“I Have a Dream”: A 50th Year Testament to the March that Changed America

Introduction

Almost everyone has heard of the “American Dream,” wherein all people have an equal opportunity to advance and improve their lot through education and hard work. In the early days of America, though, that simply did not exist for most African Americans.

The root of the problem existed initially with slavery, an institution that had been around for ages and had been prevalent across the globe. The Greeks, the Romans, and even the Africans themselves practiced a form of it, although these early forms of slavery and indentured servitude didn’t compare with the brutality and human degradation instituted by chattel slavery in America. Although the Hammurabic Code, dating back to the Babylonian times, provided for the eventual liberation ...