Here We Have Important Short Questions And Answers From “I Have A Dream”. Some of the most important short questions are answered.
Q.1. What do you know about Martin Luther King Jr.?
Ans. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known as an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using non-violent methods after the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He also directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C. of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, ‘I have a Dream’ on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Luther had a conference with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for president Lyndon B. Johnson. He was arrested for about twenty times and assaulted at least four times. He was awarded five honourary degrees and received Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his contribution in eliminating racial discrimination in America. He was named ‘Man of the year’ by “Time magazine in 1963. He became not only the symbolic leader of American black people but also a world figure. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city. In the years after his death, King remained the most widely known African American leader in the history of the world.
Q.2. What was the occasion of his speech, ‘I have a Dream”?
Ans. ‘I have a Dream’ is a famous speech, delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. In this speech, king called upon the nation for racial equality and an end to the discrimination against the black people in America. Actually it was a defining moment of the American civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in human history.
A scholar and a pastor at the same time, King was able to combine academic, political and Biblical elements in his speech. He made references to the Bill of rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Bible. In his speech, he demands the same justice and equality for black Americans that is promised to all citizens in the Declaration of Independence. While he calls upon his fellow civil activists to persevere in the face of brutality, violence and oppression, he also cautions against the use of Violence. He advises his followers to follow Gandhi’s method of non-violent and peaceful movement against the oppressors.
Q.3. What is an American Dream?
Ans. The ‘American Dream’ refers to the expectations of those heroic Americans who fought against the British colonial rule to free their motherland. It was a dream of American nation as mentioned in the Constitution of America and the Declaration of Independence. The Independence heroes or the forefathers of America visualised America to be a great and leading nation in the world. They wanted to build up the nation on the principles of liberty and equality for all irrespective of caste, creed or colour. The basic ingredients of the dream were: the virtue of the American people and their institutions, freedom and equality for all, extensive in industrialization, material advancement, etc. But contrary to the dream of the fathers of America, the nation was divided into two classes, the whites and the blacks. The blacks virtually became the slaves of the whites. Martin Luther expects that a time will come when this racial discrimination and colour problem will be eliminated from the American society.
Q.4. How is Luther’s dream connected with the American dream?
Ans. Luther King’s speech, I have a Dream’ envisions an America where all the black people or the Negroes will be treated as human beings like the whites with the fundamental rights of freedom and equality offered to them.
The fathers of America’s independence had a noble vision of an America where all its citizens would enjoy equal rights and freedom. So they declared all men being equal in America. This basic principle was promoted by the constitution and the Declaration of Independence. But contrary to the dream of the fathers of America, the nation was divided into two classes, the whites and the blacks. The Negroes or the black people virtually were the slaves of the whites. Even the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves, did not bring about the optimal change. It provided the black people with the “great light of hope” in giving freedom from slavery. But after a century of the civil war and the famous ‘Gettysburg Address’, Luther did not find any significant changes happening for the black people in America. Luther’s speech, delivered to the civil rights supporters, offers many instances of despair but it is full of optimism. His dream is rooted in an optimistic belief that one day America will rise upto its expectations. America has a manifest destiny by which it is destined to be a great nation on earth.
Q.5. What discrimination between the White and the Black does Martin Luther King find?
Ans. ‘I have a dream’, a famous speech, was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom by the supporters of the American Civil Rights Movement. In this speech, king Calls for eliminating the racial discrimination between the White and the Black in America. He demands for the black Americans, the same justice and equality that is promised to all citizens in the Declaration of Independence.
The United States of America came into being after a long bloody struggle against the British colonial rule. The creators or the fathers of America envisioned a society based on the principles of liberty and equality for all as promoted by the constitution and the Declaration
of Independence. But contrary to the dream of the fathers of America, the nation was divided into two classes, the white and the black. The black people virtually were the salves of the whites. Even the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the Negro slaves did not bring about any change of the situation. Luther marked that historically the Negroes in America had been deprived of their rights of freedom and equality. Even after a century of the civil war and the famous “Gettysburg Address” of Abraham Lincoln, Luther does not find any significant changes happening for the black people of America.
Q.6. What do you mean by American Civil Rights Movement?
Ans. Civil Rights Movement refers to the movement that took place in America between 1955 and 1968. It was a popular movement which aimed at eliminating racial discrimination from the American society. In America the Negroes or the black people were the victims of racial discrimination. Though the Constitution of America and the Declaration of Independence laid out principles to ensure equal rights for all its citizens, the black people were deprived of their rights and privileges that were enjoyed by the whites.
In this situation, the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum towards the fourth decades of the twentieth century under a number of leaders, among whom Martin Luther King Jr. was prominent. The characteristic feature of this movement was civil resistance. The movement was non-violent in nature. Non-violent protests and civil disobedience created problems for the government in power. The civil Rights Movement led to the promulgation of a number of important laws, including the Civil Rights Act, 1964, the Voting Rights Act, 1965, and the Fair Housing Act, 1968. The movement paved the way for Negro integration into American social as well as political life.
Q.7. What does Martin Luther mean by non-violent movement?
Ans. Martin Luther King was a follower of Henry David Thoreau, his countrymen, and Mahatma Gandhi of India, in his non-violent movement. Both Thoreau and Gandhi supported civil disobedience’ in which individuals use non-violent means to achieve social change. Thoreau refused to pay poll taxes to a government that showed inexpediency and militancy. He even accepted imprisonment in a jail as a protest against an anti-democratic government. Gandhi added great force to the demand of Indian independence from the clutches of British colonial rule by adopting an infallible non-violent movement approach. In both the cases, Thoreau and Gandhi were able to put forward their demands with great force and attain significant successes. King visited India in 1959 and became a strong supporter of Gandhi’s principle of non-violent movement.
According Luther, violence leads only to further violence and ultimately it produces no result. So he urges his followers, the American Civil Rights Movement activists to wage their struggle in a peaceful and non-violent way. He knew that if the Negro became violent while demanding their citizenship rights, they would spoil their whole endeavour.
Q.8. Why does Luther say, “We cannot walk alone” in his speech, ‘I have a Dream’?
Ans. While addressing a large gathering of the American Civil Rights Movement activists at the ‘Lincoln Memorial’, Luther King says, “we can not walk alone”. He means to say here that the White and the Black in America must go forward together in pressing for their rightful demands. The black people want freedom and equal rights as the white in America enjoy. Ever since the independence of America as a nation, the Negroes have been living a life of racial discrimination in the American society. The Constitution of America ensures freedom and equal rights for all, the Black have systematically been deprived of their rights and privileges. Now they have gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to press for their legitimate demands. But Luther advises them not to be violent but peaceful in achieving their goal. He is for creative protests. By ‘creative protests he means to say that they must find out peaceful and non-violent methods of protests against the injustice shown to the Negroes.
The reason behind this peaceful method of protests is that he does not want to antagonise the whites. If so, the nation might be divided into two hostile blocks. He believes that both the black and the white people are citizens of the same land, i.e. America, and both of them are crucial for the development of the American nation.
