Question

Read the excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream” speech.

But one hundred years later, 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. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

How does the repeated phrase support King’s message?

by emphasizing that time has passed without social progress
by suggesting that freedom will come eventually without effort
by insisting that people cooperate to achieve a common goal
by hinting that all Americans should strive for material wealth

Answer 1

by emphasizing that time has passed without social progress

The repeated phrase "One hundred years later" underscores that a century after emancipation, African Americans still suffer from segregation, discrimination, and poverty—highlighting the failure of promised progress and the urgency for change.