Question

Excerpt
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was “well timed,” according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” It has been a tranquilizing Thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.

Question
Use direct words from the prompt for your “ANSWER” portion of ACES. 3-5 sentences ONLY!

What tone does the speaker establish starting with the words “My friends, I must say to you…” and ending with “...cup of coffee at a lunch counter.”?

A: Answer
C: Cite (evidence/Quote)
E: Explain
S: Summarize

Answer 1

A: The tone is urgent and frustrated, as shown when he says "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
C: "For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' ... This 'wait' has almost always meant 'never.'"
E: Words like "painful," "never," the repeated "Wait!," and the contrast of "jet like speed" versus "horse and buggy pace" convey impatience, moral outrage, and a pressing demand for action.
S: Thus the speaker establishes an urgent, frustrated tone insisting that change cannot be delayed.