a critical discourse analysis of i have a dream by martin luther king= phân tích diễn ngôn phê phán bài phát biểu i have a dream của martin luther king

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF STUDY PROJECT REPORT i
ACKNOWLEDGE ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENT iv
FIGURES AND TABLES vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale 1
2. Scope of study 2
3. Aims of study 2
4. Significance 2
5. Methodology 3
6. Design of study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Martin Luther King and the speech ‗I have a dream‘ 5
1.2 An overview of CDA 6
1.2.1 History
1.2.2 Definition
1.2.3 Methodology for CDA – the three-dimensional framework
1.3 SFG and its role in relationship with CDA 9
1.3.1 SFG and its role in relationship with CDA
1.3.2 SFG and the three meta-functions of language

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CHAPTER 2: A CDA OF MARTIN LUTHER KING’ S SPEECH ‘ I HAVE A
DREAM’
2.1. Clause and clause complex analysis 18
2.2. Transitivity Analysis 23
2.3. Mood and Modality Analysis 26
2.4. Thematization Analysis, Repetitions Analysis and Voice 31

CHAPTER 3: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
LANGUAGE 35

PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of findings 38
2. Concluding remarks 40
3. Suggestions for further studies 40

REFERENCES 41
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: ‗I HAVE A DREAM‘ BY MARTIN LUTHER KING vii
APPENDIX 2: TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS xii
APPENDIX 3: MOOD ANALYSIS xvii
APPENDIX 4: MODALITY ANALYSIS xviii
APPENDIX 5: PERSONAL PRONOUN ANALYSIS OF ‗WE‘ AND ‗I‘ xxi
APPENDIX 6: VOICE ANALYSIS xxiii
APPENDIX 7: REPETITION ANALYSIS xxiv

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FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Fairclough´s dimension of discourse and discourse analysis 8
Figure 2: Fragment of the mood system in English 14
Table 1: Overview of process types 12
Table 2: The primary speech roles 13
Table 3: Components of a multiple theme 16
Table 4: Summary of transitivity analysis data 23
Table 5: Modal verbs 28
Table 6: Tense 30
Table 7: Theme 31
Table 8: Summary of analysis and findings 38















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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
Language plays a very important role in our life. We use language to communicate to
each other, to express our attitudes and ideology to the world around us and to the
social problems. To analyze language, there are many methods and approaches. Of
all, CDA approach is interested in linking linguistic analysis and social analysis. It is
applied to discover the relationship between language and social problems such as
dominance, power abuse, discrimination and etc. Norman Fairclough is the linguist
who has made a great contribution to CDA.
These years CDA has become favorite approach in language analysis and it really
interests me. When studying on linguistics, I have paid a lot of attention on the link
between language and social problems. And, one of them is discrimination in the
speech ‗I have a dream‘ by Martin Luther King. This is one of twenty four speeches
of M. L. King and one of the most famous speeches in the world. It was delivered in
front of 250,000 people gathered by the Lincoln Memorial and millions more who
watched on television. Though it appeared in August 1963, it is still used in many art
works about freedom and equality. It also inspires people all over the world.
I am really interested in linguistics, especially CDA approach in analyzing the speech
to uncover the power hidden behind. Therefore, I decided to do a CDA study on ‗I
have a dream‘ by Martin Luther King.







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2. Scope of study

The study is beyond the scope of verbal aspects and social context when the speech
was delivered. Although paralinguistic factors such as intonation and stress, and
extra-linguistic factors such as facial expressions and eye contacts, are very important
in the speech, they are excluded in this study.
This research is linguistic study, and my own political view and my own support are
not expressed.
The paper mainly focuses on Transitivity and Modality which are used in the speech
with high frequency to uncover the relationship between the power, ideology and
language.

3. Aims of study
The aims of the study are:
- To provide a support to the theory of CDA and SFG.
- To uncover the power and ideology hidden behind the speech ‗I have a dream‘ by
M. L. King in the light of CDA and SFG.
- To offer some suggestions for teaching and learning language.

4. Significance
- The paper reaffirms the relationship between power, ideology and language.
- CDA is an effective approach to uncover the power and ideology hidden behind
the text.
- The research is also a contribution to language teaching and learning.






