Why We Can't Wait

In the last chapter of the book, King reflects on the future made possible by the events of the summer of 1963.

King opens the chapter by looking back to the times of slavery when some enslaved African-Americans were forced by their owners to purchase themselves, loved ones, and others out of slavery. King argues that when people ask what it will take for the protests to end or ask how much it will take for African-Americans to be satisfied, they are engaging in the same “system that bartered dignity for dollars” (155). While the transaction during the era of slavery was financial, the current system expects African-Americans to accept “gradualism and moderation” in exchange for rights that are theirs by birthright (156).

African-Americans are demanding immediate freedom because they know it is impossible to “truly exist half-slave and half-free” (157). King points to the example of the military to show that the United States is capable of change. Prior to World War II, the U.S. allowed the segregationists to prevent it from fully utilizing African-Americans. After that point, it changed, however. King argues that the time for delay is over because segregation is “immoral,” African-Americans know their rights, and continuing with segregation impedes progress on a national scale (158).