Martin Luther King and George Wallace had extremely opposing views of the civil rights movement and the deterioration of segregation. Martin Luther King seemed to take a naturalist view, hungry to incorporate morality into the aims of law in America, while George Wallace stood strong under the positivist view that had drawn direction for the aims of law from social phenomenon rather than a moral compass. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"" speech in comparison with George Wallace's inaugural address highlights the issue of segregation and seems to imply the philosophical views of the two men with regard to positive verses natural law, a subject's duty to obey the law, how law should or should not be used to promote the common good, the harm to others principle, and the roles paternalism, autonomy, and morality should play in determining the aims of law. .
Martin Luther King addressed the nation with his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, King believed in the power of natural law to propel the free flow of justice in a color blind society. The moral compass of natural law would bring an end to segregation and discrimination that had been forced on the black members of society through hundreds of years of positivist law that unfairly disbursed the burdens of the society in the pursuit of the common good. That it was time for a shift of the burden and benefits scale to more equally reflect all of those who have worked hard to promote the common good of that society. .
King stated that the "Emancipation Proclamation" came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. The Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society"" (SullenToys, 2011) waiting to receive the benefit of the burdens they have carried for so long to promote the common good of our society.
