Relevance of Martin Luther King

Relevance of Martin Luther King Abstract: This extended essay is about ‚‘‘ Is Martin Luther King‘s speech, ‘I have a dream as relevant today as it was in 1963?‘‘. Comparison of the similarities between Martin Luther King speech, August 1963 and Barrack Obama victory speech, June 8th 2008, the similarities took place to be described. The emotions that Martin Luther King and Barrack Obama evoked, by touching the sensible hearts of humanity dreams, wishes and hopes that built up after many years. The key aspects of both ‘I have a dream and ‘yes we can, it is what everybody wish and dream about the American dream is a soul which lives in everybody, it is the share of basic humanity needs to live safe and non-ignorant life. How have the socio economic, political values, education, employment, housing changed in Black America between 1963 and 2008. Why have these changes come only now? The aim is to analyze looking at the facts from the past and today, to see the wide range of connected dreams and how they were achieved. Is Martin Luther King‘s speech, ‘I have a dream as relevant today as it was in 1963? Who are we, we ask sometimes our selves. We are the characters of the communities and families. We have a list of things to do. If we proceed according to the plan, sense of proportion, even dreams and wishes can come true. Belief and understanding is more essential to us today than it was before. What we want to see is changes and evolvement over time in society, how does it differ today than before and what were the right decisions made to overcome problems that laid the roots long ago in the U.S and global societies. Why only now have these changes occurred? Martin Luther King was one of the greatest fighters of human rights, and injustices, towards the black community and other races. Barrack Obama was a candidate for the presidents of the United States. He spoke his speech to make changes which related to what Martin Luther King started in 1963. A comparison of key elements in Martin Luther Kings dreams and Barrack Obama changes, and the improvement is measured in statistics by race, is a key focus of this research. After years these changes can be related to both men and their visions of America, being less discriminative, positive and free. The key elements of the dreams and changes in both speeches are related to statistics of socio economic and political values, education, employment rates and housing in black America today. Martin Luther Kings dream is full of emotion which was and still is supreme. These emotions were picked up by America‘s hip hop music artists and used as inspiration to support Barrack Obama, who has influenced younger generations to separate bad from good, to follow their dream with crates of hope and bravery, by simply repeating ‘yes we can, like Martin Luther King did, repeating ‘I have a dream. How far did Martin Luther Kings dreams went through over the years? Martin Luther King was born on 15th of January, 1929 and died on the 4th of April, 19681. Martin Luther King was a man with a dream, which has lasted even after his death. He is an example for people and he spoke his words of his dream in front of millions of people and the message was delivered across the world as a result, because discrimination is not only in America, its found all over the world and today there are more and more people who live in one country with many different races in peace, demonstrating that Martin Luther Kings dream is moving down the path to reality. In 1963, Martin Luther King shared his dream with us, his dream was so big and powerful that it exploded from his mouth that day on August 28th 2 into something beautiful and heart touching. The racism was inside people and no matter that the law said that everyone must be equal in every way. Since industrialization, other races that have come to live in, or were living in U.S. and looking for a better future were competing with US citizens, being cheaper labor, willing to work more hours were achieved with less pay in return. Poor living conditions were the peoples concerns reaching financial stability, raising children and giving them education. This never happened, because some white Americans, were without jobs, blamed other races for their fate and turned to a form of hate, physical violence as well as mental abuse. New gangs were introduced in society who worshiped Nazis. The ‘Ku Klux Klan3, it is very famous across the U.S. and globe for their actions and rituals against other races. The burning cross symbolizes a black man burning on it as a sacrifice, white robes also tells us that the members think they are in a war where blacks go against whites. The Am erican dream was far away. The American dream is simply what it says, a dream. Its about hope, the goals that you want for yourself and everyone around you, and if everyone is happy around you, then you are satisfied too. The things you want for yourself, your children and further generations, will be sustained through progress, not repeating the past, but progressing to the materialistic and equal prosperity. Identification of: Martin Luther King dreams  ´When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence ´4 Martin Luther King meant the significance of signing a promissory, or in other words, the American dream. Every American has their rights. Every person who lives in U.S. is the same human that creates economic wealth by filling the work place. Every one of them must be treated the same. The same in a way that people salaries are not taken down just because of their skin color or the way they look. Every human is working for himself with emotions, the right to speak and express the ideas freely. The word ‘No can be taken as a right decision but only when the conditions do not allow for something to happen. To improve the condition of the state and human rights for everyone, we have to say yes, to ‘I have a dream. ‘Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all Gods children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. 