they have made to blacks for over a century since the Emancipation Proclamation. He continues to believe that such a promise will be fulfilled. It is the very basis of the speech and of his entire life's work:
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal' (King "Dream").
King makes a plea to whites to live up to the foundations of fairness in that American dream, and calls on both whites and blacks to express their lives according to the highest spiritual, religious, and moral principles. He delivers "I Have a Dream" as the preacher he is, appealing to Americans to behave and treat one another as "God's children" who "will be able
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