Para. 21

I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about "Where do we go from here," that we honestly face the fact that the Movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, "Who owns the oil?" You begin to ask the question, "Who owns the iron ore?" You begin to ask the question, "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two thirds water?" These are questions that must be asked.

Q1: What is the role of the first sentence of this paragraph?

A1: It is the topic sentence of this paragraph. The key idea of this paragraph is “restructuring the whole of American society”. The following part explains why this should be the task. It is at the same time a transitional sentence, linking this section up with the other two tasks Dr. King mentions earlier.

Q2: Why does the speaker stress “we honestly face the fact …”?

A2: The implication is people used to avoid facing this fundamental issue. It is too big, too serious an issue and people want to shy away from it. By using the word “honestly”, Dr. King means we should not deceive ourselves, we should not comfort ourselves, but we should face the issue and get down to solving it.

Q3: Explain the sentence “But one day we must come to see ... restructuring.”

A3: Sometime in the future we will realize that when in a society, especially an affluent society, there are many poor people? then there must be something fundamentally wrong with the society which demands important change and remedy.

Para. 22

Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

Q: What is the importance of this paragraph?

A: In this paragraph, Dr. King points out that racism, economic exploitation and war are interrelated He no longer treats racism as an isolated issue. This is great progress in his understanding of the root cause of racism.

Para. 23

If you will let me be a preacher just a little bit—one night, a juror came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn't get bogged down in the kind of isolated approach of what he shouldn't do. Jesus didn't say, "Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying." HE didn't say, "Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you are doing that." He didn't say, "Nicodemus, you must not commit adultery." He didn't say, "Nicodemus, now you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively." He said something altogether different, because Jesus realized something basic - that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So instead of just getting bogged down in one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, "Nicodemus, you must be born again."

Q1: What does the sentence “If you will let me be a preacher just a little bit ...” indicate?

A1: This statement indicates that Dr. King will quote a story from the Bible. The story Dr. King gives comes from John Chapter 3 of the New Testament. The first few lines run like this:

There was a man of Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Q2: Why does Dr. King mention this story?

A2: He wants to show that the United States also needs a fundamental change.

Para. 24

He said, in other words, "Your whole structure must be changed." A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will "thingify" them - make them things. Therefore they will exploit them, and poor people generally, economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I am saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, "America, you must be born again!"

Q1: Why do you think “will” is used in “A nation that will keep people …make them things”?

A1: From the grammatical point of view “has kept” should be used instead of “will keep”. But the choice of “will” seems to indicate determination. That is to say, a nation that clings to the practice of slavery for 244 years is bound to turn people into things, to treat them as things.

Q2: What does “foreign investment” refer to? Does it mean investment coming from foreign countries or American investment abroad?

A2: Dr. King means American investment abroad. Otherwise it is not necessary to use military might to protect such investment. CIA trained mercenaries to overthrow the legitimate government of Guatemala (危地马拉) in 1954 was partly to protect the interest of United Fruit (联合果品公司) there. The invasion of CIA-trained mercenaries at Bay of Pigs, Cuba, to overthrow the Castro government is another case in point. Dr. King must have many of these incidents in mind when he makes this statement.

Q3: What does Dr. King mean when he says “America, you must be born again!”？

A3: Dr. King means that there should be fundamental changes in America. He does not mean changes toward socialism but changes according to the teachings of the Gospel.

Para. 25

So, I conclude by saying again today that we have a task and let us go out with a "divine dissatisfaction." Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. [,et us be dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality, integrated education. Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character and not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol houses a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy and who will walk humbly with his God. Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together. and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. Let us be dissatisfied. And men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout "White Power!" - when nobody will shout "Black Power!"—but everybody will talk about God's power and human power.

Q1: What do you think is the role of this paragraph?

A1: This paragraph can be regarded as the climax of this speech. In this paragraph, Dr. King makes clear his idea of the rebirth of America. In presenting his ideas, he is at his best in rhetoric.

Q2: What rhetorical devices does he use?

A2: (1) Parallel structure: There are 11 sentences beginning with “let us be dissatisfied until” and two short sentences of “let us be dissatisfied”.

(2) Antithesis: outer city of wealth and comfort vs. inner city of poverty and despair;

dark yesterdays vs. bright tomorrows;

on the basis of the content of their character vs.

on the basis of the color of their skin

(3) Metaphors and Similes:

the battering rams of the forces of justice;

the junk heaps of history;

justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream

(4) biblical allusion:

when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together

every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid

(5) Anaphora: the rhetorical device of repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences

Q3: Why does Dr. King use “divine dissatisfaction” in the first sentence of this paragraph?

A3: By using divine dissatisfaction, Dr. King may mean two things: (1) this kind of dissatisfaction does not involve bitterness, hatred and would not lead to confrontation; the remedy lies in love; (2) the cause of dissatisfaction comes from the teachings of God — God creates people equal but now there is injustice on the basis of race, ethnicity.

Q4: What does Dr. King mean by “high blood pressure of creeds” and “anemia of deeds”?

A4: He means that people (including government) talk emotionally about racial equality and condemn racial discrimination but when it comes to taking action to put an end to such evil practice, they are not active.

