I Have a Dream Speech Themes

In his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. describes the founding promises of America (freedom, equality, and justice for all) and the nation’s failure to keep those promises, particularly to Black Americans. Addressing hundreds of thousands of people at the March on Washington in August of 1963, King specifically called attention to the fact that while most white Americans enjoyed freedom and justice, Black Americans did not. Nonetheless…

In “I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. calls out the “shameful condition” of racism in America and demands an end to the indignity of segregation. But he acknowledges that his dream of a free, fair America—a place where Black Americans are judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”—is one that can’t be realized without solidarity from white Americans. The only way to fight against the…

Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist noted for his embrace of nonviolent resistance, or the practice of achieving social change through peaceful demonstrations. During the summer of 1963, a “sweltering” season simmering with rage and volatility, King’s assertion that nonviolent resistance was the surest path to change came at a crucial moment in the long fight for civil rights. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the March…