The MLK Speech Scandal

After reading an article about the possible plagiarism committed by Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I have a dream" speech, I began to think about the legitimacy of the claim. The accusation was that a Chicago Pastor named Archibald Carey Jr., recited almost the identical ending to MLK's I have a dream speech 11 years before King Jr. did. At the Republican National Convention of 1952 in Chicago, Carey exclaimed: "From every mountainside, let freedom ring. Not only from the Green Mountains and the White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; not only from the Catskills of New York; but from the Ozarks in Arkansas, from the Stone Mountain in Georgia, from the Great Smokies of Tennessee and from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia — let it ring."Anyone who is familiar with MLK's famous speech on August 28, 1963, knows that the ending is eerily similar to previous words spoken by Carey. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke:  So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring."When Wbez first stumbled upon this audograph disc no more than six months ago, people began to argue whether this changed the brilliance and passion of MLK's speech. I absolutely do not think it takes anything away from MLK's speech. The article discussing this topic claims that MLK and Archibald Carey Jr. had met at least twice, and members of the church Carey was the Pastor at even considered the two of them to be close friends. This is not a matter of plagiarism  it's a matter of two people, both looking to accomplish the same goal, working together to complete their mission. It would be a different story if Obama used a section of Carey's speech in regard to healthcare, or a non-racial related theme, but MLK used this idea with the same outcome in mind: racial equality. Plus, people who consider it plagiarizing haven't considered that fact that the core line of the speech, from every mountain side, let freedom ring is originally from the anthem: "My Country tis of Thee". If MLK plagiarized Carey, then that means Carey plagiarized Samuel Smith, who wrote the lyrics to My Country tis' of Thee. Though there is no way to know if Carey gave King permission to use his words, one can only infer that he was okay with it, considering he never claimed those words to be his own. He also wrote a letter saying that "When I need help, I can count of Martin Luther King, and when he needs help, he can count on me" (Wbez article). King obviously took these words to heart, and took Carey's words and made them famous. Carey's speech can be heard here. It is very interesting to listen to how different the two of them say basically the exact same words.  King's ending to this speech was world-changing, whether or not he thought of the words himself.