“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” – Rumi
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”-Thomas Jefferson
These are quotes from two famous thinkers, the former from the 13th century the latter from the late 17th early 18th century, who lived in different climates and were from different ethnics but were preaching the same ideas: equality, unity, and hope among people. This makes both the thinkers and the ideas universal. Later in the 20th and 21st century, three people who were, possibly, influenced by Rumi, Jefferson and people like them are: Malcolm X, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and United States President Mr. Barack Obama preach and advise the audience the same vital concepts: equality, unity, change, and hope. It is this attitude that places these three people into the group of thinkers who preach humanity, who live what they believe in and who ‘hope’ that they will be able to reach those who are in need of these ideas, just like the founders of a country did by saying: ‘That all men are created equal..’ Declaration of Independence 1). In this paper, I have studied the specific famous speeches of these three people and aimed to integrate their ideas and show that even though they were different people of different backgrounds with different ways, they had the same ideas for humanity: equality and unity with change.
The first universally humane idea emphasized by the three leaders in their speeches, as observed by myself, was the ideal of equality that will come with change and progress.
The following quotes: “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy…” and “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children” (I have a Dream, 1) as told by Dr. King are statements of equality. In this paragraph, Dr. King speaks to the people and tells them that equality cannot be applied for only some people, but that it is a civil right of every human being to be the same as another. Dr. King begins the very paragraph with democracy because he aims to show the people that democracy and equality go hand in hand and are at the very core of America. In this speech, Dr. King delivers a section where he begins by saying “I have a dream…” and moves on to tell the people about his hopes for equality among people in America that will only come with the acceptance of changing the unjust laws and bringing the hope of the civil rights Movement. His statements about the different races coming together as one nation under equality show the American Way of democracy. Dr. King once again reminds the people of the very foundation of America and one of the elements that make up the United States of America: equality with progress. In a time when the Black people suffered from a system of injustice and inequality, Dr. King tries very hard to gain the civil rights of the Black people by taking support from the very ideas that created the American Democracy: The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. He urges the people to stay away from violence, but not to forget that they are equal. His words, “this sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality” (I have a Dream, 1) show the very passion he has for this idea and how he delivers his passion with such belief in equality that will come from the American Democracy. The language he uses touches the heart of all people and makes them equal at a time when black people were separated from white people. It is because of this language and this passion that Dr. King becomes a figure that speaks not just to the people who were there in that era in Washington D.C., but also to everyone from then until today.
“At the core of King’s success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals—of freedom, of justice, of equality – that spoke to all people, not just some people.” (Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance Speech, 4) These Lines were spoken by the 44th President of the United States- Barack H. Obama on January 17, and this statement illustrates two things. First the very core of what Dr. King aimed at when he preached his sermons and gave his speeches and second how Mr.Obama was very much influenced and affected by these words in his policy of bringing equality and progress with change.
In 2004, Mr.Obama gave a keynote speech at the Democrat National Convention and reminded the people of the phrase ‘We the people…’ by referring to the Declaration of Independence and reminding the people that all Americans are equal under the Declaration and the Constitution. Mr. Obama, apart from the unity and progress he talks about, he also talks about the equal opportunities that all Americans should have and can have with slight changes within the administration. His statements “… that with a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all.” (Keynote Speech 2004, 3) In these lines, Mr. Obama emphasizes the importance of having the same options and being able to use these options in the direction one would want to go. He says that these options can be made possible for the individual by the government that is elected ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’ In 2008, after Mr.Obama was elected President, he gave a victory speech where once again he called for unity and change with hope, but more specifically, he promised equality within the nation by changing the failed Bush administration and healing the people through the power of the state that will transform ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’ And the irony is that equality such as health care is brought by Mr.Obama, who himself is African-American and was born into an America where the Black people were judged according to the color of their skin. This speech and act of equality prove that America did and does have a place and a purpose for the ‘skinny kid with a funny name who believed that America has a place for him too.”(Keynote Speech, 5) It was Mr. Obama’s views on the equal opportunity with change and progress that made him favored among the Americans, and that makes him a preacher of universally humane ideas.