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5. Methodology

The study uses CDA approach with three stages given by Norman Fairclough (2001)
such as description, interpretation and explanation. Besides, SFG by Halliday with
three metafunctions such as ideational function, interpersonal function, and textual
function is applied in the speech‘s analysis.
The followings are the steps in analyzing the speech:
In the light of the theory of CDA and SFG, the relationship between power, ideology
and language is uncovered. First, the speech is divided into clauses. Second, it is
analyzed in the terms of vocabulary, grammar and textual structures, especially
Transitivity, Mood, and Modality. Third, the relationship between text and interaction
is mentioned. Then, the relationship between interaction and social context is shown
to uncover the power and ideology behind the speech.

6. Design of study
There are three main parts in this research paper.
Part A – Introduction
In Part A, the rationale, aims; scope, methodology, significance, and design of the
study are introduced.

Part B – Development
Part B consists of three smaller parts
1. Literature review
In Chapter 1, the brief introduction of M. L. King and the context of the speech will
be mentioned.
Chapter 1 gives out the theoretical background of CDA and SFG including brief
introduction of the history, definition and methodology.



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2. A CDA of ‗I have a dream‘ by Martin Luther King

In Chapter 2, the theory of CDA and SFG in Chapter 1 are applied in analyzing the
speech to uncover the relationship between power, ideology and language. In this
part, transitivity and modality of meta-functions are mainly focused.
3. Some suggestions for teaching and learning language
In Chapter 3, some suggested activities used to improve teaching and learning
language are mentioned.

Part C: Conclusion
1. Summary of findings
In this part, principal findings are summarized.
2. Suggestions for further studies
Suggestions for further research are given.

References
Appendices

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1:
LITERATURE REVIEW


1.1 . Martin Luther King and the speech ‘I have a dream’
Martin Luther King (1929-1968) was a great man who worked for racial equality in the
United States of America. During the 1950s, Dr. King got active in the movement for
civil rights and racial equality. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Martin Luther King is one of the greatest orators in the world with many famous
speeches. And, ‗I have a dream‘ is one of twenty four public speeches of Martin Luther
King expressing hope, peace and reconciliation. It was delivered on August 28, 1963 in
front of 250,000 people gathered by the Lincoln Memorial for a peaceful march and
millions more who watched on television. The people who took part in the march were
religious leaders, trade unionists and black community organisers, mainly black African
American coming to express their attitudes to the injustices and deprivation of basic
human rights to the United States government at that time.
Black people were treated like second class citizens and did not have a number of rights
such as the right to vote and the right of freedom. The event of August 28, 1963 was the
final push towards raising awareness about all these injustices and ‗I have a dream‘ which
‗inspired people through out America and unborn generations‘ (John Lewis, U.S
representative) was the last of that day.




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1.2 . An overview of CDA

In this part, the history, definition and methodology with three dimensional framework of
CDA are mentioned.

1.2.1. History
In the 1970s, a form of discourse and text analysis that recognized the role of language in
structuring power relations in society emerged. At that time, much linguistic research
elsewhere was focused on formal aspects of language which constituted the linguistic
competence of speakers and which could theoretically be isolated from specific instances
of language use (Chomsky 1957). Where the relation between language and context was
considered, as in pragmatics (Levinson 1983), with a focus on speakers‘ pragmatic/
sociolinguistic competence, sentences and components of sentences were still regarded as
the basic units. Much sociolinguistic research at the time was aimed at describing and
explaining language variation, language change and the structures of communicative
interaction, with limited attention to issues of social hierarchy and power (Hymes 1972).
In such a context, attention to texts, their production and interpretation and their relation
to societal impulses and structures, signaled a very different kind of interest. The work of
Kress/ Hodge (1979), Fowler/ Kress/ Hodge/ Trew (1979), Van Dijk (1985) Fairclough
(1989) and Wodak (ed.) (1989) serve to explain and illustrate the main assumptions,
principles and procedures of what had then become known as Critical Linguistics.
An account of the theoretical foundations and sources of Critical Linguistics is given by
Kress (1990, 84-97). He indicates that the term CL was ‗quite self-consciously adapted‘
(1990, 88) from its social-philosophical counterpart, as a label by the group of scholars
working at the University of East Anglia in the 1970s (see also Wodak 1996a,
Blommaert/ Bulcaen 2000). By the 1990s the label CDA came to be used more
consistently to describe this particular approach to linguistic analysis. Kress (1990, 94)
shows how CDA was by that time ‗emerging as a distinct theory of language, a radically
different kind of linguistics. ‗He lists the criteria that characterize work in the Critical
Discourse Analysis paradigm, illustrating how these distinguish such work from other
politically engaged types of discourse analysis. Fairclough/ Wodak (1997) took these

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criteria further and established 10 basic principles of a CDA program (see also Wodak
1996b).

