Chapter 41 I have a dream

One hundred years ago, a great American signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and today we gather in front of his statue.This solemn declaration is like the light of a beacon to millions of sad facts.Today, a hundred years later, under the shackles of segregation and the shackles of racism, black lives are being squeezed.One hundred years later, black people still live on an island of poverty in a sea of ​​material abundance.One hundred years later, blacks are still shrunken into corners of American society and aware of themselves as exiles in their native land.We are here today to bring this appalling situation to light.

In a sense, we have come together today in our nation's capital to demand that promises be kept.When the founders of our republic drafted the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they made promises to every American.They promised to give to all human beings the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As far as citizens of color are concerned, America has clearly not lived up to its promises.Instead of fulfilling this sacred obligation, America simply wrote black people a bad check, stamped it "insufficient funds," and returned it.But we do not believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.We do not believe that there is not enough stock in the great storehouse of opportunity for this national treasure.So today we demand the cashing of a check -- a check that will give us the precious guarantees of liberty and justice.

We have also come to this holy place to remind America that this is a very competitive time.Now is by no means the time to talk about cooling off or taking the tranquilizers of gradualism.Now is the time to realize the promise of democracy.Now is the time to climb the bright avenue of racial equality from the desolate, dark valley of segregation.Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children.Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial inequality to the rock of brotherhood. If the United States ignores the urgency of time and underestimates the determination of black people, then this will be fatal to the United States.Without the refreshing autumn of liberty and equality, the sweltering heat of black indignation will not pass. 1963 did not signify the end of the struggle, but the beginning.Some people hope that black people will be satisfied as long as they vent their anger. If the country is peaceful and there is no response, these people will be greatly disappointed.There can be no peace or tranquility in America without the rights of citizenship for the Negro.Until the bright day of justice comes, the whirlwind of insurgency will continue to shake the foundations of this nation.

But for those who are waiting at the gate of the Palace of Justice, I have to say something.In the process of fighting for legal status, let us not take wrong steps.Let us not drink with hostility and hatred in order to satisfy our thirst for freedom.We must always be well behaved and disciplined in our struggle.We cannot allow our protests with new content to degenerate into violence.We must continue to sublimate to the lofty realm of using spiritual power to deal with material power. There is a great new fighting spirit in black society today, but we cannot distrust all white people for that.Because many of our white brethren have recognized that their destiny is bound up with ours, as evidenced by their participation in the rally today.Their freedom is inextricably linked to ours.We cannot act alone.

When we act, we must pledge to move forward.We cannot go backwards.Now someone asks people who are enthusiastic about the civil rights movement. "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as black people continue to be persecuted with unspeakable brutality by the police. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, weary from travel, cannot find lodging in the motels along the highways and in the hotels of the cities. We will never be satisfied as long as the essential sphere of activity of the Negro is merely to move from the small ghettos to the great ghettos.

We can never be satisfied as long as there is still a Negro in Mississippi who cannot vote, and as long as there is a Negro in New York who thinks he can vote for nothing. No!We are not satisfied now, and we will not be satisfied in the future, unless justice and justice are like the waves of the river, surging and surging. I did not fail to notice that some of those who attended today's rally were suffering and tormented, some had just come out of their cramped cells; crumbling.You are chronic sufferers of man-made pain.Go on with it, firmly believe that suffering undeserved pain is a kind of redemption.

Let us go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the ghettos and ghettos of our northern cities, and let us Undoubtedly, this situation can and will change.Let us not sink into despair. My friends, today I say to you, at this moment, despite all the difficulties and setbacks we have suffered, I still have a dream.This dream is deeply rooted in the American dream. I dream that one day this nation will rise up and truly live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day, on the Red Hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves will be able to sit down with the sons of former slaveholders in a bond of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even Mississippi, a desert where justice is absent and oppression prevails, will become an oasis of liberty and justice. I have a dream that one day my four children will live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the quality of their character. I have a dream today. I dream of a day when Alabama will be transformed, where black boys and girls will walk hand in hand with white boys and girls, even though the governor of the state is still dissenting against federal law.

I have a dream today. I dream that one day, the valleys will rise, the mountains will descend, the rough and winding roads will become smooth, and the holy light will shine on the world.Ridge split a stone of hope.With this faith, we will be able to transform the cacophony of bickering in this nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, pray together, fight together, go to jail together, and stand up for freedom together, knowing that one day, we will be free. On the day when freedom comes, all of God's children will sing this song with a new meaning: "My country, land of beauty, I sing of you. You are the land where our fathers died, you are the first settlers Pride, let the voice of liberty resound from every hill."

This dream must come true if America is to be a great nation.Let liberty ring from the towering peaks of New Hampshire!Let liberty ring from the mountains of New York!Let freedom ring from the summit of the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow-covered Rocky Mountains of Colorado!Let freedom ring from the crooked peaks of California!Not only that, but let freedom ring from Stone Ridge, Georgia!Let liberty ring from Beaune, Tennessee! Let freedom ring from the first hills of Mississippi!Let freedom ring from every hillside. When we let the voice of liberty ring out, from every village big and small, from every state and every city, we will be able to hasten to the day when all of God's children, black and white, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, join hands and sing an old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"