| The American Dream |
Editor’s note: The American Dream was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 July
1965. We present excerpts here because Dr. King’s message seems so relevant to what has been happening in Madison, Tunisia, Egypt
and many parts of the world as people seek democracy and justice.
“ …It wouldn’t take us long to discover the substance of that dream. It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence,
words lifted to cosmic proportions: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God,
Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This is a dream. It’s a great
dream.
The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say "some men," it says "all men." It doesn’t say "all white
men," it says "all men," which includes black men. It does not say "all Gentiles," it says "all men," which includes Jews. It doesn’t say
"all Protestants," it says "all men," which includes Catholics. It doesn’t even say "all atheists and believers," it says "all men," which
includes humanists and agnostics…
Now ever since the founding fathers of our nation dreamed this dream in all of its magnificence—to use a big word that the psychiatrists
use—America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly
professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles.
But now more than ever before, America is challenged to realize its dream, for the shape of the world today does not permit our nation the
luxury of an anemic democracy. And the price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro and other minority groups is
the price of its own destruction. For the hour is late. And the clock of destiny is ticking out. We must act now before it is too late.
And so it is marvelous and great that we do have a dream, that we have a nation with a dream; and to forever challenge us; to forever
give us a sense of urgency; to forever stand in the midst of the "isness" of our terrible injustices; to remind us of the "oughtness" of our
noble capacity for justice and love and brotherhood.
This morning I would like to deal with some of the challenges that we face today in our nation as a result of the American dream. First, I
want to reiterate the fact that we are challenged more than ever before to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality. We are
challenged to really believe that all men are created equal. And don’t misunderstand that. It does not mean that all men are created equal in
terms of native endowment, in terms of intellectual capacity — it doesn’t mean that. There are certain bright stars in the human firmament
in every field. It doesn’t mean that every musician is equal to a Beethoven or Handel, a Verdi or a Mozart. It doesn’t mean that every
physicist is equal to an Einstein. It does not mean that every literary figure in history is equal to Aeschylus and Euripides, Shakespeare and
Chaucer. It does not mean that every philosopher is equal to Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Hegel. It doesn’t mean that.
There are individuals who do excel and rise to the heights of genius in their areas and in their fields. What it does mean is that all men are
equal in intrinsic worth.
You see, the founding fathers were really influenced by the Bible. The whole concept of the imago dei, as it is expressed in Latin, the
"image of God," is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. Not that they have substantial unity with God, but
that every man has a capacity to have fellowship with God. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And
we must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is
significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one
day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man…
…The other day Mrs. King and I spent about ten days down in Jamaica. I’d gone down to deliver the commencement address at the
University of the West Indies. I always love to go to that great island which I consider the most beautiful island in all the world. The
government prevailed upon us to be their guests and spend some time and try to get a little rest while there on the speaking tour. And so
for those days we traveled all over Jamaica. And over and over again I was impressed by one thing. Here you have people from many
national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line, Europeans, European and people from
many, many nations. Do you know they all live there and they have a motto in Jamaica, "Out of many people, one people." And they say,
"Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not
Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans." One day, here in America, I hope that we will see this and we will become one big
family of Americans. Not white Americans, not black Americans, not Jewish or Gentile Americans, not Irish or Italian Americans, not
Mexican Americans, not Puerto Rican Americans, but just Americans. One big family of Americans…
…And I tell you this morning, my friends, the reason we got to solve this problem here in America: Because God somehow called America
to do a special job for mankind and the world. Never before in the history of the world have so many racial groups and so many national
backgrounds assembled together in one nation. And somehow if we can’t solve the problem in America the world can’t solve the problem,
because America is the world in miniature and the world is America writ large. And God set us out with all of the opportunities. He set us
between two great oceans; made it possible for us to live with some of the great natural resources of the world. And there he gave us
through the minds of our forefathers a great creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Now that doesn’t only apply on the race issue, it applies on the class question. You know, sometimes a class system can be as vicious
and evil as a system based on racial injustice. When we say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," and
when we live it out, we know as I say so often that the "no D." is as significant as the "Ph.D." And the man who has been to "No House" is
as significant as the man who’s been to Morehouse. We build our little class systems, and you know you got a lot of Negroes with classism
in their veins. You know that they don’t want to be bothered with certain other Negroes and they try to separate themselves from them…
…This is why we must join the war against poverty and believe in the dignity of all work. What makes a job menial? I’m tired of this stuff
about menial labor. What makes it menial is that we don’t pay folk anything. Give somebody a job and pay them some money so they can
live and educate their children and buy a home and have the basic necessities of life. And no matter what the job is it takes on dignity.
