King’s dream speech was a condemnation of racial habits, not color-blindness

Evidence

Dr. King’s dream should not be read as a desire for color-blindness. In the context of the entire speech, his hope for his children stands as a criticism of our racial habits. As he stated in the “I Have a Dream” speech: “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating FOR WHITES ONLY.” — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 275

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes the value gap and racial habits from color-blindness by grounding them in King’s actual words.