How Did "I Have a Dream" Matter to My Neighbors in 1963?

Lincoln Memorial

On this date in history, August 28, 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his immortal speech, “I Have a Dream,” from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. So many people have written and said so many things about this great speech. The speech was not really about a dream. King’s powerful images shook people’s hearts, but metaphors were not his point. His point was freedom. Let me back up and tell a story.

On August 29, 1963, the morning after the speech, I was an 11 (almost 12) year old boy waiting for the school bus on the corner a half-block from my house. The Lincoln Memorial was less than 20 miles from my parents’ almost new split-level. I was excited to start seventh grade at Sidney Lanier Intermediate. My biggest fear was to wonder how I would navigate the seemingly huge school.

The neighborhood was buzzing with commentary, not only about King’s speech, which disturbed and frightened almost everyone I knew, but also the massive demonstration on the Washington Mall. At the time, the crowd’s size and impatience dominated my neighbors’ thinking. Folks shook their heads at what they perceived to be a chaotic mess. And, indeed, my young friends at the bus stop shared in the excitement—and the concern. It is no secret that King terrified many white people. As should surprise no one, my neighborhood was (like almost all Virginia neighborhoods at the time) strictly segregated.

For the most part, my friends and their parents were not racists in any of the usual senses, at least not as white people understood racism in 1963. My schoolmates were nice kids who grew up in loving homes. They did not seethe with ill will. They were not angry.

Yet, one of my bus-stop companions asked, with disgust in his voice, “What do they want?” My best friend, Duncan, calmly replied, “They want their freedom.” I was never so proud to know him. Duncan grew up in a conservative home, much more conservative than my own, but he understood human dignity with a wisdom that belied his youth, his crewcut, and his traditional Oxford shirt. Somehow, I had never before understood civil rights with such simplicity, such clarity.

No one responded. Not even me. Awkward silence continued until the bus showed up a few minutes later. It was a learning moment for me, maybe for all of us. Yes, the clips of King’s speech on the news the night before thrilled the ears. In the long run, however, it is the audience, not the speaker, that makes a speech successful. What message did the audience need to hear? “They want their freedom.”

Dreaming was King’s metaphor, but it was not his main point. No, instead, his point was freedom. His thrilling conclusion talked about the centuries-long struggle for freedom:

“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that 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!”

Did the struggle for freedom end in victory? On the one hand, yes. Congress soon passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On the other hand, no. It seems that every few weeks in 2022 we hear about a police officer shooting an unarmed Black person. Mistakenly thinking that the struggle for civil rights was over, the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Even the freest nation is never more than one election from tyranny. King’s message: People want their freedom.


Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Made Biblical Morality a Public Imperative

Three Warnings about Political Action From Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”


P.S. Of course, as times change, we notice that King didn’t mention freedom for women: “black men and white men.”

Image: National Park Service

Three Warnings about Political Action From Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”

On today’s date, August 28, 1963, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his most famous speech – “I Have a Dream” – from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. This speech’s inspiring language commands our attention, but must not overlook King’s equally inspiring life lessons. The press often considered King to be a moderate civil rights leader. Nevertheless, in “I Have a Dream,” he gave three warnings.

When we remember King’s eloquent language – “I have a dream today” – we are reminded that dreams matter. King was, all the same, not a pie-in-the-sky dreamer. He was a pragmatic leader who understood how to face challenges. The three lessons that he slipped into his speech –  to avoid gradualism, to recognize the United States’ vast potential, and to shun despair – mean as much today as they did in 1963.

In the face of timidity, King warned his audience against moderation. In the face of conservatism, he warned against thinking small. In the face of liberal discouragement, he warned against pessimism. King directed these life lessons at the civil rights workers of 1963. All the same, what made his speech timeless was that his lessons are timeless. 

King's warnings resonate today. Civil rights are a never-ending struggle. Even today, conservative legislators at the state and national level struggle to make voting more difficult or protest the results of the 2020 election. So, let's look at King's three warnings. 

First Warning, Against Moderation

Minorities, who carry a history of enslavement, Jim Crow laws, and police brutality, are often told to be grateful for gradual change. And, truly, gradual improvement always trumps no improvement. Yet, with the civil rights movement in full swing, King told the massive crowd that it was time to move forward:

“This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”

In this speech, King similarly also talked about “the fierce urgency of now.” King’s language compelled action: “fierce urgency,” opposed to a “tranquilizing drug.” This was language of power, strength, of immediacy. The time for action was now, not later. Timing is everything.

As we all know, oppressors often promise that liberation will come, but not quite today. Maybe later. So, King said that today was the day. Now was the time. Instead of “cooling off,” civil rights workers needed to push forward for justice. An ancient principle of rhetoric tells us that a speech must be given at the right time. King told his audience that 1963 was the right time to act. He warned them not to wait.

A year after King’s great speech, conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater would tell the Republican National Convention that: “Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” That was truer than Goldwater knew.


Second Lesson, Plenty for Everyone

Not only however, did King say that we should avoid gradualism, but also there was no need to be gradual. He insisted that United States had plenty for everyone. His point was that the land of opportunity could fulfill its promises:

“We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.”

King’s point was that people think that the nation has exhausted its wealth and cannot afford to share opportunities. This is because so often – too often – people think small. We are afraid to win the big prize because we fear that we will lose the little one. We think that we will lose if we share with someone else. Too often, we fear that every exchange means that one person wins and another fails. King instead made the point that America offered “great vaults of opportunity.” There was enough for everyone.

We can remember that lesson today, can we not? A simple glance at the map shows that the poorest states in America have the most conservative state governments. The five poorest states are West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Alabama. All but New Mexico has a Republican legislature. When we clutch to what little we have, we fail to reach for greatness. The fallacy of gradualism lies in fear. The fallacy of conservativism is to deny the very existence of opportunity. So no, the nation did not lack potential in 1963, and it does not have “insufficient funds” today. What we lack, too often, would be concern for others, confidence in the future, and willingness to change.

King did not, however, endorse the “prosperity gospel” that is so enamored by many conservatives. He did not say that great riches awaited anyone who had faith. That kind of thinking lacks depth. Instead, King spoke for opportunity and justice. He spoke for urgency.


Third Warning, Avoid Despair

Radicalism poses a great temptation, however. If we fail to achieve everything we want, at the moment we wanted, we think that we have failed. We hear this today from liberal firebrands. Too often, we let failures discourage us. Indeed, in 1963, African Americans faced horrible challenges, especially in the South. King understood that gloom could become a self-fulfilling prophecy:

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.”

King spoke before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “I Have a Dream” was surely one of the many forces that led to those important laws. In 1963, he warned against despair. By 1965, important, long-promised legislation had been enacted. At the same time, injustice, timidity, and despair are the constant enemies of progress. King warned us against all three. King saw that the faint of heart could not succeed. His movement needed to recognize opportunity and seize the moment. Like all great speakers, he taught a timeless lesson. 

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