By the Content of Their Character

American Minute from William J. Federer

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated APRIL 4, 1968.

Pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, he rose to national prominence through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, Congress set aside his birthday as a National Holiday.

Rev. King said August 28, 1963: "Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children...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...We must not allow our...protest to degenerate into physical violence...We cannot walk alone."

Rev. King continued: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Martin Luther King finished: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.