King references Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation, the first step towards a freedom for blacks that still had not been achieved completely one hundred years later, due to segregation and discrimination. He then speaks of the Declaration of Independence as a promissory note that all men were equal and guaranteed their unalienable rights, a check that African Americans had been unable to cash. He then encourages a sense of urgency, that the time for gradual change has passed, that at this point it would be fatal to overlook it any longer. He states that there will "be neither rest nor tranquility... until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights".
However, he goes on to say that in their urgency, the black people must not succumb to bitterness or violence in their search from equality. The must treat white men as brothers, and maintain a sense of discipline and dignity. But they must not rest until segregation and discrimination are completely demolished, and they have achieved their rightful status as equals with whites, no matter what hardships they have faced or will continue to face.
King then goes on to describe his dream, one deeply rooted in the American dream; that America will one day truly follow it's own belief of all men being created equal, that one day blacks and whites will be brothers, that freedom and justice will come especially to the state of Mississippi, that his children will not be judged by their color but by their character. He dreams that one day black and white children in Alabama will be able to join hands, that the plain will become level for all Americans. He once again urges faith, that though there will be struggle and despair, some day freedom and justice will come out of it all, and freedom will ring across the United States and benefit all, white and black alike.
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