During the 1960s, the fight for racial equality began to really pick up speed. Racism in America was a growing problem. By 1968, racism was creating uproars of hate crimes and violent protests. On April 3 of that year, in Memphis Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech about the Memphis Sanitation Strike. He didn’t know it at the time, but this speech was to be his last public appearance before his assassination. In the speech, entitled “I have been to the Mountaintop,” he spoke of his vision for the future the civil rights struggle. In the beginning of his speech, King puts forth the main issues that he will be speaking about.
King uses metaphors to explain how America would be in a perfect world. The chosen metaphors illustrate King’s mastery in establishing the historical…show more content… He recalls other famous speeches in his own to... By using his life experiences to get on a more personal level with his audience, he uses visions of what the an ideal American would look like. “I can remember when negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn’t itch, and laughing when they were just not tickled. But that day is all over.’’ He uses FDR’s inaugural speech to reflect. He strives to live up to the poster image for social equality painted in that previous speech.
King invokes god to build a private relationship with his audience. King was a minister; his vision of God was how he piqued their interest. “We are saying, we are saying that we are God’s children. And that we are God’s children; We don’t have to live like we are forced to live.’’
Critics thought King was impatient when speaking. King always responded with some sort of expression. King always had a way of bringing people together despite different experiences, different hopes and different fears. “We are, if willing, all touched, challenged and comforted, chastised and encouraged by our