1.2.2. Definition
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of
discourse that views language as a form of social practice and focuses on the ways social
and political domination are reproduced by text and talk. (wikipedia dictionary).
Specifically, CDA is interested in social problems such as dominance, power abuse,
discrimination (racist, sexist, nationalist, ethnicist, etc) and the role that language plays in
reproducing, or resisting, such iniquitous social realities.
According to Wodak, the approach of CDA is ‗emancipatory and socially critical‘, such a
way that scientists applying this method ally themselves ‗with those who suffer political
and social injustice‘. In this sense CDA intervenes discursively in given social and
political practices.
“The aim of Critical Discourse Analysis is to unmask ideologically permeated and often
obscured structures of power, political control, and dominance, as well as strategies of
discriminatory inclusion and exclusion in language in use.”
Hillary Janks emphasizes again that social practices deal with existing social relations in
different powerful ways (Janks 1997: 26). This is her definition of CDA´s paradigm:
“Where analysis seeks to understand how discourse is implicated in relations of power it
is called Critical Discourse Analysis.”
This way of conducting an analysis is called critical, as Fairclough confirms: it is not only
critical ―in the sense that it seeks to discern connections between language and other
elements in social life which are often opaque‖, but mainly because it is ‗committed to
progressive social change‘.
CDA „has an emancipatory „knowledge interest‟ (Fairclough 2001: 29).‟

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To sum up, CDA is an effective approach in linguistics to uncover the power and

ideology hidden behind the text.

1.2.3. Methodology for CDA – the three-dimensional framework

Figure 1:
Fairclough´s dimension of discourse and discourse analysis (Janks 1997:27)

In Figure 1: Inner square= 1st dimension (Text analysis/ Description)
Middle square= 2nd dimension (Processing analysis/ Interpretation)
Outer square= 3rd dimension (Social analysis/ Explanation)
The first dimension represents the discourse fragment, i.e. ‗the object of analysis
(including verbal, visual or verbal and visual texts) (Janks 1997: 26)‘. This first stage is
called ‗text analysis‘ or description. In the dimension, the text is analyzed in the terms of
vocabulary, grammar and textual structures, and a number of suggested questions
mentioned in Fairclough (2001 92-3).
The second dimension can be described as the aspect of context, or even the place where
struggles over power relations in discourse happen. This second is called ‗processing

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analysis‘ or interpretation. Interpretation is concerned with the relationship between text
and interaction. (Fairclough 2001:21-2)
The third dimension of discourse could be described as ´power behind discourse` or as
social practices, because it is containing ‗the socio-historical conditions that govern these
processes‘ (Janks 1997: 26). This third dimension is called ‗social analysis‘ or
explanation. Explanation is concerned with the relationship between interaction and
social context. It tries to show how discourses are determined by social structures, and
what reproductive effects discourses can have on those structures, sustaining them or
changing them (Fairclough 2001:21-2)
Despite some criticisms, CDA has interested linguists because CDA in most of situations
with the underprivileged, the dominated and attempts to reveal the linguistic means

employed by the powerful, privileged people to stabilize and even intensify inequalities
in society.

