I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered
with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful
that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young
people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized
and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of
worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or
burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who
would not accept segregation. I am mindful that
debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and
chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladden
-Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Prize acceptance speech,
1964
Why does King bring up examples of violence in the United States at the
beginning of his speech?
A. To show that the struggle for freedom is not over
B. To ask the audience why violence is still happening
C. To give examples of events that no longer happen
D. To explain why he doesn't deserve the award