Yes, they are from the famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
But they are from the prepared portion of his speech (the famous part was likely a riff, after he was prompted to “tell them about the Dream, Martin”), and as I offer them, let me point out several things.
1. The title of the event was March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. We should never forget that throughout his life King was as concerned about economic justice as he was about social justice and what are usually considered “Civil Rights,” that he saw them as part of what in Catholic theology is often described as a “seamless garment” that should not be torn into pieces.
2. In the words that I quote below, read “social justice” to include economic justice. That would be equality of job opportunity, equality of educational opportunity, equal access to political participation.
Given some of what we have heard recently from the Republican nominee, given the actions of many states controlled by Republicans that limit access to health care and to political participation, some of which have unfortunately been upheld by the Courts, the words below are as relevant today as when spoken 53 years ago, when I was 17 instead of 70.
Note especially, in context, the following phrases:
fierce urgency of now
riches of freedom
security of justice
and perhaps then we can recognize that the promissary note to which King referred is still unpaid.
Here are those words:
In a sense we have 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." 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. So we have 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 tranquilizing 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 sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.