Amongst the catalogue of powerful Twentieth Century speeches lie two that were delivered within three years of each other in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, from which comes the famous line, “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” (1961), and Martine Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech (1963) are commonly regarded as benchmarks in American history and politics. Although first appearances seem to show that these speeches are completely different – the former addresses a new era in American politics, and the latter focuses on racial issues and the rights of black Americans – a closer inspection reveals that they have more in common than first thought. In fact, both speeches have clear similarities in three distinct areas: the desire for change, the need for unity, and the inspiration from which each speaker drew his motivation.
‘Change’ features heavily in both speeches. King claimed right at the beginning of his speech that despite the absence of iron shackles, black Americans were still slaves, “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”. He called upon all Americans to march on and continue fighting against this oppression until such a time came that a black American can get a room in a hotel or eat at the same restaurant as a white American, a changed future in which human beings were equal regardless of skin color. Kennedy’s approach to change was more universal. Mindful of the patriotism of young Americans, the newly elected president asked the people to put aside thoughts of battling other countries, and instead make war on the common enemies on all humankind throughout the globe – “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” Using the line for which this speech is so famous for – “ask not what your country can do for you”, Kennedy placed the keys to change in the hands of the American people themselves, challenging them to do what they can to tackle these issues rather than relying on others to do it for them. King and Kennedy looked together to the future as a time when the world would be a better place for all people, and recognized their need to speak out and inspire change.
In a time of upheaval and uncertainty, King and Kennedy insisted on the need for unity in their speeches. In the climatic and most emotional part of King’s speech, he shared his dream of a time when Americans would be unified despite having different skin colors, a time when racial prejudices could be left behind and people would live together in harmony. But King did not merely talk of a dream of unity in the future. He recognized that unity needed to occur straight away. “We cannot walk alone”, he declared, asking for black and white Americans to begin working together to achieve what he perceived as a common goal – freedom. Kennedy echoed King’s sentiments, making known his feelings on a need for global unity. He spoke not only to Americans, but to the world, pledging support to the United Nations to make sure that the organization could work to better the unity of mankind, “to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak”. At the beginning of his speech, Kennedy admitted that humanity possessed weapons with which it could destroy itself. With this in mind, the president asked for an end to the U.S ‘arms race’ with the USSR, calling for both countries to work together to explore the wonders of science rather than use them as a weapon, and asked for both countries to “explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us”. Unity is recognized by both men as a tool to achieve change and a better world.
Lastly, both speakers were inspired by the same sources. King and Kennedy drew upon the Declaration of Independence and the Bible to argue the legitimacy of their dreams and demands. King said that the words of the Declaration made it clear that black Americans were being abused and mistreated in the very country that demanded equality to all men. “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation,” he said, “America has given the Negro people a bad check”. America’s treatment of black Americans was condemned by its own Declaration. King was similarly inspired by scripture in his speech. All people are God’s children, said King, and created equal in His eyes. Justice and freedom, he argued, should therefore be available for all of God’s children too, no matter what color. Likewise, Kennedy used the Declaration of Independence as inspiration, although not in name. He made reference to beliefs that Americans had fought and died for in the past, reminding Americans that they were the heirs to those revolutionary beliefs and that it was their responsibility to uphold them. He too quoted the Bible, using a passage from the Book of Isaiah to reinforce his message of helping others less fortunate. Both men clearly believed in the power of the Declaration and the Bible, and the legitimacy of their words as motivation for change and unity.
Although it is easy to look at the two speeches and see a myriad of differences, it is what they share that is much more revealing. The themes evident in both speeches – change and unity – as well as their sources of inspiration show how similar King and Kennedy were in their thoughts and ideas and how this is made apparent in each man’s speech.