5 Martin Luther King, was not only taking a good look in U.S. at the time, in his words he mentioned Gods children, which means every single one of us on this planet have to step out of the quick sand of racial injustice. Does it look like a formula, for having a better understanding of life, for having a need to live for something; to love everyone around you; to see everyday happy smiling faces without hatred?: it is a formula which is attempted but never fully fulfilled for the complete result, is the solid rock of brotherhood. There is the word, ‘believer. Martin Luther King believed with all his heart that he could make a change. He was a man who had a lot of emotions that been held in his chest for a long time. A Black man with a dream, who rose up and gave a piece of intelligence and poetry to everyone revealed that he is the same person who does not discriminate, but asked to collaborate without racial ranking. ‘Little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers .6 The dream is a union. Martin Luther King played with faith to look at the blind truth that was buried under discrimination. Together he played a beautiful symphony of brotherhood, turned hatred to hope to recreate things that could be sorted out without fear of harassment, living in a world full of melody, where song are played by an orchestra that relies on the unification of many different personalities. And the conductor who leads the song should be a man, who never fail to unite the sounds and personalities that map the continuous melody of brotherhood. The past is still difficult to look back at; black Americans have been discriminated and for the worse, enslaved. History proved to us that Blacks couldn‘t do many things including work, use services, eat or even live where ever they wanted to. Discrimination also included political issues, for example, voting. Studying generations who had different features were not allowed or even forced out of universities. Poverty was everywhere in black society. Today is a different story. Black race are offered more for professional jobs. Many Blacks enter universities and pass to get a degree; there are many Black politicians and participants in elections. All of this sounds way better. House Purchase Power Home buying power by race ranking in U.S.A 7 Race 1994yr 2007yr % change in buying power since 94 1.White (non-Hispanic) 70.0 75.2 5.2% 2. Asian American 51.3 60.0 8.7% 3. Native American 51.7 56.9 5.2% 4. African American 42.3 47.2 4.9% 5. Hispanic or Latino 41.2 49.7 8.5% It can be seen white Americans have had the most opportunities to buy houses. Asians and Native Americans do not differ a lot, it is 4.9 percent and they are in the second and third places of house buying power. Fourth and fifth place in homeownership goes to African Americans, followed by Hispanics. Over 13 years, Hispanic and Latinos had the lowest number homeowners together with African Americans. The majority of other races, not whites, were zigzagging or slowly growing on the scale of homeownership. Looking at the house purchase power we can see that everything takes time. Patience is what makes you think of many ways how to make a real statement or in this case, Martin Luther Kings dreams are slowly becoming realistic. A dream is when reality issues collide with dreams and the manner of accepting, the changes. Something that Martin Luther King spoke about was a realistic dream that continues up till today and further into our future, a never ending emotion. ‘With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together , to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. 8 The land of opportunities a great nation, this must become true not only on paper, but also in human actions, behavior and acceptance to change together to become newborn fresh minded people who can thrive together so as to be united and wealthy. One person is somewhere, very close in the shape to the problem solver and in the shape of a true black American who has the same rights to speak, but has a different rank. Miracle and fantasy, many are starting to think of how simple it could be to migrate to a location with a purpose, where the creation of a good atmosphere is implied in every human characteristic, with no racial injustice or prejudices. If we had known how to make it all bright at the beginning of the start, then what way would we now understand as the differences in life? If we had only one way of thinking, or only one culture, maybe we would not have to fight for riches, or dreams. And what our governments want can be expressed in many different ways. Resources, wealth, mental and physical control of society, use of the workforce or fulfillment of citizen needs are the factors that our governments have the power to create. Can we think that maybe we are the figures on a chessboard and we can only be moved when its time for the good move, well planned for us by someone who has ‘the right to think he is no better than everyone? Martin Luther King woke up these chess figures, gave those eyes and told them to look around, gave them emotions so they think about the past, gave these figures faith that they would be free one day to move along their own lifes path. Key elements: Barack Obama and Martin Luther King dreams. Martin Luther King 9 (I have a dream) 1-I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. 