Critical Analysis of MLK's "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

Introduction

The last speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered has been popularly referred to as the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. Dr. King delivered this address on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. The following day, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. In this oration, primarily focused on concerns regarding the Memphis Sanitation Strike, Dr. King made a call for nonviolent protesting, economic action, boycotts, and unity. He further challenged the United States of America to uphold the ideals established in some of the most famous legislative documents outlining the principles of the right to protest and assemble nonviolently, the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom and liberty for all. What follows is a critical analysis of Dr. King's last public speech, as well as commentary regarding the historical significance of this particular event.

Critical Analysis of Language and Rhetoric

"Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world" (King, 1968). In examining Dr. King's speech on the evening of April 3rd, it is clear that his use of language was designed to be understandable to everyone in a position to hear it. His language was not so lofty that the common person could not grasp the message he was conveying, nor was it so grammatically imprecise that scholars could not discuss and dissect it for the intelligence with which it was presented. For many, that balance is the mark of a great orator: the ability to speak at a level that the majority of individuals would understand.

Further, Dr. King took the listener on a journey to mark the relevance of the occasion by articulating moments in history when individuals had done remarkable things, stood in the face of adversity, and succeeded. He used these historical events to highlight the importance not only of responding to the Sanitation Strike in Memphis but also to illuminate the larger civil rights movement of which he was intimately a part.

We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we are God's children, we don't have to live like we are forced to live (King, 1968).

In this speech, Dr. King continued to reiterate the importance of and the purpose behind his call to action, again ensuring that the focus of the speech remained relevant to the situation at hand, while continuing to articulate the contextual framework of the struggles between those compelled to restrict freedom and justice and those determined to secure freedom and justice at any cost. Although Dr. King used analogies and biblical references to highlight his perspective, he consistently brought the speech back to the Memphis sanitation workers and the strike, chastising members of the media for focusing on isolated instances of small-scale violence and attempting to divert attention from the struggles of the sanitation workers and the manner in which those in authority were handling the situation.

Some would argue that the use of analogies and parables may have been off-topic or inappropriate for the audience he was addressing. However, others would certainly contend that Dr. King was poignant and effective in speaking to the immediate issue while simultaneously relating it to the larger social, political, and economic context.

Let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now we've got to keep attention on that (King, 1968).

During his speech on April 3rd, Dr. King did not speak directly to the specific points of discontent regarding the Sanitation Strike. He referenced it but did not detail the breakdown of discourse between the two groups. He did address the perceived unfair treatment of the sanitation workers, and part of the broad appeal he made was to invite listeners to place themselves in the position of those workers in order to understand the impact. He further challenged his audience to use their collective economic power to create hardship for various businesses, so that the economic disparity experienced by the sanitation workers could become tangible and real to others — including white-owned companies — who might not otherwise feel its weight.

Emotional and Psychological Appeal

Dr. King used emotional appeal as the cornerstone of his speech. First and foremost, Dr. King was a minister of the gospel, and he delivered this speech much as he would a Sunday morning sermon. With that in mind, the points outlined in his address were not extensively documented or intended to function as scholarly discourse. That was not the intent or the premise of the speech. Dr. King's intention was to appeal to the emotions of the people in order to evoke a response and bring his call to action to fruition. As such, his psychological appeal to foster audience identification can be determined to be both appropriate and effective.

References

King Jr., M. (1968). I've been to the mountaintop. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm