I am trying to find out when and where Dr. Martin Luther King made a
speech during which he talked about the issue of black people lifting
themselves up the bootstraps and how problematic that was because of
the 244 years of slavery and the fact that when slavery was abolished
little was provided for them to get them on a firmer economic
foundation. My question: when and where did he make this speech?

Hi tedglick,

I believe the quote you are looking for is this one, part of a sermon
he delivered at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C, on March 31,
1968, four days before he was murdered:

"It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps,
but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift
himself by his own bootstraps." Martin Luther King (1957-1968)

Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution
By Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"In 1863 the Negro was told that he was free as a result of the
Emancipation Proclamation being signed by Abraham Lincoln. But he was
not given any land to make that freedom meaningful. It was something
like keeping a person in prison for a number of years and suddenly
discovering that that person is not guilty of the crime for which he
was convicted. And you just go up to him and say, "Now you are free,"
but you don?t give him any bus fare to get to town. You don?t give him
any money to get some clothes to put on his back or to get on his feet
again in life."
"But not only did it give the land, it built land-grant colleges to
teach them how to farm. Not only that, it provided county agents to
further their expertise in farming; not only that, as the years
unfolded it provided low interest rates so that they could mechanize
their farms. And to this day thousands of these very persons are
receiving millions of dollars in federal subsidies every years not to
farm. And these are so often the very people who tell Negroes that
they must lift themselves by their own bootstraps. It?s all right to
tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel
jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own
bootstraps."
Delivered at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on 31 March
1968. Congressional Record, 9 April 1968.

I hope this is what you are looking for, but if not, or if you have
any questions, please post a clarification request before rating my
answer.

Thank you,
hummer

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Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 07 Jan 2004 06:27 PST

Hello again, tedglick,

I am so sorry, I see that I neglected to give you a link to the
sermon. Here is one, which includes an audio clip:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/680331.000_Remaining_Awake.html

Sincerely,
hummer