thus thought of as a rallying point that held the nation together.
In contrast, later in the same year...