The following text can be used for the oral 'Abitur', provided a course has preceded
on the American civil rights movement. It is also suitable to examine figurative language.
In 1965 King and his wife led the march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala,
demanding the right of black citizens to register to vote.
Here are remarks from a speech he delivered on the steps of the Alabama State
Capitol in March 1965, following the march:
Last Sunday we started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama...They told us
we wouldn't get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their
dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and that we are standing before the
forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, We ain't goin' let nobody turn us around
There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage
of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its
embattled Negroes.
Our whole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote.
We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us...We are on the move now.
The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now.
Let us therefore continue our triumph and march...Let us march on segregated housing...Let us march on
segregated schools...Let us march on poverty...Let us march on ballot boxes.
I know you are asking today, How long will it take? I come to say to you this afternoon,
however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because
truth pressed to Earth will rise again.
How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.
How long? Not long, because you reap what you sow.
How long? Not long. Because the arm of the moral universe...bends towards justice.
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