Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963, American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr, delivered his public speech to thousands of people during the March on Washington. The speech was titled, “I Have A Dream,” and would go on to be a defining moment of the civil rights movement (biography.com). In seventeen minutes, King influenced and informed generations of people about racial equality and fairness. The speech was written to generate the audience into feeling sympathy while providing hope to the depressed African American population. The speech was centered around the belief that all men are created equal. After the speech, Martin Luther King, Jr’s popularity rose and his opponents saw him as a threat. He was assassinated five years after giving his remarkable speech, not being able to see how that speech influenced and changed the times for better, not just for African American people (biograpy.com). King uses ethos to connect with his audience not only as a fellow man of color, but as a …show more content…
This momentous decree came as a great beckoning light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later the Negro is still not free (history.com).” While standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King is reminding the crowd of the hope that they al once had that freedom would come with the end of slavery; however, then he reminds them that it has been 100 years and they are still not free from slavery. King points out the contrast between expectations and reality by high lightening the grave injustice that in 100 years, nothing has really changed