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1、-范文最新推荐- I have a dream five score years ago, a great american, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the emancipation proclamation. this momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. it came as a joyous
2、 daybreak to end the long night of captivity.but one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the negro is still not free. one hundred years later, the life of the negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. one hundred years later, th
3、e negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. one hundred years later, the negro is still languishing in the corners of american society and finds himself an exile in his own land. so we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.in a
4、sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men
5、would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.it is obvious today that america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. instead of honoring this sacred obligation, america has given the negro people a bad check
6、which has come back marked insufficient funds. but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. so we have come to cash this check - a check that will give us upon demand the riche
7、s of freedom and the security of justice. we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind america of the fierce urgency of now. 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 rise from the dark and desolate valley of segre
8、gation to the sunlit path of racial justice. now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of god's children. now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.it would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the mome
9、nt and to underestimate the determination of the negro. this sweltering summer of the negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. those who hope that the negro needed to blow off s
10、team and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. there will be neither rest nor tranquility in america until the negro is granted his citizenship rights. the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright
11、day of justice emerges.but there is something that i must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. in the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from
12、the cup of bitterness and hatred.we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. the marvelou
13、s new militancy which has engulfed the negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freed
14、om. we cannot walk alone.and as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. we cannot turn back. there are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied? we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lod
15、ging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. we cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. we can never be satisfied as long as a negro in mississippi cannot vote and a negro in new york believes he has nothing for whic
16、h to vote. no, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.i am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. some of you have c
17、ome from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. you have been the veterans of creative suffering. continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.go back to mississippi, go back to alabam
18、a, go back to georgia, go back to louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. let us not wallow in the valley of despair.i say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the mome
19、nt, 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.i have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia
20、 the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.i have a dream that one day even the state of mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
21、justice.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 today.i have a dream that one day the state of alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the w
22、ords of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.i have a dream today.i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exa
23、lted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.this is our hope. this is the faith with which i return to the south. with this faith w
24、e 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 tog
25、ether, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.this will be the day when all of god's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, my country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing. land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride,
26、 from every mountainside, let freedom ring.and if america is to be a great nation this must become true. so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of new hampshire. let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of new york. let freedom ring from the heightening alleghenies of pennsylvania!let fr
27、eedom ring from the snowcapped rockies of colorado!let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of california!but not only that; let freedom ring from stone mountain of georgia!let freedom ring from lookout mountain of tennessee!let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of mississippi. from
28、every mountainside, let freedom ring.when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, 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
29、 able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, free at last! free at last! thank god almighty, we are free at last! good evening, my fellow americans.tonight i want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all americans and to many people in all parts of the world, the w
30、ar in vietnam.i believe that one of the reasons for the deep division about vietnam is that many americans have lost confidence in what their government has told them about our policy. the american people cannot and should not be asked to support a policy which involves the overriding issues of war
31、and peace unless they know the truth about that policy.tonight, therefore, i would like to answer some of the questions that i know are on the minds of many of you listening to me.how and why did america get involved in vietnam in the first place?how has this administration changed the policy of the
32、 previous administration?what has really happened in the negotiations in paris and the battlefront in vietnam?what choices do we have if we are to end the war?what are the prospects for peace?now let me begin by describing the situation i found when i was inaugurated on jan. 20th: the war had been g
33、oing on for four years. thirty-one thousand americans had been killed in action. the training program for the south vietnamese was behind schedule. five hundred forty-thousand americans were in vietnam with no plans to reduce the number. no progress had been made at the negotiations in paris and the
34、 united states had not put forth a comprehensive peace proposal.the war was causing deep division at home and criticism from many of our friend, as well as our enemies, abroad.in view of these circumstances, there were some who urged withdrawal of all american forces. from a political standpoint, th
35、is would have been a popular and easy course to follow. after all, we became involved in the war while my predecessor was in office. i could blame the defeat, which would be the result of my action, on him - and come out as the peacemaker. some put it to me quite bluntly: this was the only way to av
36、oid allowing johnson¡¯s war to become nixon¡¯s war.but i had a greater obligation than to think only of the years of my administration, and of the next election. i had to think of the effect of my decision on the next generation, and on the future of peace and freedom in americ
37、a, and in the world.let us all understand that the question before us is not whether some americans are for peace and some americans are against peace. the question at issue is not whether johnson¡¯s war becomes nixon¡¯s war. the great question is: how can we win america¡
38、¯s peace?well, let us turn now to the fundamental issue: why and how did the united states become involved in vietnam in the first place? fifteen years ago north vietnam, with the logistical support of communist china and the soviet union, launched a campaign to impose a communist government on
39、 south vietnam by instigating and supporting a revolution.in response to the request of the government of south vietnam, president eisenhower sent economic aid and military equipment to assist the people of south vietnam in their efforts of prevent a communist takeover. seven years ago, president ke
40、nnedy sent 16,000 military personnel to vietnam as combat advisers. four years ago, president johnson sent american combat forces to south vietnam.now many believe that president johnson¡¯s decision to send american combat forces to south vietnam was wrong. and many others, i among them,
41、have been strongly critical of the way the war has been conducted.but the question facing us today is - now that we are in the war, what is the best way to end it?in january i could only conclude that the precipitate withdrawal of all american forces from vietnam would be a disaster not only for sou
42、th vietnam but for the united states and for the cause of peace.for the south vietnamese, our precipitate withdrawal would inevitably allow the communists to repeat the massacres which followed their takeover in the north 15 years before. they then murdered more than 50,000 people and hundreds of th
43、ousands more died in slave labor camps.we saw a prelude of what would happen in south vietnam when the communists entered the city of hue last year. during their brief rule there, there was a bloody reign of terror in which 3,000 civilians were clubbed, shot to death, and buried in mass graves.with
44、the sudden collapse of our support, these atrocities at hue would become the nightmare of the entire nation and particularly for the million-and-a half catholic refugees who fled to south vietnam when the communists took over in the north.for the united states this first defeat in our nation¡&
45、macr;s history would result in a collapse of confidence in american leadership not only in asia but throughout the world.three american presidents have recognized the great stakes involved in vietnam and understood what had to be done.in 1963 president kennedy with his characteristic eloquence and c
46、larity said we want to see a stable government there, carrying on the struggle to maintain its national independence.we believe strongly in that. we are not going to withdraw from that effort. in my opinion, for us to withdraw from that effort would mean a collapse not only of south vietnam but sout
47、heast asia. so we¡¯re going to stay there.president eisenhower and president johnson expressed the same conclusion during their terms of office.for the future of peace, precipitate withdrawal would be a disaster of immense magnitude. a nation cannot remain great if it betrays its allies a
48、nd lets down its friends. our defeat and humiliation in south vietnam without question would promote recklessness in the councils of those great powers who have not yet abandoned their goals of world conquest. this would spark violence wherever our commitments help maintain the peace - in the middle east, in berlin, eventually even in the western hemisphere. ultimately, this would cost more lives. it would not bring peace. it would bring more war.for these reasons i rejected the recommendation i should end the war by immediately withdrawing all of o