1.3. SFG and its role in relationship with CDA
1.3.1. SFG and its role in relationship with CDA
The study chooses CDA of Fairclough as the approach to analysis. Besides, SFG is also
very important in the relationship with CDA. And this will be approved for number of the
followings.
M.A.K. Halliday‘s Systemic Functional Grammar is usually considered the main
foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis as well as other theories in pragmatics.
Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a model
of grammar developed by Michael Halliday in the 1960s. It is part of a broad social
semiotic approach to language called systemic linguistics. The term ‗systemic‘ refers to
the view of language as ‗a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making
meaning‘; The term "functional" indicates that the approach is concerned with the
contextualized, practical uses to which language is put, as opposed to formal grammar,

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which focuses on compositional semantics, syntax and word classes such as nouns and
verbs.
Systemic functional grammar is concerned primarily with the choices the grammar makes
available to speakers and writers. These choices relate speakers' and writers' intentions to
the concrete forms of a language. Traditionally the ‗choices‘ are viewed in terms of either
the content or the structure of the language used. In SFG, language is analyzed in three
different ways (strata): semantics, phonology, and lexicogrammar. SFG presents a view
of language in terms of both structure (grammar) and words (lexis). The term
"lexicogrammar" describes this combined approach. (wikipedia)
From that, we can see an essential concept of the theory is that every time language is
used in whatever situation, the speaker or the writer is making ‗choices‘. These ‗choices‘
are necessarily ‗choices‘ about ‗meaning‘, but they are expressed through ‗choices‘ from

within the systems of formal linguistic features made available by language. SFG takes a
modified social constructivist view of language, claiming not only that we use language
to construct reality, but also that language is socially formed: that is, there is a dialectical
relationship between society and language.
That means both SFG and CDA functionally to textual analysis through studying
grammar and other aspects of language form, and they also study the relationship
between the text and the social context. Hence, it is obvious that SFG has an important
role in CDA.

1.3.2. SFG and the three meta-functions of language
Halliday claims that the procedure of stylistic analysis can be divided into three logically
ordered phrases: Analysis, Interpretation and Evaluation. The limitless practical functions
can be generalized into a set of highly coded and abstract functions—meta-functions,
which are inherent in every language. His idea of meta-function includes the ideational
function, the interpersonal function and the textual function.

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1.3.2.1. The ideational function
The ideational metafunction is divided into two: experiential and logical metafunctions.
The experiential metafunction organizes our experience and understanding of the world.
It is the potential of the language to construe figures with elements (such as screen shots
of a moving picture or pictures of a comic novel) and its potential to differentiate these
elements into processes, the participants in these processes, and the circumstances in
which the processes occur. The logical metafunction works above the experiential. It
organizes our reasoning on the basis of our experience. It is the potential of the language
to construe logical links between figures; for example, "this happened after that
happened" or, with more experience, "this happens every time that happens".
According to Halliday, with this function, the speaker and writer embodies in language
his experience of the phenomena of the real world; and this includes his experience of the
internal world of his own consciousness: his reactions, cognitions, and perceptions, and

also his linguistic acts of speaking and understanding (Halliday, 1971: 332). That means
Ideational Function is to convey new information, to communicate a content that is
unknown to the hearer or reader. The events and experience are reflected in both
objective and subjective worlds.
The ideational function mainly consists of ‗transitivity‘ and ‗voice‘. In transitivity
system, the meaningful grammatical unit is clause, which expresses what is happening,
what is being done, what is felt and what the state is, and so on. The transitivity system
includes six processes: material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral
process, verbal process and existential process.
Material processes are those in which something is done. These processes are expressed
by an action verb (e.g. eat, go, give), an Actor (logical subject) and the Goal of the action
(logical direct object, usually a noun or a pronoun).
Mental processes express such mental phenomena as ―perception‖ (see, look), ―reaction‖
(like, please) and ―cognition‖ (know, believe, convince). A mental process involves two
participants, Senser and Phenomenon.

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Relational processes can be classified into two types: Attributive and Identifying. The
former expresses what attributes a certain object has, or what type it belongs to. The latter
expresses the identical properties of two entities.
Verbal processes are those of exchanging information. Commonly used verbs are say,
tell, talk, praise, boast, describe, etc. In these processes the main participants are Sayer,
Receiver and Verbiage.
Behavioral processes refer to physiological and psychological behavior such as breathing,
coughing, smiling, laughing, crying, staring, and dreaming, etc. Generally there is only
one participant—Behaver, which is often a human. This kind of processes is much like
the mental process. Behavioral process may sometimes be hardly distinguished from a
material process that has only one participant. This depends on whether the activity
concerned is physiological or psychological. When Behavioral process has two
participants, we may take it as material process.

Existential processes represent that something exists or happens. In every existential
process, there is an Existent.
Process types
Category meanings
Participants
Example
Material:
Action
Event
‗doing‘
‗doing‘
‗happening‘
Actor, Goal, Recipient
The mayor dissolved the
committee.
The mayor resigned.
Behavioural
‗behaving‘
Behaver
(Phenomenon)
She cried softly.
Mental:
Perception
Affection
Cognition
‗feeling‘
‗sensing‘
‗emotive‘
‗thinking‘
Sensor, Phenomenon

I heard a noise outside.
The boy loved the girl.
You can imagine his
reaction
Verbal
‗saying‘
Sayer, Target,
Verbiage, Recipient
I explained to her what it
meant.
Relational:
Attribution
‗being‘
‗attributing‘

Carrier, Attribute

This bread is stale.

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Identification
‗identifying‘
Identified, Identifier/
Value, Token
Pat is her brother.
Existential
‗existing‘
Existent
Maybe there‘s some other

darker pattern.
Table 1: Overview of process types (adapted from Halliday, 1994)

1.3.2.2. The interpersonal function
As Halliday observed, the speaker is using language as the means of his own intrusion
into the speech event: the expression of his comments, attitudes and evaluations, and also
of the relationship that he sets up between himself and the listener—in particular, the
communication role that he adopts of informing, questioning, greeting, persuading, and
the like. (Halliday, 1971:333)
The interpersonal function consists of all uses of language to express social and personal
relations, including the various ways the speaker enters a speech situation and performs a
speech act. The primary speech roles can be represented with the table drawn by Halliday
(1994):
Commodity exchange

Role in exchange

(a) Goods-&-services

(b) Information
(i) giving
‗offer‘
Would you like this tea pot?
‗statement‘
He‘s giving her the tea pot.
(ii) demanding
‗command‘
Give me that tea pot.
‗question‘
What is he giving her?

Table 2: The primary speech roles

All the speech roles are found to be the form of either giving or demanding. And they
related to two categories of commodity exchange: goods-&-services or information.
When the role in exchange interacts with the commodity exchange, there are four general
types:


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- giving goods-&-services: offer
This can be realized by declarative clause or interrogative clause.
- giving information: statement
This can be realized by declarative clause.
- demanding goods-&-services: command
This can be realized by imperative clause.
- demanding information: question
This can be realized by interrogative clause.
This can be clearer with the followings.
Two main terms often used to express the interpersonal function are Modality and Mood.
Mood shows what role the speaker selects in the speech situation and what role he
assigns to the addressee. If the speaker selects the imperative mood, he assumes the role
of one giving commands and puts the addressee in the role of one expected to obey
orders.
In Mood system, there are two choices: Indicative and Imperative. And if ‗indicative‘ is
chosen, there are two more choices: interrogative declarative; and if interrogative is
chosen, there are two choices: wh- and yes/ no interrogative. If ‗imperative‘ is chosen,
there will be two choices: inclusive or exclusive.
Mood

Indicative Imperative

Interrogative Declarative Inclusive Exclusive

‗wh‘ yes/ no

Figure 2: Fragment of the mood system in English
(Hoang Van Van 1994:55)

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According to Halliday, mood consists of two parts: the Subject and the finite operator.
Modality refers to the intermediate ranges between the extreme positive and the extreme
negative. It is one of the most important systems in social communication. On the one
hand, it can objectively express the speaker‘s judgment toward the topic. On the other
hand, it can show the social role relationship, scale of formality and power relationship.
In English, except modal verbs such as ‗can‘, ‗could‘, ‗will‘, ‗must‘ and ‗should‘, modal
adverbs such as ‗still‘, ‗absolutely‘ and ‗really‘, adjectives, there are also personal
pronouns, notional verbs, tense, direct and indirect speeches to express the modalization.
1.3.2.3. The textual function
For this function, Halliday described, ―Language makes links between itself and the
situation; and discourse becomes possible because the speaker or writer can produce a
text and the listener or reader can recognize one‖ (Halliday, 1971:334).
This function refers to coherence. It means even though two sentences may have exactly
the same ideational and interpersonal functions, they may be different in terms of textual
coherence.
According to Halliday 1971, The textual function fulfils the requirement that language
should be operationally relevant, having texture in a real context of situation that
distinguishes a living passage from a mere entry in a grammar book or a dictionary. It
provides the remaining strands of meaning potential to be woven into the fabric of
linguistic structure. Information can be clearly expressed in a discourse. It can also be

implicated between the lines. Therefore, all discourses are unities of explicit and implicit
message.
And in terms of Textual meaning, thematic structure is under investigation. The Theme
and the Rheme are two elements that help to realize the system of theme. Theme is
usually the initial positions in the clause and Rheme is the rest one. Analyzing the
thematic structure of the clauses in the text, the text‘s mode of development could be
found out. There are three main types of theme. They are experiential theme, textual
theme and interpersonal theme with their components as following table.

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Metafunction
Components of theme
Example
experiential theme
Topical elements
(participant, circumstances, process)
Elements playing as
Actor/ Agent, Goal/
Medium, Circumstance
in the clause

textual theme
Continuative elements
Structural elements (conjunctions or
WH- relative)
Conjunctive elements (Adjunct)
Yes, no, well
And, but

Also, therefore

interpersonal theme
Modal (adjunct)
Finite (operator)
WH- (interrogative)
Vocative element
Surely, maybe
Don‘t, would
What, who
Soldier, Ann
Table 3: Components of a multiple theme (adapted from Halliday, 1994:54)
Theme may be marked or unmarked. A marked theme is a usual or typical one. An
unmarked theme is an unusual one.
For example:
In Declarative clause, an unmarked theme is one that is similar to the subject. A marked
theme is one relates to Complement, Adjunct or Predicator.
In Interrogative WH- question, a marked theme appears when WH- word or group does
not come in the first position.
In Imperative clause, a marked theme appears when ‗YOU‘ is included.
To know how theme choices work together through a text to signal its underlying
coherence, there are four possible main, related functions: (Thompson, 1996)
1. Signaling the maintenance or progression of ‗what the text is about‘ at that point.
This is especially done through the choice of Subject as unmarked Theme:

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maintenance is done by keeping to the same theme as preceding clause,
progression often by selecting a constituent from the preceding rheme.
2. Specifying or changing the framework for the interpretation of the following
clause (or clauses). This is mostly done by the choice of marked theme, especially
adjunct, or a thematic equative or predicated theme. A ‗heavy‘ subject theme,
giving a large amount of information, can also be used for this purpose.

3. Signaling the boundaries of sections in the text. This is often done by changing
from one type of theme choice to another.
4. Signaling what the speaker thinks is a viable/ useful/ important starting point.
This is done by repeatedly choosing the same element to appear in theme (a
particular participant, the speaker‘s evaluation, elements which signal interaction
with the hearer, etc.)
To sum up, without the textual component of meaning, we should be unable to make any
use of language at all.









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CHAPTER 2:
A CDA OF MARTIN LUTHER KING’S
SPEECH ‘ I HAVE A DREAM’

2.1. Clause and clause complex analysis
I have a dream (Martin Luther King)
(1) /// I am happy to join with you today in (2) // what will go down in history as the
greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. ///
(3) /// Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
(4) // signed the Emancipation Proclamation. ///
(5) /// This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro
slaves (6) // who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. (7) //It came as a

joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. ///
(8) // But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. (9) // One hundred years
later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination. (10) // One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely
island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. (11) /// One hundred
years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society (12) // and
finds himself an exile in his own land. (13) // And so we've come here today to dramatize
a shameful condition. ///
(14) // In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. (15) /// When the
architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence, (16) // they were signing a promissory note to (17) // which
every American was to fall heir. (18) /// This note was a promise (19) // that all men, yes,
black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life,

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Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (20) /// It is obvious today that America has
defaulted on this promissory note, (21) // insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.
(22) /// Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a
bad check, a check (23) // which has come back marked "insufficient funds." ///
(24) /// But we refuse to believe (25) // that the bank of justice is bankrupt. (25) /// We
refuse to believe (26) // that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity
of this nation. (27) /// And so, we've come to cash this check, a check (28) // that will give
us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. ///
(29) // We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency
of Now. (30) /// This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off (31) // or to take the
tranquilizing drug of gradualism. (32) // Now is the time to make real the promises of
democracy. (33) /// Now is the time to rise from the dark (34) // and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. (35) // Now is the time to lift our nation
from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. (36) // Now is
the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. ///