Q5: What rhetorical devices are used in the sentence “Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls ... the forces of justice”?

A5: (1) Metaphor: “the tragic walls” and “the battering rams” are used in a metaphorical way. They are used in the same vein since walls can be crushed by battering rams.

(2) Antithesis: the antithesis is well balanced: outer city vs. inner city; wealth vs. poverty (economic); comfort vs. despair (mood, psychology).

(3) Transferred epithet: the transference of an adjective to a noun to which it is not wholly appropriate.

Dr. King is referring to a social phenomenon. In the 1960s, there emerged another population movement in the United States, that is, many white upper middle and middle class people moved to live in suburban towns, leaving the inner city to the minorities and the poor. This put the city government in a very difficult state because the local government could not collect enough tax to improve city infrastructure. Therefore you have the contrast of inner city and outer city here.

Q6: Why does Dr. King talk about sanitary home?

A6: That is because many slum houses do not have bathrooms, sewage systems, sometimes not even clean, running water. Hence, a sanitary home would be desirable.

Q7: What is meant by this statement “Let us be dissatisfied until integration … diversity”?

A7: The idea here is more general than integrated schools. It means the breaking down of racial barriers is not seen as a problem, a challenge to the status of the whites but as a chance for everyone, white and black, to engage in the construction of a multicultural society.

Q8: Explain the sentence “Let us be dissatisfied until that day ... none shall be afraid.”

A8: It means that people who are powerful and people who are weak can live together peacefully. The lion and the lamb shall lie down together. This is a biblical allusion. Dr. King is not citing verbatim but according to the spirit of some key passages. Isaiah 11: 6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

Note the use of alliteration here. Alliteration means the use of words beginning with the same letter or sound: lion, lamb, lie.

Q9: Explain the sentence “And men will recognize …will talk about God’s power and human power.”

A9: This is a reference to the Genesis which says “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. (Genesis 1, 27) Dr. King means that we all come down from the same ancestors: Adam and Eve, so we are brothers and should co-exist peacefully.

White power refers to the view of white supremacists. These people think the whites are superior racially and they should control power and run the country. They oppose desegregation and the Civil Rights movement. Sometimes they resort to force and violence to resist the march of desegregation.

Black power is a slogan put forward by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1965. By then these young students had broken with Dr. King and embarked on a campaign of systematic rebellion against the government of the United States and the values and institutions it represented. (See Note 81)

Here Dr. King openly criticizes not only the idea of white power but also the idea of black power.

Para. 26

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil-rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. And as we continue our charted course, we may gain consolation in the words so nobly left by that great black bard who was also a great freedom fighter of yesterday, James Weldon Johnson:

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chastening rod

Felt in the days

When hope unborn had died.

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place

For which our fathers sighed?

We have come over the way

That with tears hath been watered.

We have come treading our paths

Through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

Till now we stand at last

Where the bright gleam

Of our bright star is cast.

Q1: What is the role of Paragraph 26?

A1: This paragraph serves as a transitional paragraph leading to the concluding remark: we shall overcome.

Q2: What’s the key idea of this paragraph?

A2: In this part, Dr. King warns that the path ahead would not be smooth and people should be prepared to face setbacks and frustrations.

Q3: What is meant by this statement “There will be still rocky places ... of bewilderment”?

A3: It means the path ahead is full of difficulty and setbacks and sometimes people might lose direction and become utterly confused. “Rocky places of frustration” and “meandering points of bewilderment” are two metaphorical phrases. The first refers to a land path that is bumpy and uneven; the second refers to a stream that has so many windings that people easily get lost. Both emphasize difficulty.

Q4: What is the main idea of the quoted poem of Johnson’s?

A4: The four stanzas describe how the blacks were brought over to America and the passage was a passage of tears and blood. Today the blacks begin to see the first light of bright future.

Paras. 27-28

Let this affirmation be our ringing cry. It will give us the courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow with a cosmic past tense, "We have overcome, we have overcome, deep in my heart, I did believe we would overcome."

Q1: What is the meaning and function of the statement “Let this affirmation be our ringing cry”?

A1: It means let us take these lines as our rallying call. This sentence serves as a transition, linking this paragraph with the previous one.

Q2: How does Dr. King end his speech?

A2: Dr. King ends his speech with a note of optimism and confidence but this optimism is not strong. By then, with the split within the rank of the Civil Rights Movement and the suppression of riots in the “long hot summers” starting from 1965, Dr. King was less optimistic than he had been in 1963 when he delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

Q3: What is the role of the first sentence of Paragraph 28?

A3: It serves as a transition and a topic sentence. As a transition, it links this paragraph up with the previous because the last sentence of Paragraph 27 also begins with “let us realize”. In Paragraph 28，there are two parallel sentences beginning with “let us realize”.

Q4: What does Dr. King want people to realize?

He wants people to realize that (a) the path would be long but it leads to justice; (b) truth cannot be crushed; and (c) those who disobey God’s teachings will be punished in the end.

Q5: What is the meaning of this statement “Be not deceived … shall he also reap”?

A5: There is a biblical allusion here. It means you can be assured that showing no respect for God’s words will not go unpunished. You shall get the bitter fruit of your heedless actions.