Documents 147short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who
among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand
in his place?
Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and
delay? One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed
the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet
freed from the bonds of injustice; they are not yet freed from social and eco-
nomic oppression.
And this nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free
until all its citizens are free....
The fires of frustration and discord are burning in every city, North and
South. Where legal remedies are not at hand, redress is sought in the streets
in demonstrations, parades and protests, which create tensions and threaten
violence – and threaten lives....
I am, therefore, asking the Congress to enact legislation giving all
Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public –
hotels, restaurants and theaters, retail stores and similar establishments. This
seems to me to be an elementary right....
Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963
(Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1964), pp. 468 –71.
MARTIN LUTHER KING’S ‘I HAVE A DREAM’ SPEECH, 28 AUGUST 1963
In a fitting climax to the March on Washington, King delivered a moving
address that envisioned true equality in America.
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.’
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together
at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state
sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into
an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day... not be judged by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips
are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will
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