The right to dream
Martin Luther King Jr.’s pragmatist argument for racial progress
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6230056 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicholas Tampio (0000-0001-7295-8486, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science Fordham University Bronx New York USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1254-1265 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12903 |
| OpenAlex | W4401738632 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
Do Americans have a right to believe that the country is making racial progress? Conservatives sometimes answer yes and argue that the country is achieving Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a color‐blind society. Afropessimists answer no and point to the continuing problems of police terror, mass incarceration, and poverty among Black Americans. This article unearths King's 1952 term paper on the pragmatists to reveal an early engagement with William James’ notion of the will to believe. The article interprets King as articulating a right to dream of a just and loving world to maximize the chance of the community actualizing it. The conclusion argues that the idea of a right to dream helps people become energized rather than despondent in the aftermath of the Supreme Court case prohibiting race‐conscious college admissions
Argument (complex analysis · Civil rights · Dream · Epistemology · Martin luther king · Political science · Pragmatism · Sociology · Theology · Academic Freedom and Politics · American Political and Social Dynamics · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society
To Shape a New World
The Drum Major Instinct
Democratic Responsibility
The American Evasion of Philosophy
In the Wake
Taking race out of human genetics
King’s Vibrato
Seeing Like an Activist
Prophet of Discontent
The Darkened Light of Faith
Evolution and the Founders of Pragmatism
A Covenant of the Heart
The Fact of Sacrifice and Necessity of Faith
Power for the Powerless
Martin Luther King's Civil Disobedience and the American Covenant Tradition
Martin Luther King Jr. on Democratic Propaganda, Shame, and Moral Transformation
Stuttering Conviction
Breaking White Supremacy
Black Nihilism and the Politics of Hope
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |