The Negro Still Is Not Free
By: Myia Neal
Summary and Significance
In his prominent, inspiring speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr describes the injustice Negros must face. This speech was given during the "March on Washington" march to help those in poverty, who were surrounded by material prosperity as well as facing segregation and discrimination. To prove the unalienable rights of life, King refers back to the construction of the Declaration of Independence, which was a promissory note to every American, including Negros, to not be languished to the bottom of society and escape shameful conditions that exile them to their own land. The Negro has faced enough cruelty. He wants his people to not be judged by the color of their skin, but by character. One cannot be truly free until equal and happy.
"When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory not to which every American was to fall their heir... Yes, black men as well as white men..."
In the first part of King's speech, he explains how the Constitution was meant for all men, and for these men to treat each other equally. The blacks have waited over one hundred years for this opportunity of freedom, and King was their leader. In his speech, he says "In a sense, we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check." In this picture, King is shown doing the impossible at the time: shaking a white man's hand, cashing the overdue check of equality,