On February 14, 1965, a famous leader, Malcolm X, gave a speech titled ‘After the Bombing.’ In this speech, as opposed to his other speeches, Malcolm X changed his views on racism and violence against the whites. In his earlier speeches, Malcolm X was a great supporter of the Black Power movement and the so-called religious leader- Elijah Muhammad. Later, after his eye-opening incidents with the group, he separated from them and went on the religious journey to Mecca where he was introduced to true Islam. It was there that Malcolm X realized that the Black Power movement was just another form of racism and that ‘all men are created equal’ under God. It is this idea that links Malcolm X to Dr. King and Mr. Obama. Malcolm X is reported to have said, “…as if there is a difference between a white nun and a black nun; or a white priest and a black priest; or if the light that’s in white skin is more valuable than light within a black skin.” (After the Bombing, 6) These lines emphasize the equality between races and illustrate the need to rid one’s question of which skin color is more valuable, white or black? Here Mr. Malcolm preaches the equality of races and asks the people, the United States of America, to acknowledge the equal rights of the Black people just like the rights of the white people. Just like Dr. King and Mr. Obama, Malcolm X also spoke to a large group of people and appealed to a large group of people. His ideas, despite his different background of religion, reached far beyond the oceans to the Africans, whom he defended against America. I do not mean to say that Malcolm X was against America, yes he criticized America to a great extent, and some of his critiques were right some were out of place, but the main goal was the same as Dr. King and Mr. Obama: and that was equality among people within and outside the United States of America. In his speech, Malcolm X gives short stories from his and his friends’ lives to illustrate the unfair and unjust treatment that Black people suffered, to emphasize the importance of equality. He calls out to the people and the country to change their views on the Black people, to stop the judging of people because of their skin color and advises people that the only way that a person is different from another is by his/her deeds, just as in the words of Dr. King; “I have a dream that my four 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, 3) Mr. Malcolm X talks about what he received from true Islam about racism in the lines; “And the real religion of Islam doesn’t teach anyone to judge another human being by the color of their skin. The yardstick that is used by the Muslim to measure another man is not the man’s color but the man’s deeds, the man’s conscious behavior, the man’s intentions.” (After the Bombing, 3) One of the stories that Malcolm X relates is the unhappiness of the African-Americans of their skin color because the white segregates them concerning opportunities. Malcolm X states, “And we hated ourselves. Our color became to us a chain. We felt it was holding us back. Our color became to us like a prison, which we felt was keeping us confined, not letting us go this way and that.” These lines give the kind of psychology Black people felt because of the unequal treatment that was imposed on them, and Malcolm X, just like Dr. King and Mr. Obama calls out to the people not to overlook these inequalities and change these treatments for a better, healthier and more prosperous America.
Another central concept very much emphasized by these three great leaders was a unity that would also come with change and progress.
Dr. King begins his speech with the famous Emancipation Proclamation, stating that he will base his words on unity on this very doctrine that ‘…came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of slaves…” Throughout his speech, Dr. King preaches to the people to unite with one another and defend their rights, not with violence but with creative protest and ‘soul force.’ He continues to advise the crowd that it is a time of being one under the United States of America with his words; “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism… now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood…” (I have a Dream, 1) Dr. King advocates unification, and says that the only way for the nation to live up to its standards and honor the foundations of its creation is to be an individual inside the community – E Pluribus Unum: “Out of many, one.” He aims to look ahead and leave behind that which is holding the people back concerning grudges, economics, inequality, and injustice. His words clearly state his views on progressing and moving ahead: “We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” (I have a Dream, 2) Here, Dr. King combines the two ideas in supporting each other: unity and progress. He emphasizes that for the people to walk, they have to be together and once they are together, they should not be looking back but ‘marching forward.’ Throughout his speech, he stresses greatly on unity, but the one that has had an impact on me the most is his words: “Let us no wallow in the valley of despair.” This line shows such a universal act of moving ahead. Dr. King is preaching not for the people who are there in 1963 in Washington D.C. but also for those who are yet to come. He says no to look back to progress, he says look ahead to progress and looks back to learn from the mistakes. He advises the people not to get lost in revenge and fall back on despair, but to stand up and move on. This, it seems to me, is a very hard-core American way of living one’s life. To move ahead with unity, he preaches faith in brotherhood. He says,
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
With this paragraph, he places faith as one of the factors to change for the sake of progress. He calls for people to have faith in themselves and to others to have faith in black people to bring about the civil rights movement.
