American Dream

America is essentially a dream. It is a dream of a land where

Men of all races, of all nationalities and of all creeds can

Live together as brothers. The substance of the dream is

Expressed in these profound words: "We hold these truths to

Be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that

Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

One of the first things we notice in this dream is its amazing

Universalism. It does not say some men, but it says all men

It doesn't say some - it doesn't say all white men, but it says

All men, which includes black men. It doesn't say all Gentiles

But it says all men, which includes Jews. It doesn't say all

Protestants, but it says all men, which includes Catholics

There is something else that we notice in this dream which is one

Of the things that distinguishes democracy and our form of government

With other totalitarian systems. It says that there are certain

Basic rights that are neither conferred by nor derived from the

State. In order to discover where they came from, it is necessary

To move back behind the dim mist of eternity. They are God-given

Very seldom, very seldom if ever in the history of the world

Has a socio-political document expressed in such profound

Eloquent and unequivocal language the dignity and the worth of

Human personality. For the American Dream reminds us that every

Man is the heir to the legacy of dignity. And yet ever since

The founding fathers of our nation dreamed this dream, America

Has been, to use a big word that the psychologists and the

Psychiatrists use, a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided

On the one hand, she has proudly professed the noble principles of

Democracy, and on the other hand she has proudly practiced - she

Has sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles. Indeed

Slavery and segregation have always been strange paradoxes in a

Nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal

And so often America has trampled over the dream. So often America

Has scarred this noble dream. We look and see certain states

Saying they will never comply with the law of the land. In doing

This, America is scarring the dream. We notice people who merely

Want to be free being brutalized, homes being bombed, churches

Being bombed. This is a way of scarring the American Dream. We

Notice people who merely want to exercise their citizenship rights

Being thrown into jail. This is a way of scarring the dream

We can hear the voice of a little Emmett Till crying from the

Rushing waters of Mississippi. This is a way of scarring the dream

And so the Negro is still trampled over by the iron feet of

Oppression. And so often he has been pushed out of the glittering

Sunlight of life's July and left standing in the piercing chill

Of an alpine November. This is scarring the American Dream

May I say to you, as has been said so eloquently all the afternoon

This dream is being scarred not only in Alabama, Mississippi

And Louisiana and all of the Southern states, but it is being

Scarred in New York and Illinois and Pennsylvania and I imagine

Even in California.The fact is that the Negro all over America is

Still the last hired and the first fired, and he still can't live

Where he wants to live and where his money can get him to live

But today more than ever before America is challenged to bring this

Noble dream into reality, for the shape of the world today does

Not afford us the luxury of an anemic democracy, and the price that

The United States must pay for the continued exploitation of the

Negro and other minority groups is the price of its own destruction

People are looking over to the United States today and they're

Wondering what we are doing about this problem. They're looking

Over from Asia and Africa. For years most of these people have

Been dominated politically, exploited economically, segregated

And humiliated by some foreign power, but today they are

Gaining their independence. More than one billion six hundred

Million of the former one billion eight hundred million colonial

Subjects have their independence today and they are saying

In no uncertain terms that racism and colonialism must go

The hour is late, the clock of destiny is ticking out

And we must act now before it is too late. It is trite

But urgently true that if America is to remain a first-

Class nation, she can no longer have second-class citizens

Now I must hasten to say that we must not solve this problem merely

To meet the communist challenge. We must not seek to solve this

Problem merely to appeal to Asian and African peoples. This problem

Must be solved in the United States because segregation and

Discrimination are morally wrong. It must be solved because

Segregation relegates persons to the status of things and stands

Against all of the noble principles of our Judeo-

Christian heritage. It must be solved not merely because

It is diplomatically expedient but because it is morally

Compelling. This must be said all over this earth

And I would say that there are some things that we must

Continue to do in order to make the American dream a reality

And save our nation in this hour. And I would like to mention

Them as briefly as possible and elaborate on them briefly

First, in order to make the American dream a reality, we must seek to

Make the world dream a reality and therefore we must begin with a

World perspective. For you see, the world in which we live is