I submit to you when I took off on that plane this morning, I saw men go out there in their overalls. I saw them working on things here and
there, and saw some more going out there to put the breakfast on there so that we could eat on our way to Atlanta. And I said to myself that
these people who constitute the ground crew are just as significant as the pilot, because this plane couldn’t move if you didn’t have the
ground crew. I submit to you that in Hugh Spaulding or Grady Hospital, the woman or the man who goes in there to sweep the floor is just
as significant as the doctor, because if he doesn’t get that dust off the floor, germs will begin to circulate. And those same germs can do
injury and harm to the human being. I submit to you this morning that there is dignity in all work when we learn to pay people decent
wages. Whoever cooks in your house, whoever sweeps the floor in your house is just as significant as anybody who lives in that house.
And everybody that we call a maid is serving God in a significant way. And I love the maids, I love the people who have been ignored, and
I want to see them get the kind of wages that they need. And their job is no longer a menial job, for you come to see its worth and its dignity.
Are we really taking this thing seriously? "All men are created equal." And that means that every man who lives in a slum today is just as
significant as John D., Nelson, or any other Rockefeller. Every man who lives in the slum is just as significant as Henry Ford. All men are
created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that can’t be separated from you. Go down and
tell them, "You may take my life, but you can’t take my right to life. You may take liberty from me, but you can’t take my right to liberty. You
may take from me the desire, you may take from me the propensity to pursue happiness, but you can’t take from me my right to pursue
happiness." "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
Rights and among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness...”
Now there’s another thing that we must never forget. If we are going to make the American dream a reality, we are challenged to work in
an action program to get rid of the last vestiges of segregation and discrimination. This problem isn’t going to solve itself, however much
people tell us this. However much the Uncle Toms and Nervous Nellies in the Negro communities tell us this, this problem isn’t just going
to work itself out. (History is the long story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges without strong resistance, and
they seldom do it voluntarily. And so if the American dream is to be a reality, we must work to make it a reality and realize the urgency of
the moment. And we must say now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to get rid of segregation and
discrimination. Now is the time to make Georgia a better state. Now is the time to make the United States a better nation. We must live with
that, and we must believe that.
1965. We present excerpts here because Dr. King’s message seems so relevant to what has been happening in Madison, Tunisia, Egypt
and many parts of the world as people seek democracy and justice.
“ …It wouldn’t take us long to discover the substance of that dream. It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence,
words lifted to cosmic proportions: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God,
Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This is a dream. It’s a great
dream.
The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say "some men," it says "all men." It doesn’t say "all white
men," it says "all men," which includes black men. It does not say "all Gentiles," it says "all men," which includes Jews. It doesn’t say
"all Protestants," it says "all men," which includes Catholics. It doesn’t even say "all atheists and believers," it says "all men," which
includes humanists and agnostics…
Now ever since the founding fathers of our nation dreamed this dream in all of its magnificence—to use a big word that the psychiatrists
use—America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly
professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles.
But now more than ever before, America is challenged to realize its dream, for the shape of the world today does not permit our nation the
luxury of an anemic democracy. And the price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro and other minority groups is
the price of its own destruction. For the hour is late. And the clock of destiny is ticking out. We must act now before it is too late.
And so it is marvelous and great that we do have a dream, that we have a nation with a dream; and to forever challenge us; to forever
give us a sense of urgency; to forever stand in the midst of the "isness" of our terrible injustices; to remind us of the "oughtness" of our
noble capacity for justice and love and brotherhood.
This morning I would like to deal with some of the challenges that we face today in our nation as a result of the American dream. First, I
want to reiterate the fact that we are challenged more than ever before to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality. We are
challenged to really believe that all men are created equal. And don’t misunderstand that. It does not mean that all men are created equal in
terms of native endowment, in terms of intellectual capacity — it doesn’t mean that. There are certain bright stars in the human firmament
in every field. It doesn’t mean that every musician is equal to a Beethoven or Handel, a Verdi or a Mozart. It doesn’t mean that every
physicist is equal to an Einstein. It does not mean that every literary figure in history is equal to Aeschylus and Euripides, Shakespeare and
Chaucer. It does not mean that every philosopher is equal to Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Hegel. It doesn’t mean that.
There are individuals who do excel and rise to the heights of genius in their areas and in their fields. What it does mean is that all men are
equal in intrinsic worth.
