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Amani Shami

September 7, 2018

Eng 111 814

The Fight For Equality in the USA

“I have a dream” By Martin Luther King and The Address of Susan B. Anthony both have

comparisons and contrasts. They are alike because they are both speeches that changed history and

made a change, and they contrast because Anthony’s speech is about the right to vote, and King’s

speech is about segregation.

Martin Luther King is a social activist that led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States

during the 50s and the 60s. King’s speech was ground breaking and changed the direction of history.

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."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the
heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an
oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today

King believed in protesting in a peaceful and non-harmful way. The message of the speech is to end

segregation between the whites and the blacks.

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Susan B Anthony got arrested for illegally voting. During the time of the 1870s, it was illegal for

women to vote for politicians. Anthony cast her vote, and two weeks later got arrested. This infuriated

her and she stood up for all the women in the US and made a speech that in time helped women have

the right to vote in the United States. It is also what we could perhaps call the first action taken towards

feminism. After quoting a line of the preamble, Anthony says

It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, but we, the whole people who formed

this union. And we formed it, not to get the blessings or liberty, but to secure them; not to the

halves of ourselves and the half of our prosperity, but to the whole people- women as well as

men.

This quote emphasizes on why she believes women should have the same rights as men.

King and Anthony are both powerful people that caused revelations that has changed our

history as a nation. They used the power of speech to persuade people that what they believe is the

right thing. They were not violent about it, but peaceful. They both had dreams. Martin Luther King Jr

had a dream that “we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white

men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the

old Negro spiritual” (Kings), and Susan B. Anthony had a dream that “all United States citizens shall be

recognized as equals before the law” (Anthony). Even though they had different dreams, they went

about them being known in the same peaceful way. These two activists showed bravery like no other,

and went before the people of the USA during times of hatred and disappointment to make a difference

that still do this day has given African Americans, and women freedom. Because of King and his impact

on the citizens of the United States, there is no fine line between separation of colored and non-colored

people anymore. Because of Susan B Anthony, all women in the country of The United States of America
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are legally allowed to vote and are looked at somewhat being equal to men now. Both social activist

fought for freedom.

Both speeches are comparable in many ways, but they also contrast each other. King and

Anthony both made History and fought for freedom, but their speeches were for different reasons. Both

wanting equality and freedom, but for different things. Anthony wanted the “Senator to declare the

power of the United States Constitution to protect women in their right to vote” (Anthony). And King

wanted us to live in a world where people would not be “judged by the color of their skin, but the

content of their character” (King).

So what exactly is feminism? “The dictionary definition (in composite) read approximately as

follows: a theory and/or movement concerned with advancing the position of women through such

means as achievement of political, legal, or economic rights equal to those granted men (my emphasis)”

(Offen). Since the beginning of time men have always been seen as the superior sex. Men are seen as

independent beings and more dominant. Women are supposed to be the submissive beings, and are to

do whatever their husband and man says. They are supposed to coward down, and not have a say in any

big decisions, and the women are sick of it. They want a say so. They want a change in this world and

want to have the choice to be the more superior being. Being a feminist is standing up for women rights

and fighting for equality between the two sexes.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B Anthony are social activists that fought for a change of how a

race or sex was portrayed and treated. They portray a message of equality and the rights for the human

beings not only in America, but worldwide. Their messages and their will to fight made History and are

taught in schools all over the United States. These brave people took a risk to make equality as it is to

this day. Next time you see a colored and white person holding hands, thank Martin Luther King Jr. And
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next time you see that women have a say so in what is going on in the world such as voting, thank Susan

B. Anthony.

“We came equals into this world, and equals we shall get out of it” (George Mason).
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Works Cited

Anthony, Susan B. “Susan B. Anthony Speech: Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote?”

Famous Trials by Professor Douglas O. Linder, UMKC School of Law, 1995,

law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/anthony/anthonyaddress.html.

King, Martin Luther. “‘I Have a Dream," Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and

Freedom.” Birmingham Campaign | The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute,

Stanford University, 28 Aug. 1963, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-

dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom.

Offen, Karen. “Defining Feminism: A Comparative Historical Approach.” Chicago Journals , 1988,

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b05b/577a4e10cd22a656cc1a9c76c1424b8958cf.pdf

George Mason Quotes." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2018. 14 October 2018.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_mason_253935