Q: What type of the article is “I Have a Dream”?
It is Martin Luther King’s famous speech that he delivered in 1963 in Washington DC. It expresses the oppressed feelings of the blacks of the United States. It is matchless in its beauty.
Q: Write a note on the struggle of Martin Luther King Jr. for Negroes.
Martin Luther King was a black American civil rights leader. He was born in Atlanta in the State of Georgia in 1929. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a clergyman in Atlanta. Junior King went to the University of Boston for his Ph.D. in 1951. During his stay at the university, he won so many prizes for making impressive speeches. There he studies peaceful, non-violent movement started by Mahatama Gandhi in India. On the same lines Martin Luther King Junior also started non-violent protests for the rights of the Negroes. He started his career as a clergyman in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. He wanted to have the same right for the Negroes as well. He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1963 for his peaceful efforts. Unfortunately, he was shot dead in 1968.
Q: What was the condition of Negroes in his days?
Negroes were considered as the offspring of slaves. So the white men were not ready to give them equal rights. They were still treated like a slave, though slavery did not exist as far as law was concerned. But in practice, the Negroes were not given better jobs, better educational opportunities and so many other basic rights. They were regarded as the citizens of the second and third rate. They could not tolerate this inhuman treatment and started a peaceful reaction in the 1950’s. Martin Luther King Jr. was their champion. No doubt, he was killed in this movement, but he succeeded in focusing the attention of the world to this problem.