Geographically one, and now we are challenged to make it spiritually

One. Now it is true that the geographical oneness of this age

In which we live came into being to a large extent through man's

Scientific ingenuity. Man through his scientific genius has been

Able to dwarf distance and place time in chains. Yes, we've been

Able to carve highways through the stratosphere, and our jet

Planes have compressed into minutes distances that once took days

Bob Hope has described this new jet age in which we live and I

Think he's given an adequate description. He said it is an age

In which it is possible to take a nonstop flight from Los Angeles

To New York, and if on taking off in Los Angeles you develop

Hiccups, you will hic in Los Angeles and cup in New York City

You know it is possible, because of the time difference, to take a

Flight from Tokyo, Japan on Sunday morning and arrive in Seattle

Washington on the preceding Saturday night, and when your friends

Meet you at the airport and ask when you left Tokyo, you will have to

Say, "I left tomorrow." This is the kind of world in which we live

This is a bit humorous but I'm trying to laugh a basic fact

Into all of it and it is simply this: that through our scientific

Genius we made of the world a neighborhood, and now through

Our moral and ethical commitment, we must make of it a

Brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers or

We will all perish together as fools. This is what we must do

And it simply means that every nation must be concerned about every

Other nation, every individual must be concerned about every

Other individual. Some months ago Mrs. King and I journeyed

Over to that great country known as India. I never will forget

The experience, the experience of talking with and meeting with

The great leaders of India, meeting people in the cities and

The villages all over that country, a noble and marvelous experience

And I say to you this afternoon there were those depressing

Moments.How can one avoid being depressed when he sees with

His own eyes millions of people going to bed hungry at night?

How can one avoid being depressed when he sees with his own

Eyes millions of people sleeping on the sidewalks at night?

In Calcutta, more than a million people sleep on the sidewalks every

Night. They have no beds to sleep in. They have no houses to go in

How can one avoid being depressed when he discovers that out

Of India's population of 400 million people, more than 365

Million make an annual income of less than 60 dollars a year?

And most of these people have never seen a doctor or dentist

As I noticed these conditions, something within me cried out

"Can we in America stand idly by and not be concerned?"

And an answer came, "Oh, no."

For the destiny of India and the destiny of every other nation

Is tied up with the destiny of the United States, and the

Destiny of the United States is tied up with the destiny of India

And I started thinking about the fact that right here in America

We spend more than a million dollars a day to store surplus food

And I found myself saying, "I know where we can store that

Food free of charge: in the wrinkled stomachs of the hundreds

Of millions of people who go to bed hungry at night."

Maybe we've spent far too much of our money in the United

States establishing military bases around the world

Rather than bases of genuine concern and understanding

All I am saying is simply this, that all life is

Interrelated. We are caught in an inescapable network

Of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny

Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly

As long as there is extreme poverty in this world, no

Man can be totally rich even if he has a billion dollars

As long as disease is rampant, as long as disease is

Rampant and millions of people cannot expect to live more

Than 28 or 30 years, no one can be totally healthy even if

He just got a checkup in the finest clinic of the nation

Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be

Until you are what you ought to be, and you can never

Be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be

This is the way the world is made. This

Is the interrelated structure to reality

John Donne caught it years ago and put it in graphic

Terms: "No man is an island entire to itself. Every

Man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."

Then he goes on toward the end to say, "Any man's death

Diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. Therefore

Never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."

This is the meaning of having a world perspective

If we are to realize the American dream

Another point is that we must get rid of the notion once

And for all that there are superior and inferior races

We must make it clear all over this land and all over the world

That a doctrine of white supremacy has no basis in anthropology

Has no basis in scientific thinking, and has no basis in morality

Now you know people used to argue, this thing still gets around

People used to argue that the Negro was inferior by nature

And they went back in the Bible and they would get up

Certain passages in the Bible. It's a strange thing how

People will use religion often to justify their prejudices

And they would go back in the Bible and they

Would say, "Now the Negro is inferior by nature

Because of Noah's curse upon the children of Ham."