(37) // It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. (38) ///
This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass (39) // until
there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. (40) // Nineteen sixty-three is
not an end, but a beginning. (41) /// And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow
off steam (42) // and will now be content (43) // will have a rude awakening (44) // if the
nation returns to business as usual. (45) /// And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in
America (46) // until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. (47) /// The whirlwinds
of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation (48) // until the bright day
of justice emerges. ///
(49) /// But there is something (50) // that I must say to my people, (51) // who stand on
the warm threshold (52) // which leads into the palace of justice: (53) ///In the process of
gaining our rightful place, (54) // we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. (55) // Let us
not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and
hatred. (56) // We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and

26
discipline. (57) // We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical
violence. (58) // Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting
physical force with soul force. ///
(59) /// The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community (60) //
must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as
evidenced by their presence here today, (61) /// have come to realize (62) // that their
destiny is tied up with our destiny. (62) /// And they have come to realize (63) // that their
freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. ///
(64) // We cannot walk alone. //
(65) /// And as we walk, (66) // we must make the pledge (67) // that we shall always
march ahead. ///
(68) // We cannot turn back. //
(69) /// There are those (70) // who are asking the devotees of civil rights, (71) // "When
will you be satisfied?" (72) /// We can never be satisfied (73) // as long as the Negro is the

victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. (74) /// We can never be satisfied as
long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, (75) // cannot gain lodging in the
motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. (76) /// We cannot be satisfied (77) //
as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. (78) /// We
can never be satisfied (79) // as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood (80) //
and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." (81) /// We cannot be
satisfied (82) // as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote (83) // and a Negro in New
York believes (84) // he has nothing for which to vote. (85) /// No, no, we are not
satisfied, (86) // and we will not be satisfied (87) //until "justice rolls down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream." ///
(88) /// I am not unmindful (89) // that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. (90) // Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. (91) /// And
some of you have come from areas (92) // where your quest quest for freedom left you
battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. (93)

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// You have been the veterans of creative suffering. (94) /// Continue to work with the
faith (95) // that unearned suffering is redemptive. (96) /// Go back to Mississippi, (97) //
go back to Alabama, (98) // go back to South Carolina, (99) // go back to Georgia, (100)
// go back to Louisiana, (101) // go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities,
knowing (102) // that somehow this situation can and will be changed. ///
(103) /// Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, (104) // I say to you today, my
friends. ///
(105) /// And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, (106) // I
still have a dream. (107) // It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. ///
(108) /// I have a dream (109) // that one day this nation will rise up and (110) live out the
true meaning of its creed: (111) /// "We hold these truths to be self-evident, (112) // that
all men are created equal." ///
(113) /// I have a dream (114) // 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. ///
(115) /// I have a dream (116) // 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. ///
(117) /// I have a dream (118) // that my four little children will one day live in a nation
(119) // where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character. ///
(120) // I have a dream today! //
(121) /// I have a dream (122) // that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists,
with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and
"nullification" one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be
able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. ///

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(123) // I have a dream today! //
(124) /// I have a dream (125) // that one day every valley shall be exalted, (126) // and
every hill and mountain shall be made low, (127) // the rough places will be made plain,
(128) // and the crooked places will be made straight; (129) // "and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed (130) // and all flesh shall see it together."

///
(131) /// This is our hope, (132) // and this is the faith (133) // that I go back to the South
with. ///
(134) // With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of
hope. (135) // With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our
nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. (136) /// With this faith, we will be able
to work together, (137) // to pray together, (138) // to struggle together, (139) // to go to
jail together, (140) // to stand up for freedom together, knowing (141) // that we will be
free one day. ///
(142) /// And this will be the day this will be the day (143) // when all of God's children

will be able to sing with new meaning:
(144) // My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
(145) // Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
(146) // From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
(147) /// And if America is to be a great nation, (148) // this must become true. ///
(149) // And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. //
(150) // Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. //
(151) // Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. //
(152) // Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. //
(153) // Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. //