In 2004 Mr. Barack Obama gave a similar speech that called for unity, the Keynote Speech in the Democrat National Convention where he began his words by saying that America was and is a beacon that shone and shines of freedom and opportunity and that all people have the same dream when they come to America: The American Dream filled with hope. He gives his speech centered on ideals, one of which is that there are no different groups in America but that there is the United States of America. To illustrate this point, he says, “… there is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and a Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.” He refers to the colours of the flag of America and says that whether blue, white or red, that American people are a nation that comes together with individual rights; “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.” Mr. Obama passionately advocates the people to unify themselves and no to forget that they are individuals living in many where he quotes the famous E Pluribus Unum. He says, “It is that fundamental belief: I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our dreams and yet still come together as one American family.” With these sentences, he reminds the people of the importance of their individuality and the individual and unalienable rights and also calls for the people to work together with brothers and sisters in developing the country and moving ahead. These footsteps resemble, and we can say with certainty that Mr. Obama was not in a different line than Dr. King. As he ends his speech, he reminds the people of his previous statement about having faith and how it is important, for the sake of progress, to change the failed policies to unify the nation and create equal opportunities for everyone. The most important point in his views of unity is to be seen in his embracing of the people from the other party in his Victory Speech in 2008. He says; “And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your President, too.” His attitude of depolarisation pulls people to his views closer and unifies the nation, despite the different political views. This attitude is what gains Mr. Obama his place in the universal humane ideas. The attitude of embracing even those who do not agree with him and promising to help them- just as Rumi did in the 13th century.
In 1965, after seeing the unification and brotherhood of the Muslims in Mecca, Malcolm X came back with a whole new perspective in uniting not just the Black people, but people who are against racism and want the segregation to end. In his speech, Malcolm X talks about how the African-American society was divided and separated both within each other and from their ancestors in Africa. He blames the white racists for this division and separation and then calls for the people to unite in brotherhood with his words; “I point these things out, brothers and sisters, so that you and I will know the importance in 1963 of being in complete unity with each other, in harmony with each other, and not letting the man maneuver us into fighting one another.” (After the bombing, 10) Malcolm X calls for the same idea: the unity that will come with change. He advises the people to stop listening to others and to listen to themselves so that they will unite with one another. In a sense he is advocating change, he believes that once people – both Black and White- change their ideas and views about African-Americans and unite on the same ideals that ‘all men are equal,’ then progress will come to America and people will be free. Malcolm X ends his speech by saying, “I say again that I’m not a racist, I don’t believe in any form of segregation or anything like that. I’m for the brotherhood of everybody…” and once again calls for unity among the people. Although Malcolm X had different views about racism in the past before his separation from the Nation of Islam, it is clear from his speeches afterward that his ideas changed from the Black Power Movement towards the Civil Rights Movement of Dr. Kings. Had Malcolm X lived, I am sure he would have had the chance to express his thoughts and ideas, which were very much influenced by true Islam- the religion of Prophet Muhammad-. The point that his speech has points of vigorous Black Movement doesn’t change the fact that he believed in the Civil Rights Movement and supported Dr. King. The way he expressed his character was very much different than Dr. King- whose characteristics qualities are reflected in Mr. Obama-, however, this does not mean that they preached different ideas. The basic foundation of their philosophy was the same: unity, equality, and freedom. The way they advocated these ideas were different, but the intentions were the same.
The basic ideas that these three American leaders center their speeches upon are the same: equality, unity, and change. They defend the same cause for the same nation under the same laws and regulations. They speak to the same humanities and appeal to the same politics. The only difference is the way they preach their universally humanitarian views. Although they differ in their ways of speaking, they agree on one thing: to stand-up for ones’ freedom and civil right, to unite each other in harmony for the sake of progress and the sake of the United States of America. Just like the founders of the country says; the three leaders say ‘We the people..’ and claim that America is better of once it relies on and stays with her foundation:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. – Thomas Jefferson
Bibliography
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. 28 Aug. 1963. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.
Obama, Barack H. “Keynote Address” Democratic National Convention, Fleet Centre, Boston. 27 July 2004. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.
Obama, Barack H. “President-Elect Victory Speech” Grant Park, Illinois, Chicago. 4 November 2008. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.
Obama, Barack H. “Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance Speech” Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Washington D.C. 17 January 2010. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.X, Malcolm. “After the Bombing” Ford Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan. 14 February 1965. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.