You know, there was a great philosopher back in Greek

Philosophy by the name of Aristotle who did a great deal

To set up formal logic, and he would have what was known

As a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion

And so one brother during the days of slavery wanted to justify

Slavery and he had set his argument up on the framework of

Aristotle's thinking. He could say, "

Now, all men are made in the image of God."

Then came his minor premise: "God, as everybody knows

Is not a Negro. Therefore, the Negro is not a man."

This is the kind of reasoning that prevailed

But today, we don't hear these arguments too much. They

Argue now on more cultural and subtle sociological grounds

The Negro is not culturally ready for integration. And

If you integrate schools and if you integrate too much

The Negro will pull the white race back a generation

And then they go on to say, you know, that the Negro

Is inherently criminal and all of these things

Now these people never say to us that many of these problems

Are problems of urban dislocation and that poverty, ignorance

And disease breed crime, whatever the racial group may be

That these conditions are environmental and not racial

And it is a torturous logic to use the tragic results of segregation

And discrimination as an argument for the continuation of them

The thing to do is to get rid of them.So over this nation we

Must get rid of the notion once and for all, if we want to

Realize the dream, that there are superior and inferior races

Now that is a final point that we must -- a final thing

That we must do in order to realize the American dream

We must continue to engage in creative protest, to break

Down the barriers of segregation and discrimination

Now I know that there are those people who are the victims of some

Strange illusions. And they don't believe in the necessity for

Continued protests. One illusion is the myth of time. They say

"Just wait and don't push things, and be patient, and pray

And time will work this problem out." You've heard that, I'm sure

These people fail to realize that time is neutral. And it can be used

Positively or negatively. We've seen this myth at work in the South

And the fact is that the segregationists at points have made a much

More effective use of time than some other sources of goodwill

Even the federal government. And I am convinced that we may have to

Repent, not only for the blatant vitriolic words of the bad people

But for the appalling silence of the good people, talking about time

We must get rid of the notion that human progress rolls in on

The wheels of inevitability. We must come to see that human

Progress is never inevitable. It comes through the tireless

Efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. And

Without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive

Forces of social stagnation. We must make it clear that the time

To do right is now, and that the time is always ripe to do right

Now the other illusion is the myth of educational determinism, as I

Call it. You've heard these people say, "Now you've got to change

The hearts of men. That's the only way you can solve it." And I guess

That's true, to solve it ultimately. And they'll say, "It takes

Education to solve this problem. It's an educational process. And

Therefore it can't be done through legislation. It can't be done

Through judicial decrees. It can't be done

Through executive orders by the President of the

United States. It must be done through education."

