"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."

◎ 연설의 배경

[영어로 읽는 세기의 名연설] ⑮ 마틴 루터 킹 목사의 '워싱턴 평화 행진' 연설 (上)
46년 전 8월인 1963년 8월23일 노예 해방 100주년을 맞았다.

워싱턴에서 열린 평화 행진에 참가했던 미국의 흑인 인권 운동가 마틴 루터 킹은 이날 미국의 흑인 인권 운동사에 길이 남을 의미있는 연설을 했다.

"나에게 꿈이 있습니다" 라는 구절로 유명한 이 연설은 미국인들에게 인종 차별 문제의 심각성을 일깨우는 데 중요한 역할을 했다.

◎ 마틴 루터 킹 Jr (1929~1968년)

미국의 침례교 목사이자 흑인 권리신장 운동가다.

미국 내 흑인의 인권 운동을 이끈 개신교 목사들 중의 한 사람이다.

1929년 조지아 주 애틀랜타시의 침례교 목사 마이클 루서 킹의 아들로 태어났으며 1955년 진보적인 학풍의 보스턴 대학교 신학부에서 박사학위를 취득했다.

흑인 인권 옹호를 위한 비폭력운동을 전개했다.

1964년 노벨 평화상을 수상했으며 68년 멤피스에서 암살당했다.

◎ 원문 읽기

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago，a great American，in whose symbolic shadow we stand today，signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.

It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later，the Negro still is not free.

One hundred years later，the life of the Negro is still sadly ①crippled by the ②manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

One hundred years later，the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

One hundred years later，the Negro is still ③languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

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 ④promissory 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，in sofar 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."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

And so，we've come to cash this check，a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now.

This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the ⑤tranquilizing drug of gradualism.Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the ⑥sunlit path of racial justice.

Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Nineteen sixty－three is not an end，but a beginning.

And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The ⑦whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people，who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice ; In the process of gaining our rightful place，we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

Again and again，we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new ⑧militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people，for many of our white brothers，as evidenced by their presence here today，have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk，we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights，"When will you be satisfied？" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.


▶ Words & Idiom

① crippled ; 타격을 주는

② manacles ; 수갑， 속박， 구속

③ languished ; 괴로워하다

④ promissory note ; 약속 어음

⑤ tranquilizing ; 진정시키는

⑥ sunlit ;햇볕에 쬔， 볕이 드는

⑦ whirlwinds; 회오리 바람

⑧ militancy; 호전성， 투쟁 정신