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I have a dream
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose
symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree
came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of
Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of
withering injustice.... But one hundred years later, the
Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life
of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of
segregation and the chains of discrimination....
I have a dream that my four little children will one
day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the colour of their skin but by the content of their
character... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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discriminatory services (like buses which segregated
whites and blacks). One of the important actions was the
year long boycott of buses by blacks in Montgomery led
by Dr. Martin Luther King. This caused a huge loss to the
bus company and eventually forced the court to ban
segregation of seats for blacks and whites in buses in 1956.
At the same time, a powerful movement was going on for
ending segregation in schools (black and white children
had to go to different schools).
On 28th August 1963, more
than two lakh people marched to
Washington demanding the
passage of Civil Rights Act and
demanding among other things,
program for generation of
employment, full and fair
employment, decent housing,
the right to vote, and adequately
integrated education system in
which whites and blacks could
study together. This was
addressed among others by Dr.
King who made his historic
speech, “I have a dream..” These
laws were subsequently passed and after a long struggle, many of them got effectively
implemented. This became an inspiration all over the world for leading non-violent
social movements for reform and change.
As the movement grew in strength, several viewpoints emerged – many people
agreed with Dr King that it was possible to achieve equality for all people through
peaceful means and persuading the government to pass necessary laws. However,
many others like Malcom X were of the view that blacks were a separate nation and
should fight for independence from white rule. They also felt that in order to win
power they will have to use all the means including armed conflict.
A large section of people who actively participated in the civil rights movement
were black women, who felt that their voice was not being heard even within the
movement which was dominated by men. In fact, no woman was allowed to speak in