What is Martin Luther King's dream in the "I Have a Dream" speech?

King's dream was the
dream of racial equality: an America where whites and blacks possess the same opportunities and
rights. He discusses the abolition of slavery some one hundred years prior, but he argues that
blacks have continued to exist in a different kind of enslavement since then. He says that the
founding fathers of the nation issued a kind of promise to all Americans, that

all menyes, black men as well as white menwould 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.

Though such a promise was madea promise that
each citizen would have access to the same freedomsthe United States has been delinquent in
making sure that such freedoms are equal. King's dream is that this promise will be fulfilled,
that the white citizens of the country will recognize that we will all succeed or fail together,
that it is "shameful" for so many of its citizens to live in poverty, without access
to good education or opportunities for success.