2-I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 3-I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 4-I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. 5-I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream, the one that was shared among the crowds and nation hearts and emotions, hope that traveled through great Mississippi river and valleys and mountains of America spread traveled like a billions of spears infected with emotion crossing our hearts and crippling us for a moment to think about how to heal the old scars. Martin Luther King gives us confident belief in truth, a stick has two ends, although some believe in karma that better days will come, bad influences will get their part as being in hell or treated for their actions, where good influence stays as positive and inviting energy that seeks for truth will have its turn and among the other states which will transform. Barrack Obama 10 (Yes we can) 1-Change is a foreign policy that doesnt begin and end with a war that shouldve never been authorized and never been waged. 2- Change is realizing that meeting todays threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isnt afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. 3- Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. Its understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand. Barrack Obama described the changes in a simple manner that everyone could understand, what can be changed. The need for transformation leads to people who feel for it and proudly say ‘yes we can with a power of diplomacy that comes together with equal decisions, justice and pride in the brotherhood of U.S citizens and all over the world. Including truth, that we all are humans, with less discrimination and injustice we shall learn to work hand in hand and be trustworthy in accepting new ideas from any source, in peace and with attention. An answer to the threat should be not thinking about tactics to overpower, but to think how to think diplomatically. Emotions Barack Obama Barack Obama has steadily moved his political career towards the presidents chair of the United Stated of America. He‘s a great man who loves his family and his friends. He respects his country as well as its citizens who live in U.S. or abroad. His victory speech, was somewhat related to Martin Luther King speech ‘I have a dream‘. Barack Obama used a powerful emotion to enter people hearts projecting truth and causing emotions to go over the sides. Yes we can is a strong force of power that is hidden in these three simple words, and reminds of Martin Luther King ‘I have a dream which is a metaphor for ‘time for a change a dream that is meant to come true. However Barack Obama had a lot of support from a hip hop idol, the richest hip hop artist Jay Z, who wrote a song called ‘History11. The song was about the American history time line of injustice, racism, prejudice, those who fought the barriers of injustice. Jay Zs song relates to Martin Luther King and Barack Obama speeches in the shape of support and truth that one man can make a change together in a bond of hope and time which is kept as a the key to the American dream. They are remembered and today used in Obamas campaign for elections as inspiration. How Barrack Obama was accepted to number one ‘A success is like lust, which is good for the touch Which is good for the moment, but she`s never enough 12 Barack Obama and his staff invested time and money for their plans and deep thoughts to come up with a great victory plan, they were very simple and effective. There were plenty of advertisements, getting his message to sparkle and shine and the use of common technology (internet websites; e.g. Facebook, Blackberries) that everybody use nowadays. Music writers supported his positive ambitions. Jay-Z helped a lot with his ‘History song, and supported Barack Obama. It all sounds like a good plan. Maybe its only the cherry on the top of the cakes, making it all believable that he is the man who can bring changes to society and the economy. He is someone who understands in which century he is living. People joined him, inspired by their connection to him because he showed a direction everyone wanted to see their nation heading towards. Well everybody loves truth, but is that all? Barack Obamas great speech resulted in a massive number of votes not determined by race or age13. Martin Luther Kings dream has been re- awakened. President Barack Obamas speech to the crowds of people on his primary election night on June 3rd 2008, said: ‘And, because all the million people, you believed that this year must be different than all the rest 14. Can Barrack Obama change voter opinions? They only listen, but can they also tell that Martin Luther King dream of equality is being awoken again? President Obamas success brought many hopes