Now I think it's right that education must work

In this whole area. But it is both education and

Legislation, not either legislation or education

Now it may be true that morality cannot be

Legislated, but behavior can be regulated

I guess it is true that the law can't make a man love me

Religion and education must do that. But the law can keep him

From lynching me, and I think that's pretty important, too

And so it means that we must push on in legislation, in the

North and in the South. Every state should have a Fair Employment

Practice Commission, so that there will be no discrimination

In this area. Every state needs a fair housing law, so that

It will be made clear that there can be no discrimination in

Housing publicly or privately, and that even real estate people

Who will try to perpetuate this will have to stand before the

Bar of justice. This must be done all over the United States

Then we must continue to delve deeper into the philosophy of

Nonviolent resistance. There is something about this method that has

Power. And I know that there are those who will ridicule it

Occasionally. But it has worked miracles in the South. It has

Morality with it because it gives us the opportunity to work to

Secure moral ends through moral means. This is the morality of it

But it has certain practical consequences. It exposes the moral

Defenses of the opponent, somehow weakens his morale, and all at

The same time it is working on his conscience. It disarms him

And he just doesn't know what to do with it. If he puts you in

Jail, that's all right. If he doesn't put you in jail, fine. If

He beats you up, that's all right. If he doesn't beat you up

That's all right. If he tries to kill you, all right, you develop

The quiet courage of dying, if necessary, without killing. If he

Tries to threaten you, all right. If he doesn't. And there is

Something about it which causes the opponent not to know what to do

Now he would know what to do with violence. He could call out the

State militia. He could call out the National Guard and kill hundreds

And hundreds of innocent people and argue that they are inciting a

Riot. They know how to handle violence. But they've proved over and

Over again that they don't know how to handle nonviolence. Because

They throw people -- they throw people into a corner.They try to

Handle it by throwing us in jail. But what happens? We go into the

Jails of Jackson, Mississippi, and transform these jails from

Dungeons of shame to havens of freedom

And human dignity. Can't stop it

I believe firmly that this is the way. Now, there is another aspect

Of it, about this method, and people ask me about it all the time

Said, "What do you mean when you tell us to love these people who

Are beating on us, and bombing our houses, and kicking our children

Around? What in the world do you mean when you say love such people?

" And I always have to stop and try to define the meaning of love in

This area. And interestingly enough, Greek philosophy comes to our

Aid at this point. There are three

Words in the Greek language for love

One of them is the word "eros." Now, eros is a sort of aesthetic love

The philosopher Plato talks about it a great deal in his dialogues

The yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. It has come

To us to mean a sort of romantic love. And so we all know about eros

We've experienced it. We've read about it in the beauties of

Literature. In a sense, Edgar Allan Poe was talking about eros when

He talked about his beautiful Annabel Lee with a love surrounded by

The halo of eternity. In a sense, Shakespeare was talking about eros

When he said, "Love is not love which alters when its alteration

Finds or bends with the remover to remove. It is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is a star to every

Wandering bark." You know, I can remember that because I used to

Quote it to my wife when we were courting. That's eros. That's eros

Then the Greek language talks about "phileo" which is another level

Of love. It is an intimate affection between personal friends. On

This level, we love because we are loved. We love people that we

Like. This is friendship. Then the Greek language has another word

Called "agape." Agape is more than romantic love. Agape is more than

Friendship. Agape is not something affectionate. Agape is

Understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is an

Overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say

That it is the love of God operating in the human heart. And when one

Rises to love on this level, he loves men not because he likes them

But he loves every man because God loves him. He goes on with that

And so he rises to the level of hating the system rather than the

Individual who is caught up in that system. He loves the person and

Hates the evil deed. And I think this is what Jesus meant when he

Said, "Love your enemies." And I'm happy that he didn't say "like

Your enemies" because it's pretty difficult to like some people. It's

Difficult to like people bombing your home, and threatening your

Children, and kicking you about. But Jesus says love them, and love

Is greater than like. Love is understanding, creative, redemptive

Goodwill for all men. And somehow, more and more I've come to believe

This, that this is the way that we will get out of this dark night of

Oppression and make of this nation a better nation. It means that we

Can stand up and allow the opposition to know that we will not accept

Injustice. We will stand up against it with our lives, but we will

Never stoop down to the level of violence and hatred. And we will

Come to that point when we will be able to convince him that

A new world is emerging. And I tell you this evening that it

Will give us the right attitude. I know sometimes how discontent

We get, and we have a right to get discontent, and how frustrated

We get in the process sometimes. But I submit to you this

Evening that this way of non-violence will help us not to seek

To rise from a position of disadvantage to one of advantage

Thus subverting justice. We will not substitute one tyranny for

Another, for black supremacy is as dangerous as white supremacy

I am convinced this afternoon that God is not interested merely in

The freedom of black men and brown men and yellow men. God is

Interested in the freedom of the whole human race and the creation

Of a society. And I believe with this method and this approach we

Will be able to win. And finally, as we struggle, we do not struggle

Alone. It's dark sometimes. It's difficult. And particularly for

Those who are struggling in the deep south facing all of the violence

And all of the suffering. But there is something that consoles us

Along the way. We are convinced that our cause is right. I return

To Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia not in despair, not in

Bitterness. I return knowing that we are moving into a bright day

Of freedom. And we, through our struggles, through our suffering

Through our sacrifice, will be able to achieve the American dream

And this will be the day when all of God's children, black men and

White men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able

To join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last."