You see, the founding fathers were really influenced by the Bible. The whole concept of the imago dei, as it is expressed in Latin, the
"image of God," is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. Not that they have substantial unity with God, but
that every man has a capacity to have fellowship with God. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And
we must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is
significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one
day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man…
…The other day Mrs. King and I spent about ten days down in Jamaica. I’d gone down to deliver the commencement address at the
University of the West Indies. I always love to go to that great island which I consider the most beautiful island in all the world. The
government prevailed upon us to be their guests and spend some time and try to get a little rest while there on the speaking tour. And so
for those days we traveled all over Jamaica. And over and over again I was impressed by one thing. Here you have people from many
national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line, Europeans, European and people from
many, many nations. Do you know they all live there and they have a motto in Jamaica, "Out of many people, one people." And they say,
"Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not
Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans." One day, here in America, I hope that we will see this and we will become one big
family of Americans. Not white Americans, not black Americans, not Jewish or Gentile Americans, not Irish or Italian Americans, not
Mexican Americans, not Puerto Rican Americans, but just Americans. One big family of Americans…
…And I tell you this morning, my friends, the reason we got to solve this problem here in America: Because God somehow called America
to do a special job for mankind and the world. Never before in the history of the world have so many racial groups and so many national
backgrounds assembled together in one nation. And somehow if we can’t solve the problem in America the world can’t solve the problem,
because America is the world in miniature and the world is America writ large. And God set us out with all of the opportunities. He set us
between two great oceans; made it possible for us to live with some of the great natural resources of the world. And there he gave us
through the minds of our forefathers a great creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Now that doesn’t only apply on the race issue, it applies on the class question. You know, sometimes a class system can be as vicious
and evil as a system based on racial injustice. When we say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," and
when we live it out, we know as I say so often that the "no D." is as significant as the "Ph.D." And the man who has been to "No House" is
as significant as the man who’s been to Morehouse. We build our little class systems, and you know you got a lot of Negroes with classism
in their veins. You know that they don’t want to be bothered with certain other Negroes and they try to separate themselves from them…
…This is why we must join the war against poverty and believe in the dignity of all work. What makes a job menial? I’m tired of this stuff
about menial labor. What makes it menial is that we don’t pay folk anything. Give somebody a job and pay them some money so they can
live and educate their children and buy a home and have the basic necessities of life. And no matter what the job is it takes on dignity.
I submit to you when I took off on that plane this morning, I saw men go out there in their overalls. I saw them working on things here and
there, and saw some more going out there to put the breakfast on there so that we could eat on our way to Atlanta. And I said to myself that
these people who constitute the ground crew are just as significant as the pilot, because this plane couldn’t move if you didn’t have the
ground crew. I submit to you that in Hugh Spaulding or Grady Hospital, the woman or the man who goes in there to sweep the floor is just
as significant as the doctor, because if he doesn’t get that dust off the floor, germs will begin to circulate. And those same germs can do
injury and harm to the human being. I submit to you this morning that there is dignity in all work when we learn to pay people decent
wages. Whoever cooks in your house, whoever sweeps the floor in your house is just as significant as anybody who lives in that house.
And everybody that we call a maid is serving God in a significant way. And I love the maids, I love the people who have been ignored, and
I want to see them get the kind of wages that they need. And their job is no longer a menial job, for you come to see its worth and its dignity.
Are we really taking this thing seriously? "All men are created equal." And that means that every man who lives in a slum today is just as
significant as John D., Nelson, or any other Rockefeller. Every man who lives in the slum is just as significant as Henry Ford. All men are
created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that can’t be separated from you. Go down and
tell them, "You may take my life, but you can’t take my right to life. You may take liberty from me, but you can’t take my right to liberty. You
may take from me the desire, you may take from me the propensity to pursue happiness, but you can’t take from me my right to pursue
happiness." "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
Rights and among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness...”
Now there’s another thing that we must never forget. If we are going to make the American dream a reality, we are challenged to work in
an action program to get rid of the last vestiges of segregation and discrimination. This problem isn’t going to solve itself, however much
people tell us this. However much the Uncle Toms and Nervous Nellies in the Negro communities tell us this, this problem isn’t just going
to work itself out. (History is the long story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges without strong resistance, and
they seldom do it voluntarily. And so if the American dream is to be a reality, we must work to make it a reality and realize the urgency of
the moment. And we must say now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to get rid of segregation and
discrimination. Now is the time to make Georgia a better state. Now is the time to make the United States a better nation. We must live with
that, and we must believe that.