MLK jr

On August 8, 1963 an eloquent black pastor confidently approaches the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and powerfully declares that what he is about to say will go down in the history books as one of the most important speeches delivered for humanity. He was right; his speech paved the way for awareness and action in the cause of equality between the white and black races. Although he spoke to over two hundred thousand people, the whole world population and generations to come were affected. In this speech, Martin Luther King Jr. does an effective job in persuading white people to stop prejudice toward black people by appealing to widely respected sources.

Martin Luther king appeals to his target audience by alluding to widely respected sources such as the United States Declaration of Independence, the Bible, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. He does this by using similar phrases from the culturally important documents above. For example, he refers to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by saying “Five score years ago…” and he alludes to the Bible by partially quoting Isaiah 40:4. The purpose of reminding his audience about highly respected history is to put his ideals in the same category as them so as to add validity to his arguments. Most white people believe in the principles taught in the Bible, by Abraham Lincoln, and our founding fathers; therefore, they will be more likely to believe the words of Martin Luther king’s speech.

In conclusion, Martin Luther King’s revolutionary speech lead the way for equality within our society between white and black people. He was influential to his audience because he alluded to common documents in our nations past that his audience believed. It was effective because it reminded the American people of truth that was forgotten; for example, that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. Also, his speech was completely ethical because he was not manipulative but persuasive by reminding his audience of what the nation had agreed upon years ago. Personally, I feel that Martin Luther King’s speech was one of the greatest in America’s history that lead the way for blacks to be free like our forefathers imagined.