and dreams that were re-awakened from deep down of our memories to continue what we like and think is positive. The ideas behind great speech will have to be completed gradually if the President wants to lead America, to be a good leader he must continue to be the one who awakens the dreams in all of us. Votes for President Barrack Obama by race and age: White Americans voted between fifty four percent and forty percent, African Americans voted between ninety six percent and ninety four percent.15 Do we still face racism? Martin Luther Kings dream is relevant today and the country is going in a positive direction more and more when we look at the graph. People don‘t know what‘s going to happen now or later, they have an idea, but maybe Barrack Obama will run out of time to complete his promises and will increase the skepticism amongst Americans. We should never wish for any quick fix. Americans wished for quick changes in socio-economic-issues politics from a person they believed had the power to say everything Americans wanted to hear. ‘As the crowd screams, for the other team I practice so hard for this moment victory don`t lead I know what this means, I`m stuck in this routine Whole new different day, but the same old things All I got is dreams, but nobody else could see Nobody else believe, nobody else but me Where are you victory, I need you desperately Not just for the moment, to make history16. Jay-Z gives a perfect description of a man who has determined himself to make a change. In the election Barack Obama fought with his heart and brain; the same routine every day, but he knew that when he won, the change wouldnt come as fast as many people hope. Hes eager to make difference, and wants to be recorded in history with his actions as change. Not too young, not too old, he has lived in the same conditions as every American, he is smart enough to hold the weight of all the states in the U.S. on his shoulders, to be proven only in four year future. The next four years are the imprint for Barack Obama, its time to change the history and sort out good from bad. Martin Luther King had a problem, himself, that he was black and in 1963 there was way more racism and race/religious crimes. Today we look at another black man Barack Obama and we do not turn our backs on him; character is the key point of human identification and so we follow the brotherhood. Socio economic indicators in America The unemployment rate of black and white Americans comparison Between 1990 and 2000 the unemployment rate for black Americans declined by 0.4 percent, and at the same time between 1990 and 2000 white Americans unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percent. By the year 2000 the unemployment rate had increased for both, black and white races. Factually referring to the statistics black Americans had doubled their unemployment rate up to 8.3 percent and white Americans also has doubled their unemployment rate up to 4.2 percent, half less unemployment than Blacks .17 As mentioned before we can see that U.S citizens have differentiated unemployment rates, thus we can say that this data is telling us that black Americans were more likely to be unemployed. However whites were too, but not that much. Decline in unemployment rate 2000 White Black Decline 4.2 8.3 1990 White Black Decline 0.1 0.4 The statistics tells us again that it takes time for the wishes to be achieved, and be attained. Martin Luther King spoke about ‘slaves and owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood18 and that relies on the recovery of economic growth which Barack Obama explained as everything comes ‘in fits and starts19. It takes time to create jobs and on 2008 the amount of money that was given 787 billion dollars into U.S economy has saved and created one million employments this year in 2009 20. It is clear that Martin Luther Kings speech, ‘I have a dream is in the hands of Barack Obama. We are still fighting for equality, but we cant push the development time forward. Changes: Poverty, racism and alienation have blossomed in America in the past. Hate overwhelms society, when it creates victims. Issues like race, religion, sexual orientation or other, have come to be related with crimes. The Black community has been hated till the last breath in the past. At last all these negativities made about other races are starting to go away. Generally, Black Americans have had a big influence in American history, even though society forced them to live together in the shadows. Today Blacks are offered for more professional jobs. Many of them enter universities and pass to get a degree; many are politicians and there is no better evidence than Barack Obama. The Black middle class is much more accepted today in America and their success has showed changes in many ways. Multiracial celebrities many poets, writers and intelligentsia are highly visible. The changes from 1963 till 2009 are different. In 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his speech, American people were le ss knowledgeable with the spiritual side of human, thus relied on simply surviving. Taking the journey to year 2009, emotions are put in first place there is a serious tone to issues and there is an effort to find a solution by talking. Conclusion People trust in what they see these days more than before. Money and power is what we see and hold clear our hands. But one person who was seen and heard