What does Dr King mean when he says that there are two Americas?

What does Dr King mean when he says that there are two Americas?

Two Americas is a phrase used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech “The Other America” to describe the differences in what life is like for people of different social classes in the United States. He gave this speech multiple times, including on April 14, 1967 at Stanford University.

What was the meaning of Dr King’s speech?

I Have a Dream
I Have a Dream, speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history.

What Great American is Dr King referring to in his speech?

In the famous speech given on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. talks about the great American. He is talking about Abraham Lincoln. He refers in his speech to the fact that Lincoln was the one who had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves.

Why did Dr King call his speech the other America?

“I want to use as a title for my lecture tonight, “The Other America.” And I use this title because there are literally two Americas. Every city in our country has this kind of dualism, this schizophrenia, split at so many parts, and so every city ends up being two cities rather than one. There are two Americas.

What connects the two Americas?

By three million years ago, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama, thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas.

When and where did Dr King give his The Other America speech?

Fifty years ago today—on March 10, 1968—the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “The Other America” speech to supporters participating in a celebratory “Salute to Freedom,” organized by the Local 1199 in New York City.

How did King appeal to his audience?

King used an appeal to pathos, in order to persuade his viewers to aid in the quest for equality. By appealing to all three rhetorical elements, pathos, logos, and ethos, King was able to effectively persuade and motivate the audience to achieve equality for all American citizens.

What effect does Dr Kings allusion have on the speech?

Starting the speech with an allusion to the end of slavery also emphasizes the point that there are continuing obstacles facing African Americans besides slavery. For those who were saying, “Hey, there are no more slaves, racism is over,” MLK’s use of an allusion was a wake-up call.

What was Dr King’s argument in the other America?

In his speech “The Other America” (where he was interrupted over and over by hecklers calling him a traitor), King focused on the economic inequalities corroding American society and put Detroit’s recent uprising in the broader context of racial inequality in the city through the nation.

What does King mean by the other America?

King first gave his “Other America” speech at Stanford University in 1967 and addressed topics surrounding race, poverty and economic injustices that were, and still are, plaguing American society. In Dr. King’s speech he begins by painting the picture of the two Americas that exist in American society.

What did Martin Luther King Jr say about the march on Washington?

Basically, King is saying that the African Americans in the March on Washington are there to get the rights that the government owes them. When someone writes you a check, they promise to pay you the amount of money that is indicated on the check. When you cash the check, you get the money that they have promised to pay you.

What did Martin Luther King Jr say about racial injustice?

Racial injustice is still the Negro’s burden and America’s shame. And we must face the hard fact that many Americans would like to have a nation which is a democracy for white Americans but simultaneously a dictatorship over black Americans.

What did Martin Luther King Jr say in the declaration of Independence?

In the middle of the paragraph, King says that, when the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written, the US promised that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What was the struggle of Martin Luther King Jr?

We are moving into a new phase of the struggle. For well now twelve years, the struggle was basically a struggle to end legal segregation. In a sense it was a struggle for decency. It was a struggle to get rid of all of the humiliation and the syndrome of depravation surrounding the system of legal segregation.