America was built on the idea of freedom from unjust powers, which has created the American dream that people strive for and come to the United States for. This dream states that every American citizen has the equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, but not every citizen has been given these promised rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela advocate for the equal rights and prosperity that were promised to all citizens of America, but racism strongly invalidated this American dream due to groups such as the KKK and racial discrimination that leads to unequal rights. The KKK organization achieved their side of the American dream, but hindered others from achieving their right to the dream due to racial prejudices. The KKK was founded in 1866 and was a “secret white supremacist, terrorist organization” (Popham 333). …show more content…
In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he addresses the problems still faced today by bringing up the point that “one hundred years later, the negro still is not free” (King). Racial discrimination was supposedly expunged from America, but King argues that it is still evident. African Americans are promised this dream of equality, but due to discrimination they can not achieve these civil rights guaranteed to them. Martin Luther King believed that “now [was] the time to rise from the dark valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” (King). King wanted those being oppressed to rise up against this injustice and fight for equality. He wanted to keep the light of equal opportunity and justice alive in African Americans people’s hearts and to keep the fight going. Racial discrimination strongly invalidates the American dream promised to all citizens, but people like King have made an enormous contribution to