by many of us, Martin Luther King, was not about money or power, he was about giving hope and changing the hearts of people. Barack Obama is a person who respects Martin Luther Kings issues that appear to be with us today. Both society characters were acting for Americas sake to make a difference in emotions, political values, education accessibility, unemployment rates and housing. All these issues were related to both of their characters and, who knows, maybe Martin Luther Kings speech will be needed again to touch our hearts. We can see the truth, over in time if Barack Obama fulfills his great ideas that have blossomed with joy and celebration from the American people. Truly united, and there shall be equality. Not only about racial justice, but for there to be equality there must be a materialistic support and education for every person. This should be the prime assistance for countrys development. We choose the way we want to live and Martin Luther King was a man who thought a way of living in equality, to create no boundaries for his fellow US citizens and humanity worldwide. The spread of the connected dreams takes time to collect and fulfill, but we are going in the right direction with the right amount of listeners today compared to before. Think of what we have, what we miss and what can be done to fight the barriers of insecurity or uncertainty in life. Barack Obama has chosen his words greatly to re unite the country and its citizens. Being a President with ability to talk to crowds of deserved people who have every piece of expression in that speech, this is amazingly unifying. Barrack Obama made people believe in what he believes, introducing people to non ignorant life and uncovering those pathways that Martin Luther King took really carefully. Barack Obama is relevant to continue Martin Luther Kings dream and the spirit living in the lines of the speech can never be destroyed or be irrelevant in the future, it is a treasure that was shared with us for generations. Footnotes 1- http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html entered September 28th 2009, page 1. 2- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 3- http://www.kkk.com November 5th 2009, page 1. 4- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 5- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 6- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 7- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/US_home_ownership_by_race.png , http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883976.html entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 8-http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 9-http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1. 10- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html entered September 5th 2009, page 1. 11-http://www.kovideo.net/lyrics/j/Jay-Z/History.html entered September 11th 2009, page 1. 12-http://www.kovideo.net/lyrics/j/Jay-Z/History.html entered September 11th 2009, page 1. 13- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html entered September 11th 2009, page 1. 14- http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://allotherpersons.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/percent-who-voted-for-obama.png%3Fw%3D657%26h%3D329imgrefurl=http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/the-color-of-the-young-vote-2008/usg=__XEMS7cJ2bVDHWR86kCOaJI_wjOQ=h=329w=657sz=8hl=nlstart=15um=1tbnid=2O4bgvMn2_jqsM:tbnh=69tbnw=138prev=/images%3Fq%3DPercent%2Bvoted%2Bfor%2BBarrack%2Bobama%2Bby%2Brace%2Band%2Bage%26hl%3Dnl%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1 entered September 5th 2009, page 1. 15- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html entered September 11th 2009, page 1. 16-http://www.kovideo.net/lyrics/j/Jay-Z/History.html entered November 18th 2009. 17-http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/04/minorities_economy.html 18- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm entered October 12th 2009, page 1 19- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113426838 entered November 2nd 2009. Page1. 20-http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113426838 entered November 2nd 2009. Page1. Bibliography 1- http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html Martin Luther King Biography. Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972 2- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 3- http://www.kkk.com Ku Klux Klan; Pastor Thomas Robb; USA racist clan. 4- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 5- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 6- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 7- http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883976.html Changes in home ownership by race in U.S.A from 1996 2007. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/US_home_ownership_by_race.png Changes in home ownership by race in U.S.A from 1964 2005 graph. 8- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 9- http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Martin Luther King speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969 10- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/03/obamas-nomination-victory_n_105028.html Remarks of Senator Barack Obama Final Primary Night Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 St. Paul, Minnesota; The Huffington post 06 3 08 11-http://www.kovideo.n