In a sense we've 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, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable 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, a check which has come back marked
'insufficient funds.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963
The focus of this passage from Dr. King's speech was his belief that
O civil rights for African Americans would always be a dream
O violence was often necessary for the protection of civil liberties
• equal rights for all were guaranteed by the founders of this nation
Americans had become blind to racial differences